GREAT LEADERS SPEAK ENGLISH: Ch. 6

CHAPTER 6
GREAT LEADERS SPEAK ENGLISH

Leaders are communicators. Good leaders are good communicators. Great leaders are great communicators. I have found that the greatest communicators and the greatest leaders use simple, direct and easy to understand language. A great leader does not need to overwhelm his or her followers with rhetoric that is both time consuming and hollow. In the leadership sprint there is no time for nonsense; there is only time for straightforward and honest communication. In the world of marathons there is ample time to use all the bureaucratic mumble jumble one can muster. The sprinter cannot afford the distraction.

There has been much discussion lately regarding the establishment of English as the official or national language for the United States. Usually, this topic is presented in the form of a debate as to whether or not the country is better served by having a common or uniform language to conduct all of its business in both public and private matters. Proponents of an official language argue that our nation was founded in English and that all of the official founding documents including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution etc. were written in English and that all of our official national legislation and official government business is also conducted using the English language. Opponents of establishing an official language counter with the argument of inclusion and multi culturalism and define our nation as a land of many diverse cultures, national origins and languages. Hence, to establish English as an official language, in this view, is to deprive non-English speakers of the use of their native language. This issue is the subject of a much larger debate that touches upon many more far reaching subjects such as immigration, public education and the like, all of which require a detailed discussion which is not our purpose here.

For our purposes here it will be argued that English should indeed be used as the proper language for conducting our public and official business. This is not to say that English should replace Spanish, Vietnamese or Portuguese but that it must replace Jargonise. Great leaders do not speak Jargonise. Consider this composite document being sent to you:

“We absolutely need to bring all the stakeholders to the table to dialogue cutting edge and replicable paradigms to leverage new funding streams and access new monies to craft a tapestry of seamless, strategic, synergistic, systemic, and sustainable modalities of holistic, wrap around services to impact all of our community partners in a proactive, inclusionary and collaborative manner. We must challenge ourselves to think outside the box and keep everyone in the loop; we need to be ahead of the curve and have a short learning curve; we must step up to the plate even though we may have a full plate; we need to hit the ground running and realize that it is marathon and not a sprint; we need to raise the bar but also level the playing field; we must avoid the slippery slope but be incentivized to get out of our functional silos, and we must realize that it is not a slam-dunk but a call to interface and carve out a model of best practices and visionary, state-of-the-art methodologies to go the full nine yards in addressing the huge challenges before us.”

Or:

“We will have a meeting of all interested parties to discuss new ways to increase funding.”

If effective communication is essential to success in the public domain, then the language used should be understood by as many people as possible. Great leaders are great communicators and they know that effective communication is an essential element of their leadership makeup. Most industries and service sectors have their own separate language nuances that are easily understood by the people who work there. However, it appears that more than ever we, in the public sector, the non-profit sector and academic worlds are replacing our use of English with the use of some hybrid form of a new-age American dialect that has only a faint resemblance to the original language. Great leaders do not fall into this easy trap; they distinguish themselves with the proper use of the language. Why not just keep the language, and therefore its meaning, as simple and understandable as possible? When did it become necessary to butcher the language and ignore any pretense to observing the rules of grammar? “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” These famous words may be better suited for America in the 21st century than they were for the nation years ago. In its most simple form, communication is the basic means by which one person makes his thoughts known to others. In a slightly more complicated form it is the means by which great leaders inspire others to follow. Should it not go without saying therefore, that those who follow should understand the meaning of the message from those who lead? I have been asked many times for the one magic elixir or most important rule of effective communication. Invariably, my response is a variation of: Speak English, use proper grammar and avoid jargon; i.e., keep it simple, clear and concise.

Can you imagine Thomas Jefferson writing to the British Parliament and telling them that “actually I’m not wanting to compare apples to oranges but our nations are way different and you guys have done some really mean stuff to us and we are so going to transition to a totally awesome nation with a huge paradigm shift without re-inventing the wheel. We are at the cutting edge of being transparent and after all the stuff that you’ve done we know that there is a disconnect and that you have held our freedom hostage and we are going to push back? Whatever.” (That was painful) Thomas Jefferson was a great leader and a great communicator. The leaders of today can distinguish themselves as different and more credible simply by the proper use of the language.

