The Language of Inspiring Leadership
One of my CEO executive coaching clients is considering reinventing his company. He had a guest speaker who is an expert on reinvention come to speak to his people about “doing the impossible”. My client was incredibly gracious in inviting me to the talk. The topic of reinvention fascinates me whether it is helping leaders reinvent themselves and/or their organizations. I was also interested to observe how my client’s people received the talk.
My impression was that a number of the employees at the talk seemed bored to death. One individual’s body language made me think he was going to slip under the table! They just didn’t’ seem to be engaged in the topic. When asked if they had any questions…most seemed disinterested. I kept thinking what would appeal to their emotions rather than their intellect? Were their stories that they could relate to that would inspire them? What would motivate them to engage in the process?
3 Steps for Inspiring Change
Three steps enable the language of leadership to be most effective.
Step 1: Getting the Audience’s Attention
People aren’t necessarily listening when we speak. They are mentally responding to emails, preparing for their next meeting and thinking about other things, especially personal issues. The first step in communication is getting their focused 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 (“These problems are serious…”)
• Stories about the problems’ likely trajectory (“These problems are getting worse…”)
• A relevant story about how you dealt with adversity (particularly if you’re new to the audience)
• A surprising question or challenge that will interest the audience
Negative stories often work best because they wake us up, activating the primitive part of the brain (fight or flight). The audience may experience anxiety or caution, however, these are feelings that can deter enthusiastic action.
Step 2: Creating Desire
On the other hand, positive stories are extremely important for creating a desire to change and sparking people’s imaginations. If you want your team to do something different, present stories and clear examples of how successful innovators are making a difference.
Appeal to both heart and mind to gain an enthusiastic buy-in. Your audience must want to change.
Effective leaders establish an emotional connection and stimulate a desire for a different future. Without this emotional connection, nothing happens. Because decisions are made emotionally and almost instantly, without really activating the brain’s logic center, stimulating desire is critical.
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.
The idea of using stories certainly isn’t new. But the kinds of stories that are effective for leaders are different — not big and dramatic, relayed through a bullhorn. Change often hinges on simple, unpretentious and authentic stories. Practice telling positive, minimalist stories that reveal how successful changes have occurred. This approach connects you and your audience on an emotional level, leading to action and a willingness to imagine a new future.
Unfortunately, this approach often eludes aspiring leaders. If you want listeners to own the change idea, your stories must help them discover the truth for themselves, thereby creating a new story.
What the leader says is the scaffolding — a catalyst for a creative process inside listeners’ heads.
Step 3: Reinforcing with Reasons
While establishing an emotional connection is vital, reasoning remains relevant. The desire for change will wane unless it’s supported and reinforced by compelling reasons.
When we encounter strange new ideas, we can easily fall into a confirmation bias and search for reasons to preserve our existing viewpoint. But if we have an emotional connection with a leader and decide to explore change, then we are open and more willing to explore new elements.
Reasons reinforce emotional connections, so ideas for change should be presented at the end of your presentation.
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
Without a desire for change, people will have no energy or enthusiasm. Desire drives the change process.
Instead of relying on pure reason, facts and figures, tell stories that pack an emotional punch. They will cement into place the reasons for change and make them memorable.
Are you working in a company or law firm where leadership is able to grab people’s attention by first stimulating desire then reinforcing the message with reasons? Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development to help leadership communicate more effectively? How leaders language their message is critical.
One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Do I attempt to get people to change by telling compelling stories?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who want to communicate more powerfully.
Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become a more effective at communicating change. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.
I am currently accepting new executive coaching and career coaching clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to [email protected].
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