Category: culture

Great communicators

FabrizioLeave a comment

There’s a general belief that a great talker is also a great communicator. That might be true, and yet I find that most often it is not.

The way I see it, there are three core qualities of a great communicator (that a great talker not necessarily has).

First, great communicators craft their messages carefully. I mean this in the broadest possible way. A good framework to look at it through is Grice’s maxims: quality (a message that is true), quantity (a message that is no more than what required), relevance (a message that is pertinent to the discussion) and manner (a message that is orderly, polite and clear).

Then, great communicators are consistent in their messages. They are not afraid of repeating, as they are aware that different people absorb information at different paces. Furthermore, having the message well-crafted allows them to experiment with channels and formats in ways that benefit the spreading of the message in the long term.

Finally, great communicators have profound understanding of their audience. This is also true in a broad way: they know who they are communicating with before the communication actually happens; they are awake and aware to signals from the audience while the communication is undergoing; and they are capable of redesigning (without losing consistency), learning from feedback and sentiment they perceive after the communication is over.

If you want to be a great communicator, talking a lot and well is not enough. Establishing a relationship aimed at some type of change is much more important. And much more complicated.

Adjusting expectations

Fabrizio1 Comment

It is very easy to hide when we can’t deliver.

When we have promised to do something, and then things changed unexpectedly, the most trivial thing to do is pretend the promise was not made in the first place. Not explaining what went wrong. Not answering to the request of clarification. Not showing up the next time.

Hiding.

And yet, we owe the people around us a “why” and a “what now”. Expectations can be adjusted, but trust is not easily given a second time if we fail it from the get-go.

 

Shifting attitude

FabrizioLeave a comment

Everyone who is involved in a business, has the interest of the business at the top of their mind.

Of course, this is rarely 100% true. And yet, we should assume it is, and act as if. This would open us up for opportunity. Instead of spending our time trying to second guess others and protect our position against invisible threats, we could approach things from different perspectives, learn something about our colleagues, their work, their priorities and how they believe the business should move forward.

It’s a shift in attitude that would greatly enrich our view. It is worth making.

By the way, if you replace “business” with “family”, “friendship”, “community”, “team”, “neighbourhood”, and so on, it still works.

Associations

FabrizioLeave a comment

A while back, somebody asked me to introduce their start-up to a friend of mine who is also a successful entrepreneur and investor.

I did not do it.

Not out of spite or malice, simply because I did not trust the idea, the people, the business model enough to attach my name to it in front of a person I trust and think highly of. A person that has helped me develop professionally and that I am sure will be there if and when I need it.

Plenty of people believe that being an advisor, a board member, a promoter, an advocate is something to stuff in a curriculum or on the LinkedIn profile. Yet I believe you have to be mindful about what you associate your name with.

The key question for me is: is this idea something I would gladly promote if there would be nothing in it for me? Most often than not, you’ll find the answer is no. And then, better move on in search of something that really matters.

Isolated acting

FabrizioLeave a comment

Your actions will have a much higher impact if they fit in a story you live every day.

Your feedback will be taken more seriously if it’s part of a more general attempt to genuinely help move the situation forward.

Your survey will get a better response rate if it’s framed in an ongoing effort to better understand and serve.

Your marketing will be more effective if it’s part of a strategy that aims at generating value for the prospect at every step of their journey.

Your message might actually be heard if it’s the bit of a story your audience has been waiting for and cannot do without.

Of course, for all of this to be possible, you need to spend a considerable amount of time tryin to understand the other(s).

The alternative, though, is to share your opinion every time you do not get things your way, to send out a survey without having set the stage for it in the months before, to run campaign after campaign tweaking for conversion, to forge the message with what we have in mind.

It happens every day, almost everywhere. And it drives us crazy when it is done to us.