Coaching Tip: The Leadership Blog

Inspire Interest to Create Desire

Positive stories are extremely important for inspiring interest that can create a desire to buy into what you propose to others. If you want your team to do something different, present stories and clear examples of how successful innovators are making a difference.

To 'sell' your concept, product or service, you must pass the ACID test: 

A. Gain favorable Attention,

  C. Inspire Confidence,

  I. Build Interest to where

  D. Desire surfaces.

When 'desire' surfaces, the other person takes the lead in the conversation while you begin to provide the evidence necessary to justify your proposal.

Appeal to both heart and mind to gain an enthusiastic buy-in.  Effective leaders establish an emotional connection.

The task isn’t to impose your will on an audience; it’s to enable participants to see the possibilities and come to their own conclusions, based on the evidence presented in your positive stories. These stories allow audience members to see the world for themselves, view their relationships in a new way and make progress in implementing organizational goals.

Reinforcing with Reasons

The desire for change will wane unless it’s supported and reinforced by compelling reasons. Remember to share the story of:

·         What the change is, as seen through the eyes of those who will be affected by it

·         How the change will be implemented, with a delineation of the simple steps for getting from “here” to “there”

·         Why the change will work, with an explanation of the underlying mechanisms that make change virtually inevitable

For more on passing the ACID test go to: www.SalesTip.info

Gaining Favorable Attention

 Successful leaders follow a unique, almost hidden communication pattern to pass the "A" of the ACID test. 

Grab the audience’s attention ► Stimulate desire ► Reinforce with reasons

To 'sell' your idea, product or service, you must pass the ACID test: 

A. Gain favorable Attention,

  C. Inspire Confidence,

  I. Build Interest to where

  D. Desire surfaces.

When 'desire' surfaces, the other person takes the lead in the conversation while you begin to provide the evidence necessary to justify your proposal.

Step 1: Getting the Audience’s Attention

In an experiment with 60 executives, researchers found the most important factors in grabbing their attention were:

1.    A personalized message

2.    Evoking an emotional response

3.    A trustworthy source

4.    Concise language

In fact, personalized messages that evoked emotion were more than twice as likely to resonate with the group.

Social scientists have shown that negative messages are more attention-getting than positive ones. To get an audience’s attention, share:

·         Stories about the audience’s problems

·         Stories about the problems’ worsening trajectory

·         A relevant story about how you dealt with adversity

·         A surprising question or challenge that will interest the audience--like "How well is _____ working for you?"

Traditional Communication Style Doesn't Work

The traditional communication approach follows this sequence:

Define the problem ► Analyze it ►Recommend a solution

This approach appeals to reason and has been a revered intellectual tradition in organizations since the ancient Greeks.  It works well when the aim is to pass on information to people who want to hear it, or who are obliged to comply and follow without question.

But if your aim is to get people to change their behavior and act in some fundamentally new ways with sustained energy and enthusiasm, old-school communication has two flaws:

1.    It doesn’t work.

2.    It often makes the situation worse (negative impact).

People who disagree with you or have other ideas and habits won’t respond well to your list of reasons to change. In fact, lecturing them on your beliefs will often lead to greater entrenchment in their long-held approaches and behaviors.

Confirmation Biases

A significant body of research shows that asking people to change often drives them more deeply into opposition. In study after study, people display a phenomenon called confirmation bias.

Confirmation bias is a tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions and to irrationally avoid information and interpretations that contradict existing beliefs. All of this happens instantaneously in the part of the brain that’s responsible for emotional reactions.

This explains why traditional persuasion techniques fail, especially when delivered too early in a presentation.  You risk speaking to a skeptical, cynical and/or hostile audience whose confirmation bias has been activated.

 Stephen Denning: The Secret Language of Leadership: How Leaders Inspire Action Through Narrative (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership)

How do you lead change?

Many experts proclaim that leadership is solely an issue of inner conviction: You must find the leader deep within yourself.

Other experts encourage you to:

·         Become the person others will want to follow

·         Discover your strengths

·         Increase your self-awareness, self-regulation and authenticity

·         Become emotionally and socially intelligent

·         Visualize to materialize

·         Be true to yourself, and change will happen

If leaders’ own inner commitment to change is to have any effect at all, they must communicate it to those they aspire to lead. Leaders’ actions speak louder than their words, but in the short run, it’s what leaders say — or don’t say — that has an impact.

