Communications: Inspiring Performance

By Mike Hawkins

Get results through the skillful exchange of information. Third in the “most comprehensive treatment of leadership I’ve ever seen by one author” (Jim Kouzes, coauthor of The Leadership Challenge).

Communications: Inspiring Performance describes how to influence people through positive and trustworthy interpersonal communications. Great leaders speak, write, and listen in a manner that connects with people and moves them to action. By learning the competencies of creating compelling content, engaging the audience, and maintaining communication flow, you are able to capture people’s minds and hearts as well as foster the healthy exchange of ideas and information.

The SCOPE of Leadership book series teaches the principles of a coaching approach to leadership and how to achieve exceptional results by working through people. You will learn a straightforward framework to guide you in developing, enabling, exhorting, inspiring, managing, and assimilating people. Benefit from the wisdom of many years of leadership, consulting, and executive coaching experience. Discover how to develop the competencies that align consistently with great leadership.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jun 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781612541211

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

The art of communication is the language of leadership.

—James Humes

Inspiring Performance: Skillfully giving and receiving information through speaking, writing, listening, questioning, and doing in order to secure an intended result.

The second level of competencies in the SCOPE of Leadership is about effective communications. Leading and influencing people requires strong communication and interpersonal skills. You utilize communication competencies every time you participate in a meeting, give a presentation, talk on the phone, and engage in a face-to-face discussion. Rarely does a waking hour or minute go by without you exchanging information with colleagues, customers, partners, friends, or family. You communicate through your proposals, letters, messages, webpages, and marketing collateral. You are communicating when you sell an idea, product, or service. Through communications you motivate your team, promote your vision, and inspire performance.

Communication is the means of leading. Through communication, you share information, build relationships, motivate people, develop your team, and collaborate with others. Through communication, ideas are explored, decisions are made, and action is taken. What, why, and how you communicate are critical to your leadership success and your team’s performance.

Great leaders are great communicators. They speak with authority and listen with compassion. They draw people into conversation with an engaging communication style. They keep people informed and ensure good communications flow throughout their organization. They deliver compelling presentations that inform, motivate, and inspire others to action.

Organizations that foster effective communications perform well above their peers. Studies find that organizations with effective communications have an almost 20 percent higher market valuation and over a five-year period create an almost 60 percent greater return to their shareholders. For the companies that figure out how to communicate well, the payoff is significant.

When organizations engage me as a consultant to assess their operations, I consider all aspects of their organizational ecosystem. I assess the organization’s strategy, skills, systems, processes, incentives, and so on. When I find an area that deserves more attention, I dig in deeper. In regard to skills, I might check into hiring practices, training programs, and manager effectiveness. When I’m done, I analyze my findings and provide an assessment of the primary issues preventing higher levels of performance. Without exception, communication is always an issue highlighted in my assessment. Either the organization’s communications are too infrequent or incomplete. Communication isn’t meaningful or transparent enough. It is ambiguous or too detailed, too candid or too fluffy. If there is one competency that organizations can’t seem to get right, it is communication. Poor communication is at the root of most organizational and leadership performance issues. Communication issues are also the primary cause of problems in families and in friendships.

A common communication issue is the withholding of information. People don’t share their knowledge, expectations, concerns, ideas, feelings, or suggestions. Many do this unintentionally and unknowingly. They are simply too busy running on the treadmill of busyness as usual. Introverts, who are discussed in competency 13, withhold information because they discuss it so much in their heads they think others must surely know their thinking. Extroverts, in comparison, often give out too much information.

Some people believe that withholding information gives them power. They think the less knowledge they share with their colleagues, the better. They think their knowledge advantage gives them more control and makes them more valuable. The problem is that those who depend on them don’t work as productively or collaboratively without timely and detailed information. People without the benefit of information are unclear about intentions, expectations, roles, responsibilities, activities, resources, and schedules. Without clear information, people look for things that don’t exist, wait on things that aren’t coming, and do work that isn’t needed. A void in communication creates inefficiency, quality issues, and performance issues that impair the entire organization.

WITHOUT CLEAR

INFORMATION, PEOPLE

LOOK FOR THINGS

THAT DON’T EXIST,

WAIT ON THINGS

THAT AREN’T COMING,

AND DO WORK THAT

ISN’T NEEDED.

Great leaders and communicators don’t withhold information. They take the lead in ensuring frequent and clear communication flow throughout their organization. They utilize communications to improve productivity, quality, and performance. They use communications to inspire, motivate, encourage, assimilate, and coach their people.

In addition to withholding information, people make many other communication mistakes. Studies find that when senior managers share information, they rely too much on e-mail, mistakenly assume a single message is sufficient, don’t provide an effective feedback channel, and don’t communicate clearly. In helping clients develop their presentations, I frequently find that people know their content well but don’t organize it well. They don’t properly establish the context for their content or make it compelling, which prevents them from delivering it in a way that engages their audience.

