Category Archives: Communication

Boost Your Leadership, Communication and Performance

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Receive a weekly boost to your leadership, public speaking, communication with ”Peter’s Power-Ups” Weekly Videos.

The videos just started being broadcast – once per week, for up to 50 weeks. The series include:

  • Gifted Leadership Series I – Bring Out Your Talents and Gifts as a Leader, and the gifts and talents of your followers, and
  • Authentic Speaking Series I – Connect, Influence and Persuade people with genuine and powerful public speaking and communication principles.

Each series is around 75 cents per day (less if you can claim for tax). You won’t even have to miss out on a Coke or Coffee each day for that amount. Even one idea that you receive from these videos will be worth much more than the 80% of painful learning and development you tolerate elsewhere. But I’ll provide you with many hundreds of ideas and principles that you can apply to help you grow as a professional, as a communicator, as a leader and as a person.

Visit http://www.lamplighter.com.au/viewStory/Video+Seminars for further information and to subscribe.

Thank you to those of you already subscribing. I welcome your comments and requests any time.

To any North American subscribers: Don’t worry, my accent is perfectly understandable – probably more than Hugh Jackman, and you watch him all the time :)

Cheers!

Peter McLean

Nasty Neologisms

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I had the misfortune of hearing a radio newsreader butcher the English language with something borrowed either from politics, medicine or, worse, economics.

Apparently, lower interest rates will have a “stimulatory” effect on the economy.

The person who invented that word should be interred in an Orwellian hell, as justly condemned in Orwell’s “Politics of the English Language”. He decried the abasement of the language through pointless neologisms intended to elevate meaning (and the speaker) through pretentiousness. Or should that be   ‘Pretentiosity’?

Learn the language, please.

 

Buswell’s Benders

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My daughters came back late from school with their mother and were laughing in disbelief at a radio interview.

The interviewer was speaking with our state treasurer (Mr. Buswell) and asking why utilities prices had gone up by a minimum of 4 percent, when the government had promised that they would be held “at or near the inflation rate”, which has been at most 2.75% by any measure.

“That’s hardly at inflation rate, is it?” asked the interviewer.

“Well, that’s your opinion,” said the treasurer.

Every time the interviewer brought up the facts, the treasurer would just reply with some variation of “that’s your opinion” and state why they had to increase prices, instead of acknowledging that 4, 6 or more percent is indeed far more than 2.75.

My 2 older girls are very smart, but are still only 8 and 10. They were incredulous that the man couldn’t admit the truth and give a straight answer.

If they can see how preposterous his responses were, why cannot he and his advisors? And why would he think any adult of reason would not be able to?

New Video Seminar Series

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I’m announcing a new development opportunity that I believe will benefit anyone and everyone. I don’t harangue people with endless sales pitches on useless products. I provide high level consulting, coaching and development opportunities for clients and have no intention of turning away from the integrity and “class” that I’ve demonstrated through the years, but this announcement is about an addition to our services that will be available around the world 24/7 via the internet.

I’ve created several online video seminar series to help people grow as leaders, as communicators and as individuals. These are based on my original doctrinal research, my years of consulting and executive coaching and my studies and business experiences across more than two and half decades on three continents.

Each series is centred on the themes of leadership, communication and performance. Up to 50 five-minute videos will be delivered straight to your inbox every week throughout the year. That’s just enough length for the modern attention span and our busy schedules. View them anywhere, any time, on any device, until the internet expires.

The Different Series Are:

  1. Gifted Leadership: Bring out your gifts and talents and those of the people around you to create extraordinary performance – all while actually enjoying what you do. Lead in your business, family and community. Topics include: Your Driving Leadership Purpose™. What are your Deepest Gifts? Developing High Performance. Strategic use of your gifts. Leading the ‘Unleadable’. Learning from great leaders. Being ‘in the zone’. Collaboration. Communication. And much more…
  2. Authentic Speaking: Be a persuasive and inspiring communicator who leads others to great results. Communicate in a genuine way that truly connects with people, in all kinds of situations. Topics include: The 3 Cs of Authentic Speaking®. Connecting with your audience. Speaking to persuade. Building Confidence. Overcoming fears. Building Presence. Using powerful narratives. Avoiding ‘Death by PowerPoint’. Object Lessons. Great speaking models. Commanding the room. Integrity. The heart of the message. Power vocabulary. And much more…
  3. Professional Service and Sales: What do clients really need and want? How do you connect with your clients to build greater professional relationships and more business for the both of you? Topics include: What clients want. What you have to offer. Being proactive. Nurturing clients. First impressions. Power questions. The Commitment Matrix™. Negotiation. Marketing analyses. Time management. And more…

These will be relaxed, enjoyable and informative videos, set in my home office. No fancy graphics. No fluff or fads. Just pure content that will actually make a difference.

Why am I doing this? We are all so busy these days. I often talk with people who say, “I’d love to come to a workshop or have you come to my firm, but there just isn’t time.” Well, this is as flexible as you can get and presents a low level of investment for great return. If you’ve already been a client of mine, or have been to one of my workshops, you will still find great value and new ideas, or  old gems that you had forgotten. If you’re new to my services, this will provide you with a wealth of practical ideas and insights that will help you. Don’t worry: you can still hire me or attend a workshop to gain more value.

Your Investment: Each series only costs $250. To be frank, just ONE idea that helps you would be worth 20-1000 times that. I’ll give you hundreds. There’s no excuse not to sign up.

Early Bird Discounts: Pay only $200 (get $50 off) if you buy by April 25, 2013 (Australian ANZAC Day). If you can claim your expense on your taxes, it may cost you as little as $108 dollars over the year – that’s less than 30 cents a day. You couldn’t buy water with that money, or even air! (Make sure you choose ‘early bird’ in the course option while the offer lasts.)

Further Discounts: If you refer a friend or colleague who subscribes before June 1, I’ll give you $25 credit per referral, for use towards other video series, workshops or consultations. Sign up 10 or more friends or colleagues and I’ll give you $350 credit towards any video series, workplace profiling, workshop or consultation. Just make sure they mention your name when registering.

Fair Use: I am happy for you to personally show a sample of a video to others and of course you should use the ideas in your own work and development, but note that this is all my original IP. I am trusting you to keep your video links private and to respect copyright. They cannot be shared, tweeted, facebooked, or otherwise published in any way to other people. I don’t want to have to restrict your access. Besides, the lawyers in my family would have a field day and they have enough work already.

When: The videos will commence broadcasting in early May. They will arrive at the start of the day (West Australian time) once per week. Each series will be broadcast on a different day of the week.

Make A Request: The first set of video series will start in May of 2013 (further series will follow in time). Although each series is fully planned out, I want to provide some flexibility and responsiveness, so the episodes will not all be filmed right away. As a founding subscriber, if you have a request for specific topics or questions you’d like addressed or answered under the series’ theme, then send it through. If I think many of the subscribers will be interested, I’ll include an episode on your topic.

To buy, simply visit our website now at http://www.lamplighter.com.au/viewStory/Video+Seminars and click on ‘Buy Now’ for the relevant series.

If you would like to sign up for more than one series, simply return to the website after buying and order more.

Here is the series information if you don’t want to visit the website yet:

THE ONLINE VIDEO SEMINAR SERIES – Starting May 2013

Gifted Leadership Video Seminar Series I. 40 online videos on the most important skill you can build: your leadership. Learn how to use your gifts to bring out the gifts of others for high performance.

Topics include: Your Driving Leadership Purpose™. What are your Deepest Gifts? Developing High Performance. Strategic use of your gifts. Leading the ‘Unleadable’. Learning from great leaders. Being ‘in the zone’. Collaboration. Communication. And much more…

EARLY BIRD deadline: April 25, 2013
Authentic Speaking Video Seminar Series I. 50 online videos delivered straight to your inbox every week throughout the year. Each video has 5 minutes of great information, tips and boosts to your speaking and communication – just enough for the modern attention span! Become a more powerful and authentic speaker.

