It seems a no-brainer that the most successful leaders are those who are also full of self-confidence (not to be confused with conceit). However, what is it that makes someone appear “confident”? What is that certain something that ensures Leaders have Followers?
Dr. Marshall Goldsmithattempts to answer these questions in a post for the Harvard Business blog – excerpted here:
DON’T WORRY ABOUT BEING PERFECT. There are never right or wrong answers to complex business decisions. The best that you can do as a leader is to gather all of the information that you can (in a timely manner), do a cost-benefit analysis of potential options, use your best judgment — and then go for it.
LEARN TO LIVE WITH FAILURE. Great salespeople are the ones who get rejected the most often. They just ask for the order more than the other salespeople. You are going to make mistakes. You are human. Learn from these mistakes and move on.
AFTER YOU MAKE THE FINAL DECISION — commit! Don’t continually second-guess yourself. Great leaders communicate with a sense of belief in what they are doing and with positive expectations toward the achievement of their vision.
SHOW COURAGE ON THE OUTSIDE — even if you don’t always feel it on the inside. Everyone is afraid sometimes. If you are a leader, your direct reports will read your every expression. If you show a lack of courage, you will begin to damage your direct reports’ self-confidence.
FIND HAPPINESS AND CONTENTMENT IN YOUR WORK. Life is short. My extensive research indicates that we are all going to die anyway. Do your best. Follow your heart. When you win, celebrate. When you lose, just start over the next day.
Successful organizations are driven to succeed by visionary leaders. These leaders take calculated risks, and look for ways to innovate in every aspect of their business. Everything from internal work processes, to product design, to revamped service offerings are fair game when it comes to growing a company. No matter what the innovations, however, the overall brand idea remains at the root of the evolution. Thus, success depends upon a strong Brand.
Here’s why:
DEMONSTRATES ORGANIZATIONAL DISCIPLINE
Brand expression is strongest when it is consistent. Consistency builds confidence in your company and its offerings. Disciplined brand development within your organization demonstrates to your customers that you pay attention to the details.
IT’S GOOD FOR MORALE
People like to feel like they are a part of something good, something purposeful. Your brand is the living, breathing example of why you do what you do. If your employees understand your brand, they will likewise know why they do what they do.
GUIDES ORGANIZATION AS IT NATURALLY EVOLVES
In order to thrive and grow, organizations must manage change in a deliberate way. A brand idea that has been similarly developed will provide a solid foundation upon which to build the company.
GUIDES ORGANIZATION WHEN IT’S FORCED TO EVOLVE
Sometimes, environmental conditions necessitate that you change your company’s direction. When you see change on the horizon, a strong brand idea will help you plan ahead, allowing you to keep the core of who you are while adjusting to new conditions.
COMMUNICATES WITHOUT WORDS
When your brand identity begins to speak for itself – in logos, packaging, customer service, etc. – you’ve done your job.
PROVIDES GUIDANCE TO PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
At some point, every company finds it necessary to collaborate with another organization. Whether it’s a multi-disciplinary design team or an impending merger, a strong brand I.D. will not only tell your partners what you are about, but what is expected of them.
FORMS THE BASIS OF YOUR ‘ELEVATOR PITCH’
A well-defined brand idea is simple. It’s easy to describe and easy to understand. If your employees can’t say it in 20 seconds, it’s time to re-think your pitch.
INSPIRES COMPANY FOUNDERS WHEN THEY NEED IT
(and they will)
The daily grind is enough to take anyone off their game, even a visionary leader. When you lose your focus, your brand idea can bring you back to the basics: why you do what you do.
GIVES DIRECTION IN TIMES OF CONFUSION
Every organization goes through times of difficulty. It may be do to external factors, like a recession; or it may be an internal issue. When you need to get back on track in order to move your company forward, looking back at the root brand idea can tell you exactly where you need to go.
IT’S COMMUNITY SERVICE…YOU CAN INSPIRE OTHERS
When you are doing things right, people take notice. Some are impressed, but many more are likely to be inspired. Great leaders lead by example. Your success can tangibly demonstrate the power of a strong brand.
Do you have a strong brand? If so, what makes it work? If not, what’s holding you back? Share your thoughts.
It has come to my attention that certain words have certain meanings.
I mention this because this information can be important – particularly when describing one’s profession. Say, for instance, that you practiced in one of the following fields:
Advertising
Marketing
Public Relations
Branding
If you were asked to explain the difference between them all, could you do it? Go ahead. Think on it for 30 seconds…
How did you do? Did you come up with anything? Or did you quit after you envisioned a car commercial, your frazzled company marketing director, the White House Press Secretary, and your favorite cereal?
