Speak Like a CEO: Secrets for Commanding Attention and Getting Results

By Suzanne Bates

An award-winning news anchor presents methods for better communication in any business environment

During her 20 years in broadcasting, award-winning news anchor Suzanne Bates conducted more than 10,000 interviews, during which she witnessed business leaders, politicians, and celebrities at their best and worst. Now a top CEO communication coach, Bates is renowned for her uncanny ability to transform even the shyest oratorical mouse into a public-speaking lion. In Speak Like a CEO, Bates:

• Reveals the secrets for communicating in any situation
• Describes simple techniques for acing speeches, presentations, media interviews, Q&A sessions, business meetings, and more
• Outlines self-improvement plans that can easily be customized to your needs
• Shares secrets from top leaders, including Mario Cuomo's technique for overcoming stage fright and Colin Powell's secret for projecting authenticity

• Language: English
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
• Release date: Apr 21, 2005
• ISBN: 9780071466172

Book preview

leadership.

PART 1

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The Secrets

What CEOs and Leaders Know

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1

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What It Means to Speak like a CEO (the Ones You Really Admire)

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Every time you have to speak, you are auditioning for leadership.

—JAMES HUMES, American Lawyer, Speaker, and Author

The CEO’s Role

The chief executive officer is the highest authority in the day-to-day management of a corporation. This person usually has the ultimate executive power within an organization or company. The CEO usually reports to, and is a member of, the company’s board of directors. The CEO may also be the chairperson of the board in small companies, although the two roles are separated in larger organizations. Either way, it’s a big job.

A CEO is responsible to every employee, every member of the board, and every customer or client, as well as the community and sometimes the industry. How can any CEO succeed without communicating well? It’s impossible.

The title of this chapter includes the parenthetical the ones you really admire because not all CEOs speak well. Some speak poorly. Some hardly communicate. For those CEOs, there are consequences. Those who speak poorly are marginalized. Those who rarely communicate alarm people when they do. Business is about nothing but communication. One top CEO describes why rarely communicating is ineffective: "It’s like blood through an artery: if you have never communicated and then suddenly do—whatever you say will be overwhelmed by the mere fact that you have just communicated."

Leading is all about communicating. The leader’s job is generally not to do; it is to communicate what is to be done. People must see, hear, feel, and believe in the vision. They must see, hear, and believe in you. You are the message, and the message is you.

Whenever people are asked about the most important skill of a leader, communication is always at the top of the list. Even when CEOs were asked (in a 2002 survey by Chief Executive magazine and Hill & Knowlton) to state the most significant thing they could do (other than increase financial performance) to improve the company’s reputation, the top response was communicating to customers. Number two was communicating to employees.

Look at the busy schedule of a CEO on an average day, and you’ll see just how important communication is. Mike Eskew, chairman and CEO of UPS, says the itinerary of a typical business trip looks much like this:

   Speak informally to drivers in the morning

   Meet with various management people for focus groups and town hall assemblies

   Attend recognition events

   Sit down with the customers and discuss their issues and concerns

   Sit down with the press

   Meet with stakeholders—whether it’s business partners or community leaders

There is nothing on CEO Mike Eskew’s busy schedule from morning to night but talking and listening. That’s the job requirement. That’s what CEOs do.

Why You Must Speak Well: The Spotlight Is Always on You

The CEO of a firm with four hundred employees and $430 million in revenue confided to me, It would be nice to be invisible once in a while. Unfortunately, you cannot wish the spotlight away. When you’re the CEO, you are in it 24-7. Somebody is always watching.

It’s not just public speaking, the CEO explained. "It is body language, every minute of every day. If I walk around moping, they don’t think something is wrong with me; they think something is wrong with the company. He continued, I have learned not to mope. It doesn’t mean you’re not real with people. You have to be real. But you have to remember it’s not just about you."

Nationwide Survey: Leaders and Communication

Bates Communications wanted to understand more about the authentic leader, so, in 2004, we conducted a study on how bosses communicate. The online survey of 293 professionals revealed that people were disappointed. Most participants said their bosses didn’t communicate well, even though they indicated that communication is one of the most important skills a boss can have.

We asked participants to rate their bosses on ten dimensions of leadership and to discuss their communication styles. We also asked about authenticity and leadership. We gave them an opportunity to answer both multiple-choice and open-ended questions.

The results show how important communication is in the workplace. Only 29 percent of participants working in professional services firms, corporations, and private companies said there were enough articulate voices of leadership in their organizations. Yet, more than 90 percent said communication is a critical dimension of leadership. There is a disconnect between the kind of leadership that organizations have and what they need. The bottom line for bosses: it’s time to learn to communicate more effectively.