Topics include: The 3 Cs of Authentic Speaking®. Connecting with your audience. Speaking to persuade. Building Confidence. Overcoming fears. Building Presence. Using powerful narratives. Avoiding ‘Death by PowerPoint’. Object Lessons. Great speaking models. Commanding the room. Integrity. The heart of the message. Power vocabulary. And much more…

EARLY BIRD deadline: April 25, 2013
Professional Services Client Relationships & Sales. 40 videos for professional services providers, based on our research and work improving customer service and sales for professional services firms: what clients really want, how to connect with your clients, how to provide great services, keeping up with fees.

Topics include: What clients want. What you have to offer. Being proactive. Nurturing clients. First impressions. Power questions. The Commitment Matrix™. Negotiation. Marketing analyses. Time management. And more…

EARLY BIRD deadline: April 25, 2013

Don’t wait. Buy now and be part of the founding subscribers. You won’t regret it.

Visit at http://www.lamplighter.com.au/viewStory/Video+Seminars, scroll down the page and click on ‘Buy Now’ to make your choice(s).

Please note: There are NO refunds, but we will happily resend any lost links.

All material Copyright 2013 Peter J. McLean

Email me or contact me through the blog if you have any queries .

Takeaways from last Authentic Speaking Exec Leaders Workshop

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Here are a few of the takeaways from our last Exec Leaders Authentic Speaking workshop (end of February – apologies for the delay):

  • Your ‘presence’ is dependent on your ability to confidently portray and communicate your values, vision and determination as a leader.
  • Working with unions requires a tough stance, combined with common sense.
  • The vast majority of staff – even radical union members who are against you – will respect you just for standing up to give your message, as long as you are honest and have integrity.
  • Negotiation requires a clear sense of mission, but a clearer understanding of your stakeholders’ underlying motivations.
  • Some audiences put a premium on a “just the facts ma’am” approach for certain kinds of presentations – e.g. at technical conferences you want substance that you can use – without fluff and nonsense.
  • MC-ing and hosting events like international conferences requires ‘bigger’ personality and a cheerful disposition.
  • If you don’t have a positive, praising approach to people at special events, work it up because people want to and deserve to be appreciated.
  • Being ‘bigger’ than you usually are when on the public stage renders you noticeable and more ‘listenable’.
  • Remembering names in conference situations can be a tremendous strength – learn how.
  • The host sets the tone – is the leader – for major conferences.
  • Try out a different voice – perhaps literally – now and then to stretch your skills and repertoire.
  • Management communication requires different tools for different situations and results – don’t rely on email for everything, it’s a poor cousin to real communication.
  • Change requires effort, but is possible if you challenge yourself.

Next Authentic Speaking Exec Leaders workshop is on August 5-6, 2013. More info at http://www.authenticspeaking.com.au/viewStory/Executive+Leaders+Speaking+Workshop

Preshiate-chya!

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When I lived in Texas, friends and I became fond of their saying, “Preshiate-chya!” – which, as we all know, means “I appreciate you and your effort!”

Sincere appreciation for someone’s efforts are extremely valuable. It fosters a positive environment in which people thrive. In his book, “Positive Leadership”, Kim Cameron notes that research conducted into workplaces indicates that positive environments consistently outperform neutral or negative environments. These workplaces were characterised by positive climates, communication, leadership and meaning. He notes a study by Losada & Heaphy (American Behavioural Scientist, 2004) that found in a study of 60 top management teams that the ratio of positive statements to negative statements was the single most powerful predictor of high performance (twice as powerful as any other). That is, how and what you communicate is the single most powerful predictor of high performance in team environments.

This is why top sports teams spend their time encouraging and reinforcing the efforts of team-mates. Calls of “Great job!”, “You can do it!”, “Great block!” and so on fill their on-field talk. In America, they also slap each other’s backsides (don’t ask me why).

