Communications Leadership

The number one thing great communicators have in common is they possess a heightened sense of situational and contextual awareness. The best communicators are great listeners and astute in their observations. Great communicators are skilled a reading a person/group by sensing the moods, dynamics, attitudes, values and concerns of those being communicated with. Not only do they read they environment well, but they possess the uncanny ability to adapt their messaging to said environment without missing a beat. The message is not about the messenger; it has nothing to do with messenger; it is however 100% about meeting the needs and the expectations of those you’re communicating with.

So, how do you know when your skills have matured to the point that you’ve become an excellent communicator? The answer is you’ll have reached the point where your interactions with others consistently use the following ten principles:

1. Speak not with a forked tongue: In most cases, people just won’t open up those they don’t trust. When people have a sense a leader is worthy of their trust they will invest time and take risks in ways they would not if their leader had a reputation built upon poor character or lack of integrity. While you can attempt to demand trust, it rarely works. Trust is best created by earning it with right acting, thinking, and decisioning. Keep in mind that people will forgive many things where trust exists, but will rarely forgive anything where trust is absent.

2. Get personal: There is great truth in the axiom that states: “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Classic business theory tells leaders to stay at arms length. I say stay at arms length if you want to remain in the dark receiving only highly sanitized versions of the truth. If you don’t develop meaningful relationships with people you’ll never know what’s really on their mind until it’s too late to do anything about it.

The number one thing great communicators have in common is they possess a heightened sense of situational and contextual awareness. The best communicators are great listeners and astute in their observations. Great communicators are skilled a reading a person/group by sensing the moods, dynamics, attitudes, values and concerns of those being communicated with. Not only do they read they environment well, but they possess the uncanny ability to adapt their messaging to said environment without missing a beat. The message is not about the messenger; it has nothing to do with messenger; it is however 100% about meeting the needs and the expectations of those you’re communicating with.

So, how do you know when your skills have matured to the point that you’ve become an excellent communicator? The answer is you’ll have reached the point where your interactions with others consistently use the following ten principles:

1. Speak not with a forked tongue: In most cases, people just won’t open up those they don’t trust. When people have a sense a leader is worthy of their trust they will invest time and take risks in ways they would not if their leader had a reputation built upon poor character or lack of integrity. While you can attempt to demand trust, it rarely works. Trust is best created by earning it with right acting, thinking, and decisioning. Keep in mind that people will forgive many things where trust exists, but will rarely forgive anything where trust is absent.

2. Get personal: There is great truth in the axiom that states: “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Classic business theory tells leaders to stay at arms length. I say stay at arms length if you want to remain in the dark receiving only highly sanitized versions of the truth. If you don’t develop meaningful relationships with people you’ll never know what’s really on their mind until it’s too late to do anything about it.

As anyone who has crammed for an exam can tell you, usually the number of hours we work without interruption is inversely proportionate to how much we accomplish. So how do these entrepreneurs manage to work so many hours without suffering from brain fatigue?

Well, first of all, it is because they truly love being an entrepreneur and are passionate about their enterprise. But, I believe, part of the answer is that they wear so many hats. They never get stuck doing the same kind of work for too long.

Here are some more brain-based tips that can work wonders and could be what helps propel entrepreneurs forward:

1. Buy a good office chair, or get a standing desk. 

Focal Upright Furniture has a brand-new chair-and-desk combination on the market. Invented by Martin Keen, of Keen shoes fame, it uses a position between sitting and standing, and allows lots of movement as you work. It also helps those who use it remain attentive.

2. Do not multitask.

John Medina, author of Brain Rules, tells us the brain cannot multitask, period. What it does do is switch back and forth between tasks very quickly. Someone whose attention is interrupted not only takes 50% longer to accomplish a task but also makes up to 50% more errors. A study in The New England Journal of Medicine found that people who talk on the cell phone while driving are four times more likely to have an accident, because it isn’t possible to devote your full attention to both driving and talking at the same time. Hands-free calling offered no advantage. What’s the lesson to take away? Focus on one task at a time, and you’ll accomplish each better and faster–without killing anybody.

3. Use all your senses.

Work is more entertaining for your brain–and therefore makes you more alert–when you engage as many of your senses as possible. Use colored paper and pens. Experiment with peppermint, lemon, or cinnamon aromatherapy. Try playing background music.