The harsh reality for many leaders is that you can be intelligent, well educated, experienced, and a master in your domain, but if you can’t articulate your point, your effectiveness is marginalized. You might have a great new idea or offering, but if you can’t sell it, the idea is worthless. You are only as effective as your ability to communicate.

Moving from the foundation level of leading yourself and setting the example to this second level of the SCOPE of Leadership, we turn our attention to developing seven competencies of interpersonal skills and effective communications. Great leaders who communicate effectively and inspire performance

Convey a positive attitude.

Promote trustworthiness.

Articulate the why.

Provide compelling content.

Engage the audience.

Listen attentively.

Motivate.

These competencies apply to both verbal and written communications. Many people think of communication effectiveness in terms of the spoken word, but effective communicators are also adept at writing. In many ways, written communication is even more important than verbal communication. What you put in writing is indisputable. What you type or write becomes a record. Records can be shared, copied, and distributed. Therefore, letters, messages, e-mail, and recordings of verbal communications can be more significant than talking and presenting. Great leaders are careful with what they put in writing or say on camera. They write in a way that is unambiguous, factual, and appropriate. They are careful to manage their emotions and maintain a proper tone. They also assume that their message will find its way to the front page of a newspaper, uploaded to the Internet, or reported somewhere in the news media.

Written communication is often overused and misused. People regularly use e-mail for situations that are better served with a phone call or face-to-face meeting. The problem is that written communication lacks up to 90 percent of the information that would normally come through voice inflection and body language. You have to be much more careful about word choice, narrative style, and providing supporting detail when communicating in writing. Everyone has had the experience where an e-mail was intended to be humorous but was misinterpreted to be acrimonious.

Regardless of delivery channel, there are many considerations when preparing a message. Great communicators consider the context, content, and intended outcome. They consider their style, voice inflection, and body language. They consider the most appropriate level of detail, interactivity, and candor to use. They consider the most suitable delivery channel whether e-mail, social media, text messaging, report writing, phone conversation, video conversation, or face-to-face communications.

Great communicators understand the communication options at their disposal. They skillfully employ them like tools of a craftsman to deliver the exact message needed to obtain the specific outcome they desire.

COMMUNICATIONS:

INSPIRING PERFORMANCE

Competency 12: Conveying a Positive Attitude

Ownership

Self-Esteem

Gratitude

Positive Thoughts

Impermanence

Forgiveness

Solution Focus

Joy

Competency 13: Promoting Trustworthiness

Competency 14: Articulating the Why

Competency 15: Providing Compelling Content

Competency 16: Engaging the Audience

Competency 17: Listening Attentively

Competency 18: Motivating

COMPETENCY TWELVE

CONVEYING A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.

—Helen Keller

Conveying a Positive Attitude: Demonstrating optimism and enthusiasm through an upbeat, can-do disposition.

Let’s say you have two people you are considering hiring and both meet the technical skill requirements to perform the job. The most discernible difference between them is that one has better skills and one has a better attitude. Would you hire the one with better skills or the better attitude? Studies find that managers hire people with the better attitude 85 percent of the time. Studies also find that managers terminate employees more often due to poor attitudes than due to poor skills. When Colleen Barrett was president of Southwest Airlines, her motto was, Hire for attitude, train for skills.

Attitude is the x-factor of leadership. Attitude is what sways casting directors to pick an actor or actress. It is what influences audiences to pick their favorite radio hosts and television personalities, or sways athletic competition judges to award an athlete more points. It is what single people in the dating process look for in a potential mate. Attitude influences human resource recruiters, hiring managers, and buyers looking to select someone for a job, service, or partnership.

ATTITUDE IS THE

X-FACTOR OF

LEADERSHIP.

Martin E. P. Seligman, a respected author and professor of psychology, finds talent to be vastly overrated. He says that not only is talent imperfectly measured and an imperfect predictor of success but also that the traditional wisdom of focusing on talent is wrong because it leaves out optimism. Optimism drives people’s ability to learn new skills, overcome obstacles, and take responsibility for achieving goals. Combined with other attitudinal characteristics, people’s level of optimism determines their effectiveness in communicating and working with others. It is a person’s attitude that fundamentally determines their success.

Just as location, location, and location are the three most valuable characteristics of real estate, attitude, attitude, and attitude are the top three characteristics of great communicators. Your attitude causes your employees either to look forward to hearing from you or to avoid you. It causes your top performers to want to work for you or go somewhere else. Your customers buy from you, and your suppliers cooperate with you primarily based on your attitude. You fundamentally gain or lose the respect of people due to your attitude.

Think about who you would rather work for. Would you rather work for a leader who is cynical and pessimistic or someone who is optimistic and positive? Would you prefer to talk to someone who is uplifting or someone who is downbeat? Most people prefer to live and work with others who possess a positive attitude.

Great leaders are optimistic and enthusiastic. They impart energy and hope. They inspire people to take action and give their best effort. When great leaders encounter obstacles, they stay upbeat and look for ways to overcome them. When a mistake is made, great leaders focus on the next opportunity rather than on what can’t be reversed. What might slow down or stop an average person is simply a stepping-stone or learning opportunity for a great leader with a positive attitude.