It’s not about empty rhetoric or being a vapid cheerleader (no offense intended towards cheerleaders). Positive statements reinforce valued behaviours and efforts that make a difference to performance. Positive leadership points to potential and the hope of achievement. Positive environments push towards capability, rather than disability.

There is a place for negatives: you need to reinforce when something has been done wrong and point away from it. The positive environment, however, energises and releases inner motivation.

I have seen this principle demonstrated with top leaders. When they keep saying how bad things are getting, it’s no wonder the team or organisation starts getting depressed. When their only attention is paid when there is a negative to be said or acted on, it’s no wonder that the negatives are the way that people seek attention. When they comment on the specifics of a job well done, then they are reinforcing the kinds of efforts that make a constructive difference.

I saw this principle also over-used at one organisation (well, just one case in point): The senior executive had cottoned on to publishing “positives” in weekly company updates. He would hold senior leadership meetings every week and they would record all the positives and publish them. It was trite and unbelievable. After a while, department heads kept vying to be published because it was how one garnered “kudos” from the boss and gained political standing. Amongst staff it became a joke, because people were being published for basically replacing paper in the photocopier and just doing their mundane job. “A positive to Suzie for answering the phone today”. Well, fine, but Suzie was the receptionist. What about the rest of the people slogging their guts out? Of course, it didn’t help that managers weren’t acting to positively fix problem situations, they were so busy trying to heighten their standing.

Don’t let your positives turn into propaganda and don’t let them turn political. What makes a difference is how you communicate and act with those around you every day, not publishing it in the monthly rag.

Interestingly, Cameron points to research that indicates that healthier, more resilient marriages have a higher positive to negative communication ratio. John Gottman studied married couples and with a great deal of reliability was able to predict whether they would divorce years later, just based on the ratio of positive to negative statements within a 15-minute conversation. His ideal for positive, healthy communication was a minimum of 5 positives for every 1 negative.

But what do you do when you can’t point to the positives and you feel let down? It’s understandable when this happens and is a symptom of the human brain’s propensity for being alerted to the negative or threatening.

In this situation, it’s all the more important that you start to find the positives where you can. It’s not necessary to be Pollyannish, but when seeing constructive effort undertaken by an individual, take the time to put yourself in their shoes (even if they’re smelly) and sincerely appreciate them and their actions. And then tell them!

It’s amazing how consistently doing this can rapidly change an environment and create positive, high energy performance. At the very least, you’ll feel better.

Try it on for size. Use a Texan accent and it will even feel less hokey: ‘Preciate ya!

Your Words Matter

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I was a young guy, between the ages of 19-21, working for a major bank in Perth. In my department the majority of us were around the same age. We worked well, talked a lot and had great farewell lunches when the latest person “moved on” to that great big beautiful job or education in the sky. Coming from a boys school background, I wouldn’t say that my social skills were the most advanced, but I enjoyed the mix of people – male, female, ethnicities, belief systems – that we had in our workplace.

In that mix was some tomfoolery. We might, say, call the person a couple of dividers over, put on a funny accent and ask really dumb questions. Not necessarily made-up questions, mind you, because we got some doozies. But we did have a laugh and a ‘gotcha’ every now and then. Amongst young people this kind of thing is common, even if it is stupid.

So one day, socially advanced person that I was, I pretended to answer the phone and then called over to my immediate supervisor (my age) across the divider from me and pretended that I had some really bad news about her boyfriend. I won’t tell you what I said, because it’s too embarrassing. But her stunned and swift reaction really put me in my place. She fell for the so-called gag for only a moment, but it was enough to upset her and do some damage. She was rightly livid with me.

I was immediately repentant, told her right away that I had just learned what was a line in the sand, she forgave me and I never, ever repeated anything like that again.