Differentiating between these terms is surprisingly difficult because all of these disciplines are very much connected in their intent – that being the communication of “ideas” from one entity or organization to another. Where they differ, however, is in the measurements of success.
Did the customer buy the product? Do more people know about our company this year versus last? Are we well-considered by the community? Does every aspect of our organization represent our company culture and value system?
As you can see, these questions are all somewhat related. But, the preferred answer to each can only be obtained in a particular manner, utilizing the tools of a particular discipline. The disciplines in question are, of course, Advertising, Marketing, Public Relations, and Branding.
And, in the spirit of meaningful words, the definitions of each discipline are as follows:
ADVERTISING
The activity of attracting public attention to a product or business, as by paid announcements in the print, broadcast, or electronic media. The business of designing and writing advertisements – (from Dictionary.com)
MARKETING
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large - (from the American Marketing Association)
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Anticipating, analyzing and interpreting public opinion, attitudes, and issues that might impact, for good or ill, the operations and plans of the organization.
Counseling management at all levels in the organization with regard to policy decisions,courses of action,and communication, taking into account their public ramifications and the organization’s social or citizenship responsibilities.
Researching, conducting, and evaluating, on a continuing basis, programs of action and communication to achieve the informed public understanding necessary to the success of an organization’s aims. These may include marketing, financial, fund raising,employee,community or government relations, and other programs.
Planning and implementing the organization’s efforts to influence or change public policy.
Setting objectives, planning,budgeting, recruiting and training staff,developing facilities — in short,managing the resources needed to perform all of the above.
Branding is how you go about establishing your brand’s differentiated meaning in people’s minds…Branding is about signals – the signals people use to determine what you stand for as a brand. Signals create associations. (from BrandSimple by Allen P. Adamson)
Being an effective speaker is not unlike being an effective writer. The basic tenets of each are quite similar:
Understand your purpose
Be thoughtful in your preparation
Communicate clearly and concisely
Leave your audience with a vivid message
So, why is it that so many of us would rather endure hours of manual labor than give a 20-minute speech?
Perhaps it has to do with a lack of confidence. Or, maybe we assume that the audience isn’t really interested in what we have to say. More simply, maybe we just don’t want to be stared at. All of these are valid concerns, of course. But to get ahead in life – professionally or otherwise – I think we can all agree that it would be in our best interest to just get over it.
Now, having established the need for public speaking skills, let’s get to the heart of the matter: How to develop and deliver a great speech.
PURPOSE.
Chances are, your audience is overwhelmed. They have job responsibilities and home responsibilities, need to get to the gym, and plan the menu for game night this weekend. That said, they have each generously carved out part of their day to listen to you. Out of respect, make sure you have a good reason for standing in front of them. Before you begin to write your speech, clearly develop the message you wish to convey.
Then simplify it.
Repeat your central message often to make your point clear.
PREPARATION.
As noted in a previous post about effective writing, editing is key to successful communication. This is true for speechwriting and delivery as well – perhaps more so. As a starting point, it’s safe to assume that about half of the first draft of your speech will be unnecessary and/or unclear. Get out the red pen and start slashing.
Why is this important? Because if your audience is confused for 10 minutes of your 20-minute speech, they will begin to doubt whether they really understood the other 10 minutes they thought they got. Got it?
Clarity leads to confidence. Edit away.
TELL A STORY.
Everyone, young and old, loves a good story. Take care to craft your speech from start to finish. Begin with a strong lede – your first sentence. Make your audience eager to hear the second and third…Your speech should flow as a tale with a beginning, a middle, and an end. The audience will “see” your words in their minds as you speak, so create the context for them.
If you do so effectively, every member of the audience will begin to picture him- or herself as the “hero” of the story: What would I do in that situation? How did I handle that conflict? How will I use this information in my next project? They will listen carefully because you are offering relevant and helpful information.
You are giving them the tools to move forward in their own story.
MOTIVATE AND INSPIRE.
Once you have the audience listening (which, because of your fantastic lede, will be from the moment of your first utterance)…make them feel. Your basketball coach doesn’t just tell you to go out and win your next game – she enthusiastically psyches you up so you feel excited about the prospect of making it to the state tournament. Likewise, your audience will feel what you feel.
If you are engaged, so will they be. If you are passionate about your subject matter, they will be more inclined to feel it too. You are the only one who can convince your audience that your subject matters to them.
Make it obvious that it matters to you.
ACHIEVE SUCCESS.
Your goal for each presentation is straightforward: When you have concluded, you want someone in the audience to approach you to tell you have inspired, motivated, or educated him – and he can’t wait to hear you next time…
Remember, practice makes perfect so step up and try! At worst, you’ll tank and never be asked to speak again. At best, you’ll bring down the house and feel pretty good about what you have accomplished.
*More Useful Tips:
You may be a very eloquent speaker. This will certainly impress your audience, but don’t forget to move them.
Look people in the eye individually to connect with them. Remember the people at the back of the room.
You are not Ellen Degeneres. Be careful with jokes.
Have a very good reason to use visual aids. Would Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream speech have been better with a little Powerpoint action? Exactly.
How do you give a magnificent 30-minute speech? Make it 22 minutes.
*Highlights and paraphrases from the book You, Inc.
Resources:
Speaking Well - by Peggy Noonan, former Reagan and Bush ‘41′ speechwriter
Politics is a funny game. Not funny ha-ha, funny mmm-hmmmm.
After all, the point of a political campaign is to craft messages that allow a candidate to communicate who he or she is – values, vision, and achievements – to their constituents. The best messages manage to be neither too vague, nor too detailed. The whole business of this very inexact science is one I find endlessly fascinating to watch.
A clear message worth a thousand words.
As I previously wrote, there are many factors that effect a candidate’s image in the eyes of the voter. Messaging, though, is of paramount importance. A catchy tag-line that captures the essence of a campaign in just a few words can serve as a consistent communication thread throughout the campaign cycle
Come up with a good slogan and you can help your cause immensely.
Case in point: the 2008 U.S. presidential election will be remembered for many things, of course, but I think we can all agree that one of the most memorable aspects was the innocuously simple three-word phrase: “Yes We Can”
As with the lunar landing, the death of Marilyn Monroe, or the release of the first Tickle Me Elmo, voters for years to come will speak wistfully of the moment when they first heard that brief phrase. What a welcome respite from political language of the past. So straightforward it was. So unpretentious. So hopeful. So…original?
The accidental researcher.
A couple of months ago, in my continuing effort to explore the many facets of brand communication, I did a search on Netflix to see if there were any films on the subject that might interest me. As it happens, one of the first titles to pop up was a film called Our Brand Is Crisis(2005). The documentary is an inside chronicle of the 2002 Bolivian presidential election, observing as candidate Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada hires a prominent U.S. political strategist, James Carville, and his firm (Greenberg Carville Shrum) to guide his campaign.
Carville has no equal in terms of sheer entertainment value – as political types go – and I was eager to watch. I wanted to see how, and if, a national campaign in Bolivia might differ from what we witness in the United States. Turns out, not so much is different after all. From the start, GCS illustrated their ability to craft the storyline of their candidate’s campaign, as well as those of their opponents.
OUR BRAND IS CRISIS is an astounding look at one of their [GCS's] campaigns and its earth-shattering aftermath. With flabbergasting access to think sessions, media training and the making of smear campaigns, we watch how the consultants’ marketing strategies shape the relationship between a leader and his people.
“Shaping” is exactly what GCS accomplished – and with exacting skill. One of the team’s first achievements was the branding of de Lozada’s campaign with a slogan that communicated his mission, and it was a good one…
“Si Se Puede”
“Yes it can be done.” Sound familiar? That’s what I thought too.
It seems that now-President Obama’s refreshing and forward-looking campaign mantra was not as clever as many of us had assumed. After my initial jaw-drop at this realization, I began asking questions like:
Why have I never heard this mentioned in the news?!
Is this a regular practice within campaigns?!
Is there such a thing as political-slogan-plagiarism?!
Wait…does this even matter…?
I can’t say that I know the answer to all of these questions. But on the last item, I would offer that the “recycling” of the slogan does indeed matter. Not simply because it betrays a lack of creativity or originality, but because it illustrates the larger point that we – as citizens and consumers – are at the mercy of those who develop messaging strategies. Their goal is to get us to buy what they are selling, be it a person, a product, or even an idea.
Yes, you should.
In politics and in the private sector, we are regularly asked to trust in what we have been told, and in the images that we see. The “Si Se Puede” revelation further demonstrates the need for each of us to engage in critical thinking in this regard. The fact is that every individual and institution has their own agenda, however well-intentioned.
As a result, it is imperative for each of us to be certain of our own intentions and beliefs, and to know what matters as we elect the next president, or purchase our next iPod. Alternatively, those of us involved in developing messaging strategies should do so with the resolve to communicate authentically.
If we do not, the public will eventually see through it, and the messenger will struggle to defend it.