The right words can create:

·         A galvanizing effect

·         Enthusiasm

·         Energy

·         Momentum

·         Sustainable motivation

The wrong words, or even words said in the wrong sequence, can undermine your best intentions and plans, killing an initiative on the spot.

 Stephen Denning: The Secret Language of Leadership: How Leaders Inspire Action Through Narrative (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership)

Effective Leadership Language

What does it take to transmit bold new ideas to people who don’t want to hear them?

How can the language you use facilitate enthusiastic, energetic implementation?

Transformational leaders:

·         Generate enduring enthusiasm for a common cause

·         Present innovative solutions to solve significant problems

·         Catalyze shifts in people’s values and ideologies

·         Demonstrate a willingness to sacrifice personal interests for the greater good

·         Help others get through crisis moments

·         Inspire people to want to change, creating a positive energy that sustains the change

·         Generate followers who will ultimately become leaders

The what of transformational leadership is reasonably clear.  It’s the how that’s usually obscure.

ð  How do leaders communicate complex ideas and spark others into enduringly enthusiastic action?

ð  What words do they use to inspire others to become new leaders?

ð  Why are some leaders able to accomplish the feat while others fail miserably?

Stephen Denning, a senior scholar at the University of Maryland’s Burns Academy of Leadership, makes the case for transformational communications in his book The Secret Language of Leadership (Jossey-Bass, 2007). More than anything, it’s what leaders say — and the way they say it — that generates sustained energy and exponential results.

 Stephen Denning: The Secret Language of Leadership: How Leaders Inspire Action Through Narrative (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership)

Administrative Professionals Day

Administrative Professionals Day, formerly known as Secretary's Day, is an unofficial secular holiday observed on the Wednesday of the last full week of April (i.e. April 22nd in 2009), to recognize administrative assistants, receptionists, personal assistants and other administrative professionals who seem to always be present making managers and executives look good at work. 

Over the years, Administrative Professionals Day has become one of the largest workplace observances. The event is celebrated worldwide, bringing together millions of people for community events, social gatherings, and individual corporate activities recognizing support staff with gifts of appreciation.  In the U.S., the day is often celebrated by giving one's administrative assistant such gifts as flowers, candy, lunch at a restaurant, or time off.

The International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP), the sole official sponsor of Administrative Professionals Day, suggests that employers show their support for the holiday, and their staff, by providing training opportunities for their administrative staff, whether through continuing education, self-learning or personal or business coaching. The IAAP also recognizes the efforts of those who serve in human resources, professional and personal development staff, and those who serve in positions related to the daily grind of paperwork.

Hoping to take the mystery out of gift-giving, a recent survey of 400 members of IAAP requested feedback on their experiences and opinions surrounding this often overlooked holiday.  Here is a summary of what they said:

•    The preferred reward can cost less than the alternatives -- 79 percent of administrative professionals would rather receive a monetary reward of $25 to spend any way they want when given the choice between that, a $40 floral arrangement (20 percent) or $30 in chocolates (1 percent)

•    Go with a gift card that stands out – 88 percent of those surveyed said they would rather receive $50 in the form of a gift card to spend to their liking, versus an extra $50 in their paycheck (12 percent). 

•    Don’t forget this year! – Of those surveyed, 72 percent said that their office or someone they’ve worked with has neglected to observe Administrative Professionals Day in the past and in fact, 50 percent of survey respondents have not received a gift on Administrative Professionals Day three or more times. 

Among those surveyed, feeling valued is important but if they are to be rewarded in the form of a gift, it’s important that they can put it to use.  According to one administrative professional, “Much as I love flowers, they usually die within a week.  A gift card allows me to choose something that will last longer or to indulge in something I wouldn't normally purchase for myself.” 

Improve your reputation at work by visiting www.americanexpress.com/gift or your local coffee shop or department store to order a gift card for those people who support you at work on Administrative Professionals Day---April 22nd this year. 

 

The Optimal Strategy

The optimal strategy is reducing what other people know about what you know.

Poker, which illustrates the importance of an optimal strategy, is a game of imperfect information since so much is concealed.  Solving the game of poker would not overcome the disadvantage of being unable to know why your opponent is acting as he or she is.  Such strategy concepts derive from an abstruse field of applied mathematics called game theory, which was formulated, in the nineteen-forties, to address difficult economic problems.

Losers at poker tend to think that they didn't get the cards, and not that they were beaten by someone who played better than they did.  They return to the table and wait for big hands and lose more.  Accomplished players strive to diminish the effects of luck.  From the pattern of their opponents' bets and behaviors, they work like detectives to determine their cards.  They play opportune hands deceptively, and feckless ones, too, and shed unpromising ones before the cards cause them too much harm.

Mobile Phones and the Internet

Considering 41.9 million people accessed the Internet from a mobile device in November 2008 alone, many involved in the industry say the time has come for small businesses to get in the game.

"A good mobile site serves a purpose, answers a question or fulfills a need--and they do it quickly," says Jim Shilale, vice president of U.S. business development for 2ergo Group PLC, a U.K. company that designs, hosts and manages mobile-Web sites for other companies.  Here is an example of one of mine: www.CoachedtoSuccess.mobi

Visitors to the mobile Web are likely to be traveling on business, commuting to work or driving through an unfamiliar town.  Therefore, a restaurant with a mobile-Web site that includes an easily viewable menu, driving directions and a link to make reservations might have an advantage over one that hasn't invested in a phone-friendly Internet site.

For small businesses that decide to pursue the mobile Web, there are several ways to proceed.  Options include adding a cellphone-compatible subpage to an existing Web site, buying a new domain name and starting a new site or transforming an existing site into one that can be viewed on either a PC or cellphone.

People viewing Web sites on cellphones are typically in a rush and dealing with slow wireless connections, so mobile sites that require little to download have the best chance of holding users' attentions.  To the end, graphics should be kept to a minimum or eliminated altogether, as should links.  Cellphone users don't want to click on link after link and wait for new pages to load.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, February 23, 2009

Changing Minds within a Culture

Getting people to change their minds is harder still when you’re working with large groups.

Judith E. Glaser, author of The DNA of Leadership, tells us that culture represents how work gets done: how you make decisions, how you treat customers, how you complete projects on budget, how you reward effort for excellence and innovation, how you develop employees to more productive.

Cultural situation awareness begins with capturing accurate and deliberate business intelligence using the very best diagnostic measurements and precision tools.  Today, the Internet allows management to know 'what's happening now' across the enterprise.  Since people represent 50-80% of organizational costs and are a flexible resource through learning and innovating, engaging them for enhanced productivity is why effective leadership matters.

Leaders will experience greater success when they follow five key approaches:

 

1. The Power of Stories

 

Stories can be a key element in changing minds. In a story, you have a main character, ongoing activities to achieve a goal, a crisis, and a resolution.

 

Leaders must analyze the current situation, determine what needs to change, create a convincing narrative, and present it to those whose minds they hope to change.  Success depends on the narrative’s effectiveness, whether it is convincingly conveyed, and how leaders embody the presentation.  The more personal and authentic the story, the more people will identify with common themes.

 

2. The Power of Variety

 

One’s level of familiarity with a concept determines how we successfully process and accept it.  Delivering the same content in multiple forms is a powerful way to change people’s minds.  People must not only hear the message, but also see it—often in the form of images, graphs, and diagrams.  Using more than one delivery method gives people an opportunity to form mental representations in their preferred learning mode.

Changing Minds is a Challenge

Every year, we gain a clearer understanding that without positive change, decline is inevitable.  The challenge is to recognize that what we are now doing can be reinvented by paying attention to our intentions. Yet, it is very hard to bring about significant change without changes in behavior.  That is why New Year Resolutions are so difficult to achieve.

 

Changing people’s behavior is the most important challenge for business leaders competing in unpredictable environments.

 

“The central issue is never strategy, structure, culture, or systems,” asserts Dr. John P. Kotter, a retired Harvard Business School professor who specializes in leadership. “The core of the matter is always about changing the behavior of people.”

In summary, changing minds is not easy, but there are clear methods for increasing the probability of effecting real behavioral change.  Provision of coaching services is highly recommended to support change initiatives.