All the world over, people have reacted with great empathy and sadness to the apparent suicide of one of the nurses involved in the “prank call” stunt of Australian DJs calling Princess Kate during her recent stay in hospital. There has been a lot of blame laid at the feet of the DJs and the radio station, as it seems their call was the trigger for the nurse’s suicide. Anyone who has been the subject of such humiliation knows how quickly one can sink into despair or depression, given the right circumstances.

I must admit, my initial reaction to the DJs actions was also very strong. I condemn the stupidity of such prank calls on radio. The objective is to publicly humiliate people. It demonstrates little cleverness, no consideration and little anticipation of consequences. (I also believe the media should stop hounding young Prince William and Princess Kate.) It was easy to be angry at the DJs. But then I remembered my own stupid actions at a young age and how easy it is to use your words to negative effect, without even meaning to. My desire to condemn was undercut by my realisation that we all make mistakes and say and do stupid things with unintended consequences.

But I have learned since I was a young man how to temper my words. Experience and thoughtful reflection have taught me to be more careful and to anticipate the hurt that can result from my words. In this context then, the radio station management was more “at fault” than the DJs. Final approval should have been regulated by the consent of the subjects, which it was not. Additionally, wiser heads should prevail in directing the DJs away from such stunts. But they didn’t in their quest for high ratings from a largely teenage audience.

Appropriately, the DJs in question seem to be more concerned about the family involved than about themselves. But, tragically, there’s no way to turn back time here. No way to make amends to nurse Jacintha Saldana. No way to restore a positive future for her.

This is a traumatic experience for everyone involved. Unfortunately, sometimes people don’t learn and they keep at the stupidity of prank calls, teasing and bullying until this kind of thing happens. And then they say, “I didn’t realise that would be the result.”

There’s an old proverb that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Don’t let this kind of thing happen to you or others before you realise how true this is. Your words matter.

Lessons from Authentic Speaking workshop

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A few observations derived from this week’s Authentic Speaking Foundations workshop:

  • Connecting with people on a genuine level – sharing something of yourself – can create change where previously there was obstinate resistance.
  • Drawing on shared experience can create tremendous allies in furthering change.
  • Influencing people requires a combination of intellectual and emotional appeals.
  • You need to be committed to a purpose in order to speak convincingly.
  • Finding your passion is important to determining your views on any topic.
  • Anyone can learn to enjoy public speaking.
  • Passion is not about empty emotion, but about a personal, intellectual and spiritual commitment to a cause or topic for which you have an affinity.
  • “Motivational” speakers are too often empty shells. You have to have substance and work with people’s own self-originating motivations.
  • Content is king.
  • You would choose to listen to the most inarticulate speaker instead of a Barack Obama if you had an intense interest in the speaker and their subject and believed they had integrity and the ability to convey something you would find personally valuable.
  • Great public speaking means being a bigger version of yourself – not a fake.
  • You must communicate your vision, passion and purpose in a way that benefits the audience.

Those Wacky Telemarketers

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I took a call today from someone who asked, “Hello, this is Rhajit [I don't remember the name]. Is this Mr. McLean?” (always a sure sign of a telemarketer).

“Yes.”

“How are you today sir?”

In a rush, I said “I’m fine,” very quickly. Having a hunch as to the nature of the call, I then asked “Where are you calling from?”

“I am calling from Jenway International”. That’s what the business name sounded like – I may have it wrong. (It was redirected from my virtual office as a private number.)

And again, clearly not having heard me the first time because I said it so quickly, the caller then asked, “How are you today?”

I answered, “What do you do?”

Caller: “How are you today, sir?”

“Yes, what do you do?”

Caller: “Ahh, how are you today sir?”

“I already said how I am before, I’d like to know what it is you do and why you are calling.” I didn’t say it rudely, I know what it’s like to cold call.

And then the caller did this, no joke! He muffled around on the phone for a couple of seconds, made some indistinguishable noises and clearly said,

“Dumba_ _!” as he hung up the phone.