4. Don’t make too many decisions in one day.

It sounds farfetched, but if you go shopping in the morning, then negotiate yourself out of eating a cookie at lunch, and finally try to decide between two job offers that afternoon, you might choose the wrong job because you didn’t eat the cookie, according to Scientific American. Making choices depletes your reserves of executive function, or “the mental system involved in abstract thinking, planning, and focusing on one thing instead of another.” This can adversely affect decisions you make later.

5. Take a quick break every 20 minutes.

A study in the journal Cognition reveals that people can maintain their focus or “vigilance” much longer when their brains are given something else to think about every 20 minutes. That’s the time when thinking becomes less efficient. This trick is called momentary deactivation. If your mind isn’t as sharp after a long period of work, it may not be completely fatigued. It just needs to focus on something else to refresh the specific neural network you’ve been using.

6. Work with your own circadian rhythms. 

Are you an early bird or a night owl? Do you fade every afternoon, or is that when you are strongest? Don’t schedule an important meeting at a time when you will be operating on one cylinder. And don’t waste your peak work time at a doctor’s appointment.

7. Relax for 10 minutes every 90 minutes.

When you’re awake, your brain cycles from higher alertness (busy beta waves) to lower alertness (alpha waves) every 90 minutes. At that point, you become less able to focus, think clearly, or see the big picture. You know the signals: You feel restless, hungry, and sleepy, and reach for a coffee. Herbert Benson of Harvard, author of The Relaxation Response, recommends working to the point where you stop feeling productive and start feeling stressed. At that moment, disengage. Meditate, do a relaxation exercise, pet a furry animal, go for a quick jog, take a hot shower, pick up your knitting, practice the piano, or look at paintings. Allowing your brain to go into a state of relaxation, daydreaming, and meditating will reset your alertness.

Read full article via Inc.

These three tips gave me a big lift in energy (and overall performance): 

• Commit to an hour of exercise a day: In the book Younger Next Year, I read about a plan calling for an hour per day of exercise, six days per week. I started this plan a year ago, and the payoff has been an extra one and a half to two hours of peak energy per day, which keeps me focused and productive.
• Set your priorities: You’re a leader; you know how to get things done. So decide what your real priorities are, and then make sure you make time for those–and skip the less important stuff.
• Eat better, whenever you can: You may not always eat well, but you probably know already which eating choices you should change. The trick is to avoid the “all or none” mental trap. If you can’t sustain an eating regimen for the rest of your life, then by default it is a fad diet for you. Better to make better choices that you can make forever.

Read full article via inc.com

Michael Dell simply gets it.  He understands that businesses can no longer afford to rest on their laurels while the digital bazaar transforms the world around them.  More importantly, however, Dell understands that in order to promote change he must lead by example.  No executive has all the solutions to the many questions surrounding the shifting corporate landscape, but at least Dell isn’t afraid to look for the answers.

Using Dell as our model of forward-thinking leadership, I offer these seven traits of what it takes to be an affective social executive.  Fidelman has expertly identified the traits of those executives unafraid or incapable of changing with the times, but now it’s time to seek out the antidote.

#1 The Malleable Mind

Think of the “Malleable Mind” as the counter to Fidelman’s “Short Sleeve Fat Tie Executive.”  Whereas Fat Tie Execs expect to be sole originators of all ideas, cruelly dictating company agenda from the confines of their office, Malleable Minds value the input of their employees.  They aren’t threatened by change—in fact they’re often excited by it, and actively encourage an environment of new ideas and approaches.  Malleable Minds recognize that employee initiative and collaboration are essential cornerstones of the social business, and they encourage their workers to utilize social media and discuss new ideas that might improve day-to-day operations.  Malleable Minds know that you can’t keep a good idea down for long, and see it as their job to absorb information and help put ideas into motion.

Identifiable Traits – Malleable Minds understand that they’re not the only ones with good ideas.  They are unburdened by ego, actively seek feedback on their own initiatives and welcome the opinions of others.  They understand that respect is earned not through an iron fist, but through and open mind.  They may be the boss, but they do not take their positions for granted.

According to IBM’s Global CEO Study 2006, competitive pressures and global market forces are driving 65% of the world’s top executives to plan radical changes at their companies over the next two years.

Looking over the results of this survey, it becomes very clear that CEOs today are looking at new kinds of innovation to drive substantial organizational change. It’s not just product innovation anymore. Now it’s about innovation in a business model, an operational process, or a management behavior. In making this point, one CEO commented that “The business model we choose will determine the success or failure of our strategy,” while another stated that “Products and services can be copied, the business model will be the differentiator.”