How important is it for the leader of your organization to communicate effectively?

91.5%   Very important—it’s a critical dimension of leadership

7.8%   Somewhat important—it contributes to our success

.7%   Not very important—other skills are much more critical

While most people said they respect their leaders, they also said they would like them to communicate better. More than one-third said they would be surprised, or even shocked, if the head of their company were to speak to the organization and inspire others to follow.

How surprised would you be if the head of your company were to speak to the organization, clearly articulating a new direction and inspiring everyone to follow?

65.5%   Not surprised—this person is an authentic voice of leadership

26.3%   Somewhat surprised—we rarely see that ability to articulate or inspire

8.2%   Shocked—this leader just doesn’t know how to do that

The assessment was even worse for managers and executives who are in the pipeline to leadership.

How would you characterize the voices of leadership in your organization?

29.0%   There are many articulate, inspiring leaders

49.8%   There are some, but we could use more

21.2%   There are few, if any, true voices of leadership here

Top leadership received better marks, but the findings showed a clear need for more and better voices of leadership throughout the ranks of most companies and organizations.

Since most people know more about their own bosses than the CEO, we asked respondents to rate their immediate superiors on a variety of communication dimensions. These bosses fared worse in the ratings on communication skills (listening, speaking skills, leading productive meetings) than on dimensions having to do with personal rapport (humor, candidness) or being the public face of an organization (articulating goals, representing the company). This indicates that bosses have the raw material, but learning communication techniques could only enhance their ability to lead.

Bosses scored lowest on the skills that leaders arguably need most: only 40 percent of the people surveyed said their bosses could lead productive meetings, 41 percent said their bosses were skilled at sharing critical information, and just 43 percent said the boss knew how to motivate and inspire others. This is not a resounding vote of confidence. In many other business areas, such as customer service, a 40 percent success rate would put you out of business.

The Cost of Poor Communication

What happens to bosses who don’t learn to communicate well? Their employees do not trust what they say and seek information elsewhere. Only about half of the people surveyed said that they learn what’s going on with the boss by listening to what he or she says. The rest watch body language, listen to tone of voice, or go so far as to ask somebody else in the organization.

How do you generally tell what’s going on with your boss?

52.2%   By listening to what he or she says

32.8%   By observing his or her face, body language, and tone of voice

15.0%   By talking with other people about what they think

What makes an authentic leader? The survey asked two open-ended questions. Bates Communications categorized the respondents’ answers into ten key dimensions of leadership. The number one quality that authentic leaders conveyed was honesty/integrity. Since these were open-ended responses, we treated them as qualitative data, but each of the dimensions was mentioned by dozens of respondents. Integrity in some form was mentioned by well over half.

Here is the leadership value system articulated by the survey’s 293 respondents, in roughly descending order:

Honesty/Integrity. People who mentioned integrity referred to both business dealings and personal interactions. The words used to frame this concept were honesty, integrity, ethics, fairness, candor, sincerity, trustworthiness, and truthfulness—qualities that bosses must communicate through what they say and do.

Vision. Good leaders should have a vision for the organization, be able to articulate it, and inspire action. Vision was near the top of the list of leadership dimensions mentioned by respondents. It is not enough to be able to manage projects or people; authentic leadership entails the ability to visualize the future and effectively communicate that vision to others. Those who aspire to lead should take note. You can stay in middle management forever without this skill set. You will rise to the top if you can see the big picture and help others see it too.

Listening. This dimension includes several ways in which bosses should listen. They should be approachable and open to suggestions, open-minded, flexible, and willing to listen to everyone’s ideas and feedback. Participants said seeking other points of view and actively listening to what others say are also critical.

Giving Feedback. What people most often mentioned in this category is the importance of giving credit where credit is due, including public praise for a job well done. Also high on the list was offering positive feedback when deserved and valuing employees’ contributions. Feedback is not just a once-a-year process you build into your calendar. Regular, constructive feedback is essential to developing rapport, winning trust, and being seen as an authentic leader.

Emotional Intelligence. Emotional intelligence can be interpreted as the ability to communicate empathy and compassion, treat people well, and relate to them on a human level. Your demeanor counts: having a positive attitude and remaining calm under pressure send important signals through the organization. Emotional intelligence also means obvious passion for the work, a demonstrated commitment to the organization’s success, and appreciation for those who make it happen. Authentic leaders use their emotional intelligence to connect and have genuine professional