Two recent news events—the publishing of the new book
Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir and the death of
Jack Kemp—reminded me how leadership communications has evolved over the past 25 years.
Years ago, when I was working with Buffalo, NY-based client, the top leaders asked me to stay over the weekend to continue working on an assignment. As a reward, they invited me to attend a Republican fundraiser for Congressman Kemp as their guest. The keynoter was
William F. Buckley, Jr. Because I was very polite back then and also because I admired Buckley, I gladly agreed to go.
During the Q&A session, a native son asked Buckley what position he’d like in a future Kemp presidential administration. Without missing a beat, Buckley responded, “Chief Ventriloquist.” In the overflowing hotel ballroom, Buckley and I were the only ones who laughed.
Back then, most topnotch speechwriters and chiefs of staffs acted as ventriloquists for government officials as well as company leaders. Today, corporate ventriloquists are as outdated as an overhead projector. Corporate communication professionals can no longer control the messages, direct one-way communications, and observe the resulting actions from the sidelines.
We leadership communication professionals play a new role: specialized
Sherpas.
Like the Nepal Sherpas who escort explorers on mountaineering exhibitions, we guide, counsel and coach executives on uncertain, unsteady terrain. This includes watching for emerging issues, pointing out potential pitfalls, and identifying possible opportunities.
We also act as aggregators of diverse information, synthesizers of detailed content, and change agents to help stimulate the transformations taking place. Furthermore, we protect and uphold the company’s brand and reputation, build and manage relationships with all of the stakeholders, and maintain credibility and trust.
In this Sherpa role, we must recognize that we are leaders as well as followers. This is especially true for navigating the changing communications landscape brought on by the digital revolution, stakeholder empowerment, globalization, and the strained economic times. (For a discussion of the first three, read
The Authentic Enterprise, the 2007 report from the
Arthur W. Page Society.)
On the more traditional communication front—but still not our father’s or Buckley’s Oldsmobile— we need to persuade our leaders to take these three actions at a minimum.
1. Reduce the power distance between executives and employees. Coach your leaders to tone down their position of power and all the trappings when they meet with frontline managers, employees and other individuals who are low on the pecking order. This means dressing appropriately, talking genuinely without jargon, and taking time to listen carefully. Also, choose meeting spaces and seating arrangements that put everyone at ease, rather than show off the leaders as the royalty in the room. These details will help encourage a conversation rather than an “expert to idiots” speech.
2. Tell stories. Stories are another effective way to humanize leaders and share critical messages. Stories, especially those rich with believable characters, a plot, location, action, props and a moral, are memorable. They appeal to our emotions, not just our logic, and inspire us. They also connect us to each other, our shared mission and our values. If your leaders aren’t great story tellers, help them or get them help. (One article to start is Filmmaker Peter Gruber’s The Four Truths of the Storyteller, Harvard Business Review, December 2007.) And advise your leaders to listen to others’ stories too; don’t do all the talking.
3. Experiment with multi-media. When your leaders can’t be upfront and personal with stakeholders, at least get their image and voice out there. The digital revolution has made video production and audio casts so much simpler. At the IABC World Conference 2009, speaker after speaker either showed or talked about leaders doing low-production but high impact short videos and podcasts (3-5 minutes). To be effective, your leader doesn’t have to be using every media; just the ones he or she are willing to try.
Granted, in today’s work world, it seems you can’t make anyone do anything, especially leaders who have been breathing the rarefied air on the executive floor. However, those who are paying attention to the changing winds should accept your counsel. And they should also respect you for carefully guiding them, rather than treating them like high-priced ventriloquist dummies.What successes are having in guiding your leaders?