Fear is definitely a factor in the impetus for change. In fact, 61% of CEOs admit they fear that their competitors will make changes in their own business models that ultimately reshape the landscape of their respective industries. So CEOs want their companies to be ready to adapt rapidly – or, better still, be the company leading the industry transformation.

CEOs today want innovative ideas not only from employees but from customers, and trading partners. This is in direct contrast to past corporate philosophy, where innovation was considered too critical and proprietary to involve outsiders. In fact, the study highlights the link between external collaboration and financial performance. Top performing organizations used external sources 30% more than under-performers. On this kind of collaboration, one CEO stated that, “We need third parties as benchmarks and sparring partners. This also helps our staff broaden their views.”  While another simply stated, “If you think you have all of the answers internally, you are wrong.”

While a large portion of CEOs recognize that big changes are on the horizon, a significant portion indicated some trepidation about their company’s ability to execute the necessary changes. As they contemplate this radical change, only 20% of CEOs say they’ve been highly successful in such endeavors in the past.

So what does all this mean to communicators? Well, for starters – here are the messages you’ll be asked to spread throughout the organization for the next couple of years:

WANT TO INCREASE YOUR VALUE TO THE ORGANIZATION?
Become a top-knotch collaborator.
Benchmark everywhere.
Constantly reinvent your job.
Nurture innovation in your team or work group.
Become a champion of change.
Do all that – and the future is yours!

Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D. is the author of nine books including CREATIVITY IN BUSINESS and  “THIS ISN’T THE COMPANY I JOINED” — How to Lead in a Business Turned Upside Down. She delivers keynote speeches and seminars to association and business audiences around the world. For more information or to book Carol as a speaker at one of your events, please call: 510-526-1727, email: CGoman@CKG.com, or visit her website: http://www.CKG.com.

Here’s my view on “leaders.”  I believe that everyone can – and should  – lead from wherever one is inside an organization, irrespective of level, title, or whether one manages others or not.

To survive today, every organization needs people willing to lead at every level and in every position.  What’s more, leading is one way in which everyone can continue to contribute and more importantly grow.

It’s a win-win.

The trick is being able to use your influence to get others to follow you.  One can’t be a leader – no matter the definition – without followers.

In what ways do you lead, and how can you get more followers?

Most leaders agree that effective collaboration is more important than ever in today’s turbulent business environment. In a “do-more-with-less” reality, it takes ongoing teamwork to produce innovative, cost effective and targeted products and services. In fact, a company’s very survival may depend on how well it can combine the potential of its people and the quality of the information they possess with their ability (and willingness) to share that knowledge throughout the organization.

But here’s the problem . . .

The collaboration that is so critical to organizations is being blocked by knowledge-hoarding silo structures and the accompanying “silo mentality” that has become synonymous with power struggles, lack of cooperation, and loss of productivity.

So what’s to be done? Here, from A to Z, are my most successful strategies, based on 25 years of helping clients around the world tear down silos, reduce conflicts, and increase collaboration.

A. Find ways to ACKNOWLEDGE collaborative contributors. Recognize and promote people who learn, teach and share. And penalize those who do not. In all best-practices companies, those hoarding knowledge and failing to build on ideas of others face visible and serious career consequences. In those top companies, employees who share knowledge, teach, mentor, and work across departmental boundaries are recognized and rewarded.

B. Watch your BODY LANGUAGE. All leaders express enthusiasm, warmth, and confidence — as well as arrogance, indifference, and displeasure through their expressions, gestures, touch, and use of space. If leaders want to be perceived as credible and collaborative, they need to make sure that their verbal messages are supported (not sabotaged) by their nonverbal signals.

C. Focus on the CUSTOMER. Nothing is more important in an organization – whether it’s a for-profit company or a non-profit group – than staying close to the end user of the service or product you offer and encouraging feedback and 2-way dialogue. When you build collaborative relationships with your customers, you give them power and investment in your organization’s success.

D. DIVERSITY is crucial to harnessing the full power of collaboration. Experiments at the University of Michigan found that, when challenged with a difficult problem, groups composed of highly adept members performed worse than groups whose members had varying levels of skill and knowledge. The reason for this seemingly odd outcome has to do with the power of diverse thinking. Group members who think alike or are trained in similar disciplines with similar knowledge bases run the risk of becoming insular in their ideas. Instead of exploring alternatives, a confirmation bias takes over and members tend to reinforce one another’s predisposition. Diversity causes people to consider perspectives and possibilities that would otherwise be ignored.