Knowing he was looking for agreement and recognising that he was following a script, I had thrown him by daring to ask him to get straight to the point. When you train your staff so tightly that they cannot at all deviate from the script, it’s a recipe for disaster. And if your staff end their calls this way, well what can I say?

I tried looking up the company online, but couldn’t find a company matching the name I heard that might remotely be interested in calling me, so I can only assume that I got the name wrong. It’s a shame, because I was going to call them, speak to a manager or director, relay the conversation and suggest a great consultant whom I know could help them!

When Everyone’s Watching … Romney and Obama

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How you perform in private and in public need to go hand in hand – it’s called integrity.

The first US Presidential debate between Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama was a fascinating example of the problem of public and private perception and performance. Mr. Obama has a flair for tightly worded dramatic readings of speeches. Filled with inspiring abstractions and rhetoric, they often get the blood pumping. Yet, to many Americans, he has failed to deliver on his promises (a book on the first year of his presidency was even called “The Promise”) and after his election quickly became aloof and condescending.

Mitt Romney, who has not laid claim to the same high levels of rhetoric and exposition, managed to floor President Obama in their first debate. He commanded the floor, had great command of detail, guided the proceedings, enumerated policy points, was warm, enthusiastic, responsive, clearly articulated his positions and was highly engaged with his opponent and the process; all areas where President Obama fell down. Yet Mr. Romney’s problem is his perceived “flip-flopping” on major positions. Whether this is from a lack of clear communication or from an actual propensity to blithely and expediently change opinion, I’m not one to say.

The problem for both candidates is their apparent willingness – or that of their campaign advisers and advertisers – to play fast and loose with facts. Truth has been a great casualty in this political battle.

I’m not judging either candidate as a person, nor am I commenting on their politics. As I’ve written before, I’m not even American – it’s not my election. (Nor do I want trolls adding their two cents worth – reading through comments such as one sees on the New York Times website, the level of invective and ignorance on both sides is astronomical.) As a standalone debating performance, however, there is a lot to learn from Mitt Romney’s “presidential” début.

Here are a few salient points:

  • Your level of verbal engagement with others is an indication of your respect not only for the individual, but for the audience.
  • Eye contact with those you are speaking with (and not just the camera) is so important to your perceived authenticity.
  • The microphone, and the camera, is always on. Never think your body language is unimportant. Don’t slouch behind the lectern, don’t look down the whole time someone is speaking to you. Smirks and derisive laughter are no substitute for cogent arguments.
  • Clearly articulated positions (e.g. there are five things I am going to do), are ultimately so much more effective than vague abstractions (e.g. we’re going to change the country).
  • If you can clarify, summarise and articulate someone else’s position better than they can (such that they are now nodding with you), you’re on a roll. If you can then either deconstruct or directly refute those positions, even better.
  • Don’t assume that your private preparation is adequate to the task. Rehearse in a focused way with someone at the appropriate level.
  • Don’t rely on hackneyed, over-used phrases and slogans when the other party is coming up with specifics.
  • Come to the party ready to rock. When you’re up in front of everyone, you’d better be ready to perform at the highest level you can. Phoning it in just won’t work.
  • If you’re beaten on the night, demonstrate your ability with the next encounter. Don’t go out to everyone else the next day complaining, “What I should have said was …. “
  • Don’t assume that you can now label the other team (leader, organisation, competitor, etc.) as having won just because that wasn’t “the real” person who showed up. Admit your defeat and take responsibility - that’s called integrity.
  • Leadership does require clear and powerful communication.

I’ll write in further posts about the credibility gaps in both communication and leadership and the issues they present, but it’s important to note that how the electorate views these individuals is impacted by their perceived integrity – and that means that they have to mean it when they say ‘No’ and mean it when they say ‘Yes’ and not allow the moment to change their values.

As leaders, we need to ensure that we passionately communicate our values, ideas and vision in a believable way. And that means that we need to live what we say we believe. We need to be honest with ourselves as well as with our constituents in order to keep their trust.