A good leader would rather invite people to a meeting than incentivize stakeholders to come to the table. However, once a good leader finds that elusive table he or she should ask those in attendance to explain when money became monies, when big and bigger became huge, when something definite became absolutely, when the nouns impact, access and leverage became verbs, and when did all the sports analogies creep into our everyday use? A great leader would then also ask them if they ever thought inside the box, and whether they even know what the box analogy is. (Most do not) I am not sure if I can slam dunk if the bar is raised any higher (unless the playing field is not level); and what if I want to sprint to a quick solution to a problem? Where is that slippery slope, and is it anywhere near the curve I am supposed to be ahead of? These, and many other equally inane, questions may never be answered (and probably never should have been asked.) Thus, I will stay with the recommendation to use clear, concise language and avoid the use of meaningless jargon. We can distinguish ourselves as communicators and, more importantly as great leaders, by employing the simple art of keeping it simple and understandable. After all, when we step up to the plate we want to knock it out of the park. Then again, the British Parliament could have responded to Jefferson by telling him that they could care less and that he and the other guys were a bunch of losers, and after all it is what it is, the King is the man and at the end of the day you’ll all be thrown under the bus.

GREAT LEADERS ARE FAIR CH. 5

CHAPTER 5
GREAT LEADERS ARE FAIR


Great leaders can be fair and still sprint to bold and decisive leadership decisions. Being fair is perhaps the trait most noticeable in great leaders and that which separates them from the ordinary, old fashioned status quo style of leadership. If people perceive a leader to be unfair or arbitrary in his or her judgment the inspiration to follow will slow the entire leadership process to a marathon pace.

Life is not simple, life is not easy and life is not fair. I have heard these phrases literally thousands of times in my own life and have begun to wonder which if any of them are true. Great leaders understand that many people hold this view; it is incumbent on the great leader to overcome it. I can begin with the oft mentioned point (or truism) that life does not appear to be simple. After all, in today’s high pressure and confusing world of rapid change, things are complicated, complex and difficult to understand. That is not simple. However, simple may not be defined as simply, so to speak, as that, and this is where great leadership takes over. I have lectured many a night on the topic of perception versus reality and the need to work on positive self images. It is imperative that the leader helps to improve the self image and life view of his or her followers. Thus, a good leader will focus the attention of the team on those things in life that are important to them. A great leader leads them to both accomplish and appreciate those things. We will not be able to do this if we are constantly telling ourselves that life is too complicated and we cannot change certain things. This again, is where superior leadership takes over and disperses this negative view of life.

If we see life as difficult and hard, if not impossible, to manage then we will have gone far in creating a life that is difficult and hard to manage. Many a good manager and leader have been confronted with this form of self fulfilling prophecy in a group. Life can be simple if we choose to make it so and if someone can inspire us to believe this. I have asked thousands of students to focus on those things in life that truly matter to them, spend a great deal of time and energy in those areas and let the other things go. Life can be simple; just devote yourself to the simple joys in life, to the people that make you happy, and the things that will always be important to you and matter for a lifetime. Again, an overly simplistic message and yet one that a good leader can implement. Everything else may in fact be too complicated. Simple rule I tell them; Keep it simple and it will stay that way; Make it complicated and fill it with high levels of stress, anxiety and tension and it too will stay that way. The choice is simple. A great leader can reduce the anxiety and stress of the team by being stress-free as well.

Life is not easy. I suppose not; but then again nobody ever said that it was. Great leaders have the ability to make life a bit easier for his or her followers. I have heard the “life is hard” speech so many times that I was drawn to ask why. Why is life not easy? Who made it hard? And where was I when these rules were made or the votes taken that declared life not to be easy? I jokingly tell my classes that I was absent the day that there was a universal declaration that life was hard. Therefore, as a rebel I can do my best with them to make life as easy as we can possibly make it. Sometimes leaders can be a bit lighthearted to lighten the mood. There are, however, some rules that I have asked them to adhere to in order to make life easy. These are the simple rules that a great leader employs as well. I have asked them to practice honesty and integrity in all that they do and always, always, tell the truth. It is just that simple and life can be made to be just a little easier if we tell the truth and practice honesty in all that we do. Life is easy. Great leaders make it a little easier.

I went to a wonderful retirement party recently where my wife was among the honored retirees. She had not prepared a speech and did not think that she would need to deliver one. Needless to say, she was called to the microphone where, to a packed and fully attentive room, she delivered a magnificent, passionate and articulate speech. She spoke with sincerity, genuineness, and honesty and every word came straight from her heart. When she returned to our table I praised her speech and said “That wasn’t so difficult, now was it?” Life can be easy if we do it the right way and always do the sincere and honest thing. Public speaking is among the most frightful things that people can encounter. Add a large room filled with family, friends and co-workers and you have a recipe for disaster. Add sincerity and a simple straightforward and heartfelt message and you have made life easy and brought a tear to the eyes of your audience. These are simple, yet important recipes for success that a great leader uses every day.
A good leader must constantly work in a world where people think that life is not fair and specifically unfair to them. Why must I work so hard? It’s not fair. Why does he or she get away with murder? It’s not fair. This leadership challenge is one that is a bit more difficult. To be fair is to be honest. To be fair is to play by the rules. To be fair is to be truthful. To be fair is to be without prejudice, hatred, anger, and discrimination. To be fair is to be sincere. To be fair is to know that everyone is being treated equally. In all of my Human Resources and Management classes I have taught that to be fair is to practice equity in the workplace for all. Equitable treatment of everyone is one of the cornerstones of great leadership and is again, practiced daily. But fairness must certainly involve more. Here, I must acknowledge an obvious paraphrase from a biblical text and tell you that I have taught that fairness is often seen as managing, leading, teaching, and treating others as you would have them manage, lead, teach or treat you. What could be more fair? Great leaders lead others as they would have others lead them. The “golden rule” is a fundamental leadership value; great leaders know this and use it every day of their lives.

In a never ending quest to shock my students and test whether they are paying attention, I tell them that all of their communication and test case answers must include the four letter F word. A few seconds later I inform them that the word, of course, is fair. Is what they said or wrote fair? Was the resolution of the case a fair one? Can they show that everyone was treated fairly and did they arrive at their conclusions in a fair and equitable manner? I have found that Americans have an innate and strong sense of fairness. We can, and do, disagree on nearly every aspect of politics and public life. Yet, I still believe that we are united in our faith in fairness. I hope that in some small way that the constant and incessant call to be fair that I have harped to my students for all these years has added a measure of fairness to the public discourse. To be fair; it is not a difficult thing to do. Great leaders are fair and their followers know it.

GREAT LEADERS ARE G.A.S. GUZZLERS: Ch. 4

CHAPTER 4
GREAT LEADERS ARE G.A.S. GUZZLERS

We have seen that great leaders can sprint to great leadership decisions when they are well equipped, well trained and well developed with the necessary requirements for greatness. If a leader does not have the proper foundation for great leadership then he or she might just as well drag out the decision making process in a much longer marathon style of lethargy. Great leaders must inspire others to follow. This is as simple as the process gets. Yet, once again we are left with the need to find the traits that will prove to be inspirational.

We are living in a time when the high price of gas at the fuel pump is creating a national debate on a far reaching scale from big oil company profits, foreign oil dependency and the need for alternative non-fossil fuel and renewable energy sources. In my never ending attempt to use acronyms for memory purposes however, G.A.S. now has taken on a different meaning. Incidentally, I have found that the use of acronyms has proven to be a successful way of having students in leadership classes remember important concepts. I have previously used I.O.U. to remind my classes (the leaders of tomorrow) that they owe their audience the debt of being Impartial, Objective and Unbiased As good leaders they must strive to avoid prejudicial or extreme arguments as a means of establishing and maintaining credibility. I have also used H.I.T. to inspire students always to have Honesty, Integrity and Truth in all that they do as leaders as well as all that they do in life.