E. ELIMINATE the barriers to a free flow of ideas. Everyone has knowledge that is important to someone else, and you never know whose input is going to become an essential part of the solution. When insights and opinions are ridiculed, criticized or ignored, people feel threatened and “punished” for contributing. They typically react by withdrawing from the conversation. Conversely, when people are free to ask “dumb” questions, challenge the status quo, and offer novel–even bizarre–suggestions, then sharing knowledge becomes a collaborative process of blending diverse opinion, expertise and perspectives.

F. To enhance collaboration, analyze and learn from FAILURE. Leading innovators like Apple see their failures as being as insightful as their successes. The goal is not to eliminate all errors, but to analyze mistakes in order to create systems that more quickly detect and correct mistakes before they become fatal.

G. Collaboration takes GUIDANCE by managers who know how to harness the energies and talents of others while keeping their own egos in check. Successful organizations require leaders at all levels who manage through positive influence and inclusion rather than by position.

H. Eliminate HOARDING by challenging the “knowledge is power” attitude. Knowledge is no longer a commodity like gold, which holds (or increases) it’s worth over time. It’s more like milk – fluid, evolving, and stamped with an expiration date. And, by the way, there is nothing less powerful than hanging on to knowledge whose time has expired.

I. Focus on INNOVATION. Creativity is triggered by a cross-pollination of ideas. It is in the combination and collision of ideas that creative breakthroughs most often occur. When an organization focuses on innovation, it does so by bringing together people with different backgrounds, perspectives, and expertise – breaking down barriers and silos in the process.

J. JOIN the social media revolution and utilize Web 2.0 technologies – tools and processes that allow people to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives in order to collaborate and to self-organize.

K. Realize that there are two kinds of KNOWLEDGE in your organization: Explicit knowledge can be transferred in a document or entered in a database. Tacit knowledge needs a conversation, a story, a relationship. Make sure you are developing strategies to capture both.

L. LEADERS at all levels of an organization can nurture collaboration within their own work group or staff. And the most successful of these leaders do so by taking the time and effort necessary to make people feel safe and valued. They emphasize people’s strengths while encouraging the sharing of mistakes and lessons learned. They set clear expectations for outcomes and clarify individual roles. They help all members recognize what each of them brings to the team. They model openness, vulnerability and honesty. They tell stories of group successes and personal challenges. And most of all, they encourage and respect everyone’s contribution.

M. MIX it up by rotating personnel in various jobs and departments around the organization, by creating cross-functional teams, and by inviting managers from other areas of the organization to attend (or lead) your team meetings.

N. Employees with multiple NETWORKS throughout the organization facilitate collaboration. You can accelerate the flow of knowledge and information across boundaries by encouraging workplace relationships and communities. Use a tool like Social Network Analysis (SNA) to create a visual model of current networks so you can reinforce the connections and help fill the gaps.

O. Insist on OPEN and transparent communication. In an organization, the way information is handled determines whether it becomes an obstacle to or an enabler of collaboration. Employees today need access to information at any time. From any place.

P. Collaboration is a PARTNERSHIP. As one savvy leader put it, “To make collaboration work, you’ve got to treat people the way you want to be treated. It’s pretty simple, really. Treat all employees as your partners. Because they are.”

Q. Ask the right QUESTIONS. At the beginning of a project, ask: What information/knowledge do we need? Who are the experts? Who in the organization has done this before – do we have this on a database? Who else will need to know what we learn? How do we plan to share/hand off what we learn?

R. The success of any organization or team – its creativity, productivity, and effectiveness – hinges on the strength of the RELATIONSHIPS of its members. Collaboration is enhanced when employees get to know one another as individuals. So when you hold offsite retreats, organization-wide celebrations, or workplace events, be sure to provide opportunities for “social” time and personal relationships. Taking time to build this “social capital” at the beginning of a project will also increase the effectiveness of a team later on.

S. Collaboration is communicated best through STORIES – of successes, failures, opportunities, challenges, and knowledge accumulated through experience. Find those stories throughout your organization. Record them. Share them.

T. TRUST is the foundation for collaboration. It is the conduit through which knowledge flows. Without trust, an organization loses its emotional “glue.” In a culture of suspicion people withhold information, hide behind psychological walls, and withdraw from participation. If you want to create a networked organization, the first and most crucial step is to build a culture of trust.

U. Combating silo mentality requires UNIFYING goals.  Business unit leaders must understand the overarching goals of the total organization and the importance of working in concert with other areas to achieve those crucial strategic objectives.

V.  The incentive to collaborate is the VALUE of the exchange to both the organization and the individual. When the assets and benefits of productive collaboration are made visible, silos begin to break down.

W. Your WORKPLACE layout encourages or impedes the way the organization communicates. To facilitate knowledge sharing, you need to create environments that stimulate both arranged and chance encounters. Attractive break-out areas, coffee bars, comfortable cafeteria chairs, even wide landings on staircases – all of these increase the likelihood that employees will meet and linger to talk.

X. Take a tip from XEROX. It discovered that real learning doesn’t take place in the classroom – or in any formal setting. In fact, people were found to learn more from comparing experiences in the hallways than from reading the company’s official manuals, going online to a knowledge repository, or attending training sessions.

Y. Collaboration is crucial for YOUR success. We’re witnessing the death of “The Lone Ranger” leadership model, where one person comes in with all the answers to save the day. We now know that no leader, regardless of how brilliant and talented, is smarter than the collective genius of the workforce.

Z. Forget about reaching the ZENITH. Collaborative cultures are learning cultures – and knowledge sharing is an ongoing process, not an end point.

Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D. is the author of nine books including CREATIVITY IN BUSINESS and  “THIS ISN’T THE COMPANY I JOINED” — How to Lead in a Business Turned Upside Down. She delivers keynote speeches and seminars to association and business audiences around the world. For more information or to book Carol as a speaker at one of your events, please call: 510-526-1727, email: CGoman@CKG.com, or visit her website: http://www.CKG.com.

Ever have the feeling things are moving so fast you don’t have time to even make a proper introduction?

That has certainly been the case with the new Communications Leadership Community.  Carol Kinsey Goman, who has been a leader on the community since it was formed, has now been joined by three new leaders, each coming to the topic from different vantage points, and with a wealth of career experience.

The distinguished leaders of Communication Leadership are:

• Carol Kinsey Goman, President, Kinsey Consulting Services
• Liz Guthridge, founder and managing consultant of Connect Consulting Group LLC
• Sharon Wamble-King, VP, Corporate Communication, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida
• Tom Lee, founder and president of Arceil Leadership Ltd

The four leaders will serve as the eyes and ears for the topic of communication leadership, and will be blogging on trends and issues they see as critical to success.  They are also willing to answer any questions you might have, so post your comments or questions on the blog.

As one more way of getting to know each, we’ve asked them to answer this timely question:

What advice do you have for corporate communicators charged with helping their upper management stay on the same sheet when conveying difficult financial outlook to stakeholders?

Here are their answers.  Can you add to their thoughts?

Liz Guthridge, founder and managing consultant of Connect Consulting Group LLC:

Follow the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDMA) cycle by W. Edwards Deming. Although the model’s origins are in fixing problems, especially process improvements, it’s well suited for this situation. Why? The leaders—and you as their guide—need to be disciplined in deciding what to say and do, and then being consistent as individuals and as a group. Also, how you say and do things is almost as important as the what.
 
Without this disciplined approach, you could contribute to the chaos. Keep in mind that you’ve got multiple leaders who have their own point-of-views, varied experiences, and different levels of financial expertise. You’re working in unchartered territory in terms of the volatile world economy. And add to the mix: you’ve got anxious, fearful and hesitant stakeholders.
 
Your leaders must be on the same page working in concert. They also must collaborate to help restore the confidence of employees, customers, investors, and other key stakeholders. Even if the financial news continues to be bad, they have to keep our hopes alive. Everyone’s hard—and smart work—will turn things around in the future. We all need to be looking up at the stars and dreaming realistically while we’re feeling down in the dumps.

Carol Kinsey Goman, President, Kinsey Consulting Services

Make sure that leaders communicate with their audiences face-go-face. Here’s why . . .

In face-to-face meetings, our brains process the continual cascade of nonverbal cues that we use as the basis for building trust and professional intimacy. We interpret what people say to us only partially from the words they use. We get most of the message (and all of the emotional nuance behind the words) from vocal tone, pacing, facial expressions and body language.

We may have spent years learning to read and write with various levels of mastery, but no one had to teach us to send and respond to nonverbal signals. In fact our brains need and expect these more primitive and significant channels of information. According to Dr. Thomas Lewis, an expert on the psychobiology of emotions, when we are denied these interpersonal cues and are forced to rely on the printed word alone, the brain struggles and real communication suffers.

Think of it this way: Technology may be a great facilitator for factual information, but when your communication has any emotional charge, a face-to-face meeting is still your best choice. It’s the only way that others can note the alignment of your verbal and nonverbal messages and be convinced that your motives match your rhetoric.

