21 February 2008
Think of leaders as brands, says Hub speaker
Hub's breakfast briefing focuses on getting the best out of leaders.
Mike Love, senior communicator of major programs at communication provider BT, spoke of the importance of identifying your leader's style at today's breakfast briefing.
The Hub event, held in conjunction with Melcrum's flagship journal Strategic Communication Management (SCM), saw around 120 invited communicators come together in London.
As well as Hub editorial board member Love, presentations were given by the Hub's strategy and planning expert, Bill Quirke of consultancy Synopsis and Tony Quinlan, chief storyteller at Narrate.
Figure 1: 100+ communicators attended the breakfast briefing held in London
Making leaders authentic
Speaking on the most effective way to achieve authenticity, Love urged the audience to fully understand the strengths of their leader and to use these strengths to the best advantage.
Having previously worked for computer software manufacturer, Microsoft, Love spoke with authority on contrasting leadership styles. Explaining that Bill Gates has an introverted style when compared with the passionate and exuberant Steve Ballmer, Love pointed out that neither style was right or wrong, just different.
Encourage leaders to rehearse
One important factor in achieving leadership authenticity is getting the leader to appreciate the benefits of the rehearsal process. Something that senior leaders often regard as a challenge to their authority, explained Love (pictured, right).
"Communicating as a leader involves performing and performance requires rehearsal", said Love. Despite many leaders believing their presence alone at an event or meeting is enough to have a strong impact, Love emphasized the importance of communicators supporting their leaders in rehearsing. Only then will they be able to give the very best performance and achieve the desired result.
Treat leaders as brands
Looking back on his time working for quick service restaurant McDonald's, Love explained how the brand essence was fun and how the CEO and his actions had to reflect this. "The CEO was more likely to be seen over the counter serving fries than in a boardroom. I even had to present multimillion pound pitches to him whilst he served a customer."
As this example demonstrates, working at the coalface was vital to the CEO achieving the right level of authenticity.
The CEO was more likely to be seen over the counter serving fries than in a boardroom.
Using the elevator speech
Quirke (pictured, below) also reinforced the idea that communicators should understand their leaders' style and at the same time remember that leaders like to be coached and not criticized.
He also reminded delegates of the elevator speech analogy. The premise of which revolves around the idea that what gets remembered, gets repeated and what gets repeated gets reinforced. In order to achieve this, the message should be short enough to be given and remembered during a 30-second elevator ride.
"70% of communication occurs through informal channels, at the coffee machine or water filter for example," says Quirke. This supports the need for messages to be memorable and to the point.
The use of storytelling
This was backed up by Quinlan who asked the audience to think about the stories that are frequently told in their organization.
"Is your leader the hero or the mentor? What character would they play in a movie?", pondered Quinlan.
Figure 2: Speaker Tony Quinlan speaking to delegates over breakfast
Quinlan explained that various departments connected to internal communications such as organizational development and knowledge management may well be talking about the same topics as those being discussed in internal comms.
But as the language being used could make it harder to decipher, telling it in a story may be the most effective way for all parties to understand the same message.
Want your chance to network for free too?
North American Hub members and prospective members come and join us in Chicago on March 28th for a similar event taking place at the Hilton Suites, Magnificent Mile.
Speakers from Unilever Foodsolutions, Motorola and Navistar (International Truck & Engine Corp.) will be presenting. Read on for more details and to register yourself and your team.
Members can also pose your communication questions to Mike Love via the Hub's editorial board or resident strategy and planning expert, Bill Quirke.
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