For our purposes here G.A.S. refers to the equally important need always to be Genuine, Authentic and Sincere. These are marvelous traits and characterize the nicest, kindest and most respected people that I ever had the pleasure of knowing. Moreover, they are traits that characterize the best leaders that I have known. When I think back on all of the people that I have been associated with in my life, I am instinctively drawn to fond memories of those people that are truly Genuine, Authentic and Sincere. They are among the people that I consider fortunate to know and whom I consider to be a blessing in my life. They also easily begin to be associated with terms such as role model, mentor, hero, teacher and people that I want to emulate. Most importantly, they are at the top of my list of great leaders from all walks of life. Genuine, Authentic and Sincere people are also very easy to like and tend to be the ones with whom I want to associate. Genuine, Authentic and Sincere people are also the ones whose lead I would follow. I have tried to explain this to many of my classes and determine why it is so important.

The first thing that I have tried to explain is why today it is so very important to identify and work with Genuine, Authentic and Sincere individuals and why they tend to rise to positions of leadership. The answer seems simplistic and obvious. Do we not live in a world where many people are quite the opposite of Genuine and engage in a mind-boggling array of unethical behavior almost always based on false premises or false promises? Are many of these people not in a position of leadership? How many people do you know that are not authentic, not “the real deal” or not what they pretend to be? How many of them can or have forged ahead on these not so real foundations? How many have we elected or appointed to top level leadership positions? Do we not live in a world of insincerity where it is easier to lie, cheat, mislead, deceive or otherwise be insincere all in the name of fame and fortune? The odds are that you answered most, if not all, of these rhetorical questions in the affirmative and have therefore, underscored the need to address them.

My handy Webster’s New World Dictionary defines Genuine with the phrase “really being what it is said to be…not counterfeit or artificial; real; true; authentic…sincere and frank; honest and forthright.” Wow. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could surround ourselves with those types of people that exhibit those kinds of characteristics? Would it not be equally wonderful to have a slate of candidates, a boardroom full of corporate leaders and a society of non- profit directors that all had these traits? Just imagine; no hidden agendas, no double meanings, no second guessing, and no wondering what the person actually meant. I continually strive to maintain those qualities in my personal and professional lives and to instill them in all my classes for all the students that I have the pleasure of working with. I know that they are the next generation of leaders and they will be challenged to hone these skills. Again, in the classes dealing with communication, both verbal and written, I have worked hard to have them perceived as Genuine so that the reader and audience will respond in an equally genuine manner. When the leader is seen as genuine the followers will respond in kind.

Back to Webster’s for the definition of Authentic to find the most curious entry. Here we find authentic as describing something “that can be believed or accepted; trustworthy; reliable [an authentic news report].” I think that it goes without saying that the leader needs to be believed and accepted. Let’s forget the fact that the editors of this fine dictionary may have used an oxymoron (authentic news report) to define the term, and continue with the definition; “authentic implies reliability and trustworthiness…” Again, these traits are stressed in all of the classes that I am fortunate to be conducting and serve as a basic foundation for great leadership. Students, as they pursue their careers are going to be confronted with people and situations that are not reliable or trustworthy. It is from this world of falseness that the new breed of leaders will emerge. From false and misleading advertising, promise breaking people in positions of authority, and people and products that cannot be trusted, we will all need to confront and overcome these traits and exhibit the higher and stronger trait of being Authentic. Great leaders know this and will simply sprint ahead because they are authentic.

Finally, we have arrived at Sincere, which Mr. Webster’s editors have defined as being; “without deceit, pretense or hypocrisy; truthful; straightforward; honest….an adherence to the simple, unembellished truth.” We are once again faced with a Jeffersonian type of self-evident truth: People that are seen as Sincere, and who are truly sincere, will go far in life and do better than their insincere contemporaries who will sacrifice long term success and happiness for short term financial or social gain. Great leaders will always be sincere because they have been trained to know that the short term insincerity will eventually implode. People crave approval but only if it is sincere; they want appreciation but only if it is sincere; they need to be respected but only if it is sincere; people need to be loved but only if that love is sincere. People will follow a great leader but only if that leader is sincere. There are many keys to a successful life and an equal number for happiness. I think that there are none more important than to be GENUINE, AUTHENTIC, and SINCERE. The keys to great leadership are no different.