Comment:

Liz and Carol make solid points. Because I deal with CEOs and CFOs of public companies who more often are faced with the issue of sharing bad financial news, here are three strategies that have worked with them: 1. Limit the number of spokespeople. While you can create talking points and Q&As and distribute them to everyone, you still can’t control what an executive says when an equity analyst or reporter calls out of the blue. It helps to have a policy in place for people to send the caller back to Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, or the CEO’s of CFO’s office. And if possible–when the spokesperson isn’t you–ensure that the information shared on those calls also is shared with you, so you know what’s now in the public domain (and if you need to take any action as a result). 2. Rehearse your spokespeople. We all know the perils of “winging it.” Unfortunately, some executives are very facile and don’t think they need to practice–or say they don’t have the time to do this. Be persistent–or insistent. And know when you can’t carry the message yourself (because a CEO doesn’t want to be critiqued by someone who reports to him, for example). Suggest speaker training or a consultant who can help, so he doesn’t feel uncomfortable. Do whatever works. 3. Share the results. When executives see that the coverage the company is receiving is fair and the messages that appear are consistent, they will support the approach you’re advocating. On the flip side, if your organization has a scattered approach now, use the less than stellar results as a lever to change behavior. There’s no motivator like a falling stock price or a bad article or TV interview to get people to take a new (better!) tack.

Lynn Franklin

Employees are smart, aren’t we? We know a lot about our jobs, the people we work for and with, and have ideas about how things can be done differently or better.

We’re also really powerful: Our neighbors are asking us what our companies are like. We’re sharing information on our Facebook pages. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, ‘people like us’ are more respected than CEOs and VPs of communications.

In these difficult economic times, making our workplaces more efficient, cutting costs, and innovating can be keys to survival.

It all starts with LISTENING. What are employees saying? Have you asked them how they think you can save costs, or how they think things should be done differently?

• Build into every employee communication a means for employees to give input and share their views. Don’t judge — be appreciative of what they have to say. Respond appropriately. If there is difficulty with an idea, say so and ask them how it might be addressed.
• If you hear a great idea and decide to implement it, reward the person(s) who suggested it. Celebrate it!
• Get out and talk with your people more. We’re too digital these days, but we’re hard-wired as a species to look each other in the eye and communicate. Great — and better — ideas come from discussing.

A place to start listening is with an employee survey. We work with the Great Place to Work Institute, which does the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For list and a small and mid-sized company list as well. The FORTUNE nominations are free (and due March 31, 2009) at greatplacetowork-100best.com. It’s a great tool to hear what your employees think of your workplace, and you get to see how you compare to the 100 Best Companies.

Best of all, you’ll have an opportunity to RESPOND. To make changes to improve your workplace and business.

Lee Weinstein

What do 2-year-olds and CEOs have in common? They should be asking lots of questions.

According to Peter Senge, asking good questions is one of the most effective ways to open our mind, be more present and learn from others.

When we ask good questions, we take an important first step to explore the uncertain.

The start of a new year—especially the start of a new decade and a tumultuous 2009—is an opportune time to consider the questions you and your leaders are asking.

From a leadership communications perspective, start asking questions about these three key categories: purpose, people and process.

Purpose Questions

• What’s our reason for being and are we still true to it? (As the Wall Street Journalist columnist Peggy Noonan wrote in Look Ahead with Stoicism—and Optimism, many institutions seemed to have forgotten their mission the last decade.)
• What’s the organization’s focus? In other words, how well do your 2010 plans and goals sync up with your mission?
• How well can your stakeholders articulate your mission? Do they know the organization’s priorities and their own? Do they need support from you?

People Questions

• How well are you and the leaders listening to your stakeholders? What insights are you gathering from customers, employees, partners, vendors and others?
• How well are the leaders connecting with employees and inspiring them? Do employees know what you expect of them? To what extent are they taking responsibility for what needs to be done, rather than sitting back and waiting on having the right authority? To what degree are employees anticipating customer needs?
• From the perspective of someone who’s helping leaders with their communication, where’s the leverage? How have you divvied up responsibilities? What are you delegating to each other? What’s the most efficient? What’s the most effective?

