At the most recent CEO Connection Forum in New York City we discussed, “Managing Your Message” with our member CEOs. George Bradt, Co-Founder of CEO Connection, shared a wonderful story about the day he traveled with a leader from the American Red Cross as they toured a camp set up in the wake of a natural disaster. George said the leader spoke to his Red Cross team with words of conviction and inspiration, and was very moved by this leader’s approach.
The leader told George, “When I speak to my team, I’m thinking about how I want them to feel.”
On that particular day, he had wanted them to feel a sense of pride, so he used words specifically designed to evoke this feeling.
This story really struck me. I found myself realizing I spend a great deal of time and emotional energy prior to presentations thinking about the clarity of message I want others to walk away with, and giving thought to what I want my audience to know and think when they leave the room. But I had to ask myself if I give any real thought to how they will feel upon hearing my message.
Getting Personal at Work:
I realized I have always done this subconsciously when talking with audiences about my kidney transplant experience. I know my story is a moving one solely because of the courage of my donor and the way we found each other. When I talk about my story I use a particular tone and words – and even a lower volume – to convey the power of the experience. But this has been an intuitive expression of my life’s experience. It flows naturally from me because of the deeply personal nature of this story.
And yet, in business we forget that our messages are still deeply personal. We bring our whole selves to our work, with every aspect of our human experience intertwined. We may psychologically pretend to leave part of ourselves at home, compartmentalizing our lives so to speak, but we can’t actually do this. And why would we? Why would we spend any moment of our life not fully expressed?
Who we are at home, at play, with our friends, with our non-profit volunteer committees, etc… makes up the grand sum of who we are as a person. It affects how we respond to messages at work just as it affects how we exist on this planet.
Communicating Your Message as a Leader:
As a leader, when you are communicating your message it’s to the whole person, to the whole of every person in your audience. If you want to eventually move them to action – which you must do in order to drive results – you must evoke a feeling from within them to act in the way you so desire. Thus, as much as you want to focus on:
- Clarity of message
- Shared purpose and vision
- Desired tactics aligned with focused strategies
The underlying foundation will be to evoke in them a desired feeling. Pride. Courage. Determination. Conviction. Loyalty. Honor…
What feeling will you evoke when you deliver your next leadership message?
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4 Response Comments
Yes. Yes. Yes. This is why I love you, Lisa.
It’s so wildly important to understand how people feel — how you make people feel as a leader. You can’t do it all by yourself. You need to be able to inspire those around you to help you do something amazing.
Great reminder…
Dan
Love you too, Dan – and thank you so much for this!
The line that really struck me in this post is “Why would we spend any moment of our life not fully expressed?” I think it’s because many leaders are trained to create and maintain an image of decisiveness and strength so that we don’t betray our weaknesses.
By asking this simple question, you remind us that the image comes with a terrible price. We might earn the respect of the people we lead, but we’ll never inspire them. The image might’ve worked back in the Mad Men era but it’s not a good fit for a 21st century leader.
So true, Larry – it comes with such a large price. I can’t tell you how honored I am that this genuinely resonated with you. I spent too much of my own career only “half-expressed.” I have no intention of ever going back! All the best to you…