The bold decisive leader of tomorrow will once again spring from the starting blocks with precision and grace because he or she does not need to worry about the genuineness of their decision, the authenticity of their decision making process or the sincerity of their motives. Even with the high price of gas great leaders are G.A.S. guzzlers.

The national campaigns and elections, especially the presidential election, of 2008 brought these vital traits to the forefront. From the primaries to the national party conventions, to the televised debates to the election itself, the American public was bombarded with a steady dose of campaign slogans, speeches and promises that tested the limits of genuineness, authenticity and sincerity. Most of the candidates, in my view, stayed true to the old fashioned, conventional partisan politics and, consequently, the sincerity of their message can be called into question. However, there was one interesting and different voice that was added to the national debate. It is safe to say that this voice was different than the establishment’s norm, went against the accepted conventional wisdom, and yet, was perceived as being quite sincere and genuine. Predictably, this voice was ridiculed, vilified, mocked and attacked by the mainstream political system, news media and entertainment world. She was different, and different is dangerous to the status quo establishment. She was down to earth and honest, spoke in a simple and straightforward manner, and used common sense. She was a new breed of leader and she was a threat to the old style marathoner.

The first paragraph of this manual indicated that there would be an onslaught of criticism aimed at those who, with the courage of their convictions, went against the conventional wisdom, were in the minority and were politically incorrect. The candidacy of Governor Sarah Palin was evidence enough that the old style brand of status quo leadership has a difficult time seeing something new as anything but a threat. The new breed of leaders, much like Sarah Palin, needs to be prepared to pay a price for sprinting ahead with a Genuine, Authentic and Sincere approach. They need to know that Common Sense may get lost in a marathon of empty rhetoric and that they will be denounced for being different. Undaunted, the new breed of leader will continue to sprint ahead and be a G.A.S. guzzler all the way to the finish.

GREAT LEADERS ARE A H.I.T., CH. 3

CHAPTER 3
GREAT LEADERS ARE A H.I.T.

In chapter 1 we discussed the need for great leaders to be fully trained and developed to engage in the management/ leadership sprint. Great leaders, much like their world class athletic sprinter counterparts, must have developed the razor sharp focus and sculptured and firm muscular tone necessary to be able to bolt from the starting blocks. What better training can there be but to be fully trained in the art of honesty? What better muscle group to develop to a chiseled finish than the integrity muscles? Finally, for the great leader where better to target the razor sharp focus than on the truth?

When I discussed the I.O.U. chapter to this brief manual I received a number of inquiries from my classes on leadership asking why the truth (the T of H.I.T.) was relegated to the last paragraph and not placed at the beginning of the chapter where it belongs. Good question. The answer is that truth was not placed last; for it surely holds a place of preeminence over all other aspects of communication. However, the truth does not live in a vacuum, but rather, is a logical consequence of being impartial, objective and unbiased. When the person seeking to be a leader speaks, both verbally and in writing, in a biased and non-impartial manner he or she not only loses objectivity but loses the truth as well. To speak with an I.O.U. (Impartial, Objective, Unbiased) is to give the audience what is owed to it and to gain the means to make the message a H.I.T. (Honesty, Integrity, Truth). It seems paradoxical to think that a leader can be biased, prejudicial, and extreme in the communication process and arrive at the truth with any semblance of honesty and integrity. Most people that I know place truth and honesty at or near the top of all the lists of leadership traits. A truthful leader tells the truth; it is no more complicated than that. Telling the truth is paramount to any other aspect of leadership as it is in public speaking, writing and in every other leadership or communication class that I have taught. I am convinced that the leader cannot arrive at the truth if he or she tries to get there by wearing the blinders of preconceived notions, prejudices, biases or other communication and leadership truth blockers.

