Essential Executive Communication Factors
Brief #20: Three communication traits for those trusted by leaders
Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.
Confucius
Communication between workers and apex leaders consistently creates awkward and tense experiences for these parties. Employees can (figuratively and literally) break out into cold chills and panic. Leaders might despair in advance of what they perceive as ineffective and low value uses of their time. At some level, this awkwardness is driven by fear and/or frustration. Two emotions which can be tempered by preparing for these interactions. Winging these interactions is a practice of mediocre workers.
Three factors
Accuracy
Benefit
Brevity
Discussion
Who is an apex leader. These individual have no or relatively few people they are answerable to in practice on a regular basis. Examples of apex leaders include:
Owners
C-suite officers
Board members
Vice-Presidents and director-level positions (depending on organizational structure)
Principals & partners
You can use these skills with anyone in a leadership position (such as a team lead, department head, supervisor or manager). They may not appreciate it or realize the benefit of receiving information in this format.
It’s not uncommon for people at lower levels of leadership to request or even demand more information that they will ever need or use. Often they just do not know better. Or they may be flexing their limited authority to because they can do so. In these cases, go with the flow and do what they ask.
When a person is closer to the apex of organization, task saturation becomes a significant factor in their lives. This phenomenon occurs when demands on a person’s performance nears or exceeds their ability to process and respond appropriately. Examples of these demands can include decisions that need to be made. People waiting for approvals to begin work activities. Sending correspondence. Attending events. Doing interviews. Exercising. Doing things with their family. And much more.
How is it that high performers seem to get more done than other people? There is a huge difference between these individuals and the struggling “busy” people. It comes down to having self-discipline to prioritize what they spend their energy and focus during any given block of time. And saying “no” or de-prioritizing most everything else.
Often how apex leaders decide what is important upsets people. No one likes themselves or things important to them being labeled as “not important”. Does this mean an rejected issue/message/matter is not important to you or other people? That is irrelevant. The topic at hand is its importance to an apex leader.
If (when?) You and/or your effort to get time or approval from an apex leader fails, avoid getting mad and hurt. Or get through those feelings quickly. Then reflect on that rejection. How did you miss the mark in that communication attempt with a leader? Was your communication beneficial, accurate and brief? Once you begin thinking in these terms you will be a more successful communicator with apex leaders.
Accuracy
Does the expert know what they are talking about?
Acknowledgment as a credible professional is essential when communicating with other people. Especially with apex leaders. