The Language of Leadership and Influence

I started out my career as a PR director for two college presidents.

There was a lot of speech-writing involved, which meant listening carefully to what they wanted to say. My job was to do everything possible to make sure the audience actually heard the intended message.

The challenge was never finding enough words; my bosses possessed no shortage of thoughts about a given topic. And, like you and me, they could wax poetic about every possibility pondered as well as how deeply they understood that different people might like to have different options, depending on the issue at hand.

This is where I learned the language of leadership and influence.

A Line in The Sand

The learning was this: Audiences want to see and hear a clear position. When they make judgments about leadership, they don't want to deal in the realm of "maybe" this or 'maybe" that. Even those who disagree with a stance still perceive the person as a leader because of the strong, clear position taken.

It's human nature to want to be accepted. The nature of leadership, however, is that everyone won't agree to follow you. But if you want to maximize your chances, draw a line in the sand. State your position and the reasons for it, then tell the group that's where you're headed until you find compelling evidence to the contrary.

We live in a world where there is a popular notion that "everything is relative" and "there are no absolutes." This is nothing but a cop-out to avoid personal accountability to other members of the human race.

Genuine leadership is all about accountability.

I put together the diagram below to serve as a visual reminder the next time you find yourself leading a meeting, a group, or a corporation. I believe it will serve you well, because it gives only two choices for how to develop and evaluate the message you are about to send.

The choice is yours: what kind of a path do you want your words to create? The answer will determine "who you are" in the eyes and ears of those in the room. Choose carefully.

Comments

[Sanjeev Sahgal]

Fantastic and Simple! Bravo for illustrating it with such simplicity.

[Steve Roesler]

Hello, Sanjeev. Good to know you find it helpful.

[Peter Bowler]

Imagery and vision setting are so important to the language of leadership. The line in the sand image resonates well. But I still think of George Bush senior whenever I hear it!
Peter
Time to Market

[Steve Roesler]

Peter,

You've prompted the first flashback of the day:-)

[speech writing]

Wonderful article, thanks for putting this together! "This is obviously one great post. Thanks for the valuable information and insights you have so provided here. Keep it up!"