Process Questions

• What can you stop doing this year to save time and resources? You either want to stop it because it’s not effective; it’s wasteful or no longer valued. For example, are there standing meetings that have outlived their usefulness? Reports? Questions on surveys?
• What could be working better? Do you need to tweak ways you’re working? Are you using the measurement data you’re gathering to fine-tune your communication channels, messages and meetings? And when did you last consider whether you’re easy to work with or not? (For some ideas, read the article “Are you easy?” in the January issue of THE LEAN COMMUNICATOR™.)

• What do you need to start doing? Do you need to listen to more voices? Involve people more? Measure more relevant issues? Experiment more with social media?

These simple questions can start some very involved and thorny discussions. They also may expose some vulnerabilities in processes, people and purpose.

In fact, Senge says the mere act of asking difficult questions can show a sense of vulnerability, which is why leaders (but not 2-year-olds) are often reluctant to ask challenging questions that will ignite demanding conversations. Yet, these conversations are necessary to make sure you’re on the right track for 2010 and the rest of the teens.

Liz Guthridge is a consultant, author, and trainer specializing in strategic change communications. Department leaders of Fortune 1000 companies hire Liz and her firm Connect Consulting Group LLC when they need their people—who are confused, angry or in denial—to adopt complex new initiatives so they can quickly change the way they work. For more information, contact Liz, liz.guthridge@connectconsultinggroup.com or 510-527-1213. Follow Liz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/lizguthridge.

There has been some lamentation of late for the apparent “decline of the internal communicator”, a mere decade since the “rise and rise” of said species was proclaimed in London headhunter Nick Helsby’s “The Rise of the Internal Communicator.” Indeed, with a supine employment market and an increasing preference for junior or implementational practitioners for organisation-wide IC roles, one could get a sense that the profession is in a state of inexorable decline.

But such a view belies both the role of the “social media revolution” and greater sophistication within organisations about the relative value of specific internal and external audiences.

What we are starting to see in organisations is a shift in strategic emphasis from one-size-fits-all internal and external messaging towards communication approaches that target and engage smaller but higher-value audiences. On the external side, instead of focusing on 10 reporters, the focus is beginning to shift towards, perhaps, 100 or 1000 decision-makers and high impact stakeholders. Communication is becoming more direct, and also more mediated. But the mediation is less through broadcast sources, and more through individuals who have social or peer credibility within these higher value audiences.

In truth, this has been how many internal comms practitioners have been operating for years, perhaps even while seemingly maintaining their channel mixes as their “day jobs”. Certainly, change communicators ignore the existence of smaller, higher-value, “tribal” audiences at their own peril as these are the main constituencies capable of giving change velocity and credibility. While social media did not by any means invent the smaller, higher-value, tribal constituency, social tools now make those audiences far easier to identify, reach and mobilise today than before.

Indeed, the application of social tools make clear that external audiences behave much more like internal “tribes” than traditionally thought – with complex interrelationships, clearly acknowledged leaders, and common interests, values and ambitions.

If we are moving from an emphasis on audience spread (broadcasting) towards one on audience value (narrowcasting, targeting and relationship building), then the future actually augurs better for more sophisticated and even more mature internal communicators than some currently think.

For internal communicators have had both the opportunity to analyse and prioritise elements of their employee masses through stakeholder mapping exercises, and have held a variety of formal and informal tools with which to engage their stakeholders directly. Even if those skills are less part of the job definition for a “Head of Internal Communication” today (a role which is likely to become more general and tactical), they will become more in demand for roles dealing with specific internal and external agendas – change communication roles internally, social communication roles internally and externally, and external stakeholder management.

At the same time, recruiters are often the last people to get the memo on such things, which is why the market may well trail these trends for a while. But the trend towards a focus on audience value is borne out both by what is happening in the industry and by the adoption of social communication technologies – focusing on fewer people who have greater impact. Those who can do this are those most likely to succeed, and it’s an area where internal communication pros have the edge.

Mike Klein is Communication Partner at Maersk Oil in Copenhagen and is the author of From Lincoln to LinkedIn – The 55 Minute Guide to Social Communication. His thoughts are his own and not necessarily that of his employer.

John Baldoni is a leadership consultant, coach, and speaker. He picked up one leadership lesson while teaching at the Banff Centre recently that really resonated.

Andrew Solnordal, a regional manager at Gulf & Fraser, a credit union in British Columbia. Andrew is responsible for a nine-branch operation and more than eighty employees. He has committed himself to visiting with each and every employee once per quarter.

“Think about it,” writes Baldoni in Harvard Business Publishing.  “He’s adding 320+ meetings to his schedule per year. Not because he has to, but because he feels it’s the right thing to do.