In comparison, people with negative attitudes breed cynicism. They are quick to blame others when situations don’t turn out well. They are quick to give up when the going gets tough. Rather than impart energy, negative people remove energy. If they impart anything, it is insecurity, uneasiness, fear, distrust, and unhappiness. Rather than inspire, they demotivate. Their negativity shuts down others, inhibits their passion, reduces their creativity, and lowers their level of engagement. Negative people suck the energy and life out of those around them.

Positive people uplift and encourage others around them. That is the case with Mark, who is executive vice president of regional operations for one of the world’s largest financial services companies. He had been with his company for twenty-two years when I started working with him. He is the consummate professional. He is polite, well mannered, and always upbeat. His enthusiasm is contagious. He is always excited to see his employees and welcomes them into his office as if they are his best friends. He is not only their leader but also their cheerleader and advocate.

To say Mark is liked by his employees is an understatement; he is loved by them. He makes them feel appreciated. He inspires them. Whenever times are tough, he gives them cause for hope. He encourages them to levels of performance they couldn’t achieve without him. They are fiercely loyal to him. Primarily through his can-do positive influence his team gives their best effort and his region consistently outperforms the rest of the company.

A team’s leader provides the predominant influence on the team’s attitude. The longer leaders are in a position of influence and the stronger their character, the more their character transfers to their team. Leaders with can-do attitudes develop teams with can-do attitudes. Attitudes, good or bad, are infectious. They pass from person to person like a wildfire in the wind. Great leaders ensure that the prevailing attitudes infecting their organizations are good ones.

A positive attitude provides an additional benefit to leaders themselves. Beyond the benefit of having a higher-performing team, the leader is happier and less stressed. Studies on the impact of people’s attitude find that positive people enjoy their lives more, are physically healthier, and live longer. Make your predominant attitude a positive one and everyone benefits—including you.

To assess your disposition and what causes you to be positive or negative, make two lists. On your first list, make note of the thoughts you have and the situations you encounter that create your positive feelings. Make another list of what causes you to be negative. For each list, reflect on the root causes of your disposition. Isolate the primary thoughts and circumstances that cause you to be positive or negative.

For your positive thoughts, recognize what you are doing and thinking to cause them. If they are not already embedded into the fabric of your work and life, look for opportunities to embed them. If you are most positive after physical exercise, build exercise into your daily schedule. If you are most positive when you are ahead in your work schedule, make whatever adjustments are needed so that you rarely fall behind.

For your negative thoughts, consider their root causes and what you need to think or do differently to minimize them. If you are uptight and frustrated when you give a presentation, do you believe you should not be the one giving it, or do you lack confidence in your subject matter? If your negative attitude is more related to a person than a circumstance, consider what it is about your interaction with the person who makes you feel negative. Is the other person self-obsessed, or are you jealous? Pinpoint the root causes behind your negative thoughts and feelings. As you read this chapter, look for the enabling attributes that are most likely to help you turn your negative sentiments into positive ones.

Great leaders convey a positive attitude through these core attributes:

Ownership

Self-Esteem

Gratitude

Positive Thoughts

Impermanence

Forgiveness

Solution Focus

Joy

OWNERSHIP

Studies find that three out of four people consider themselves to be optimists, yet objective research finds that only one in two is authentically optimistic. People think they are more positive than they actually are. People inherently want to be positive, but they let circumstances overrule their better reasoning. Rather than govern their own attitude, they give it to others and circumstances to govern. In effect, they outsource ownership of their attitude just as some people let others control their self-esteem.

PEOPLE INHERENTLY

WANT TO BE

POSITIVE, BUT THEY

LET CIRCUMSTANCES

OVERRULE THEIR

BETTER REASONING.

Many people feel positive when they experience upbeat people and circumstances, but lose their positive sentiment when they are around others or in situations that are downbeat. They feel positive when they receive a compliment and dejected when they receive criticism. They allow their attitudes to be at the mercy of their circumstances. As a result, they are not as positive as they think they are.

There is plenty of negativity surrounding most people to ensure they are generally unhappy if they choose to follow the cues and norms around them. Every family has a health, behavior, financial, or other issue to contend with. Every workplace has a boss, coworker, or problem to deal with. Every neighborhood has a neighbor, landlord, or official who causes problems. If you depend on all your circumstances to be positive in order for you to be positive, you will rarely be positive.

Positive people choose not to adopt the negativity of their environment. They choose to rise above it. They decide for themselves the attitude they will possess. They have the fundamental mindset required to sustain a positive outlook: ownership of their attitude. Being positive requires maintaining the locus of control for your thoughts and attitudes inside yourself.

When you assume full responsibility for your attitude, you take charge of your attitude. You choose your mood. You decide how to react to the people and circumstances around you. You choose whose advice to follow. You choose how to interpret what