Truth, much like beauty, lies in the eye of the beholder. I can behold the wet rainy day today and state truthfully that it is a good thing as it is filling the reservoirs prior to the potential hot summer drought season. Another person can behold the same rain and be truthful in declaring it a miserable and depressing day. Neither of us has lied; we merely perceive things in an honestly different way. This leads to one of the contemporary problems with finding the truth. It is what I call the "Unholy Trinity" whereby Marketing leads to Perception which then leads to Reality. In this world of Madison Avenue, internet, cable and network television, satellite radios, and a seemingly endless array of technological "news" media sources it seems that the more something is said (Marketing), whether true or not, the more it becomes the general Perception and eventually the accepted Reality. This trinity can prove to be dangerous as it can be used as a manipulative tool to gain the favor of an audience without the necessary impartial, unbiased and objective approach. The leader knows this. The good leader acknowledges it. The great leader avoids it at all costs and reaches out to his or her followers with an unswerving bias for the truth.

Volvo is the safest automobile in the world, not because it really is (it may not) but because we have been told over and over that it is and, therefore we buy Volvos for safety. Research analysis may show that the newer models of other cars are actually the safest. Volkswagens were designed for driving enthusiasts not because they were (they were not), but because we have been told so repeatedly. The truth is that Volkswagens were designed during the Nazi regime and first driven off the assembly line by Adolf Hitler who praised the "Peoples Car "(Volks Wagon) as a noted accomplishment of his abhorrent Third Reich. Hitler, of course, was the most heinous villain in history not because he was (I think he was not) but because we have been told that he was. While a monster by any measure, Hitler’s evil is trumped in my view by Josef Stalin the murderous dictator who terrorized the Soviet Union and its people from 1924-1953 and is credited with causing the deaths of millions of his own people. All of this falls into the dangerous category commonly known as "conventional wisdom," the convenient (lazy?) way to get knowledge or wisdom; just be told what is "true" often enough and you will believe that it is true. Great leaders are not bogged down with this wasteful and time consuming need to acknowledge things as true simply because everyone else does. Great leaders challenge the conventional wisdom, seek the truth and sprint ahead with it.

Truth is an absolute; it is not interpretative, subjective or variable. Something is either true or not true; there is no third choice. Great leaders do not seek to find that third choice for the sole purpose of acknowledging political correctness or the conventional wisdom of the day. We may disagree on whether something is right or wrong, good or bad, beautiful or ugly, but still tell the truth in offering our opinion. The opposite of the truth is dangerous, hurtful and, unfortunately, prosperous for some. I can tell you first hand of the pain that can be caused by lies and I can also tell you of the profit that all of these lies have gained for the perpetrators. Does this mean that the truth loses to a more aggressive and dominant force? Should great leaders tell the truth only when it benefits them? Does this mean that we should discard the truth as a phenomenon that has outlived its usefulness and replace it with the more politically correct doublespeak and sound bites that gain us fame and fortune? Should the great leader lip synch the popular verses of the day so as to avoid controversy? It has been said that the future of this nation will be determined by the moral values that we carry forward from one generation to the next. If that is the case, one can argue that the nation’s future is not a bright one as we continually push the truth further back in our list of positive and productive virtues. Great leaders push the truth forward and do so at an impressive speed. Great leaders constantly strive to be Impartial, Objective, and Unbiased. It is for that reason that at the end of the sprint they have broken the tape of Honesty, Integrity, and most importantly, the Truth.

Great leaders always tell the truth and sprint ahead with it. Great leaders are also very often criticized for doing so. Telling the truth is a risky venture. While truthfulness yields marvelous leadership results, it also has the potential of upsetting those who are quite complacent in a world of customary and institutionalized, beliefs and habits. Great leaders challenge such behavior and often pay a price for doing so. This, however, is the new breed of leadership so desperately needed today; leadership that will not compromise the truth regardless of the consequences. The great leadership sprinter holds his or head up high at the finish line because the truth propelled him or her down the track.