Here are three reasons why Solnordal’s idea may be a good one for you.  Read the article.

Have you read The Authentic Enterprise, the 2007 Arthur W. Page Society white paper? (Well at least skimmed its 60 pages, although there is now an executive summary.) In my book, this report is required reading for communication pros and leaders.

Even though the report’s substantive research is more than two years old now, the report packs a punch. This was evident at the CCM (Council of Communication Management) Conference the end of April when Maril MacDonald of the consulting firm Gagen MacDonald and the president of the Arthur W. Page Society spoke to an attentive audience. Her topic was “The New Public Relations Agenda and Architects of Change” using the report as a foundation.

While I had read the report when it first came out, I was interested in hearing Maril talk about it in context of our current “reset” environment. (Yes, this is another way to say our work world has changed dramatically.) Her call to action for communication professionals is even more compelling now, especially since stakeholders are demanding proof of authenticity rather than authority.

Maril said we should consider ourselves “architects of change.” In this role, we should “drive the business, galvanize the organization, and embed new thinking and behaviors.”

In a more concrete manner, Maril identified four areas in which we must assert leadership: 1) defining and activating values; 2) building and managing multi-stakeholder relationships; 3) enabling the enterprise with “new media” skills and tools; and 4) building and managing trust.

These new areas of concentration combined with our new role require us to shift our mindset (and actions) from “informing and reporting to influencing and leading.” Or as Mary Boone likes to say, we must move from “tell and sell” to “ask and engage.”

To do well though, we need to operate with a common understanding of authenticity. From the report’s perspective, the authentic enterprise “is grounded in a sure sense of what defines it (mission, values, principles and beliefs.” Those definitions must dictate consistent behaviors and actions.

Seth Godin takes this one step further for individuals. He says authenticity is “doing what you promise, not being who you are. And since individuals make up organizations, this is sage advice.

So how can authentic communication pros best serve leaders and their organizations to be authentic? Here are five steps for starters:

1. Help leaders live up to their commitments.

2. Advise them against making promises that may be hard to keep. To paraphrase the incoming IABC Chairman Mark Schumann, “thinking (and talking big) while acting small” poses problems for credibility.

3. Role model authenticity yourself, including speaking, writing and acting with concreteness, simplicity and candor.

4. Gather feedback to ensure stakeholders perceive you and your leaders as talking your walk and fulfilling your commitments.

5. Reflect regularly on how you’re doing and make adjustments.

Remember, it’s hard to be good in a bad world so aim for progress not perfection. But the payoff for being authentic can be priceless, especially from piece of mind and worthy achievements.

What are you doing these days to be authentic?

Liz Guthridge is a consultant, author, and trainer specializing in strategic change communications. Department leaders of Fortune 1000 companies hire Liz and her firm Connect Consulting Group LLC when they need their people—who are confused, angry or in denial—to adopt complex new initiatives so they can quickly change the way they work. For more information, contact Liz, liz.guthridge@connectconsultinggroup.com or 510-527-1213. Follow Liz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/lizguthridge.

How many consultants or independent practitioners out there? How many of you work for the man, but view the man as your client? This is for all of you.

If you weren’t flexible before, you certainly have become more flexible in the past 13 months, right? Clients want to cherry pick what they can afford, sometimes opting to do more themselves. Some want to stagger project stages to fit a challenging budget. Some want to pre-bill, others want to delay billing.

The more flexible you can be, the better able you’ll be to survive in this tough environment. Here are some suggestions.

• Offer options for how your time is used and how it gets billed
• Work with subcontractors and vendors to flex their involvement and billing
• Be ready to work as part of the client team, with you doing some pieces and the other team members doing other pieces
• Be ready to teach others how to do stuff, rather than doing it for them
• Think in terms of smaller chunks of work that can be done incrementally
• Understand the dependencies between those smaller chunks of work
• Create a calendar of your work that shows all the time overlaps (Gannt Chart) so you can see how you might move things around to accommodate client’s changes
• Be ready to tackle those outlying projects during the down time, and be ready to spin up fast when too much work comes in at once
• Delegate where you can (budget allowing, of course)

For those working outside their client operations, I want to suggest a great book: Bag the Elephant, by Steve Kaplan. Its focus is on how you can operate in a way that makes it easier for large companies to hire you. The ideas work well for a client of any size, and some work well for those serving internal clients. It’s a short, easy read you’ll remember for a long time.

Stacy Wilson, ABC, is president of Eloquor Consulting, Inc., in Lakewood, Colorado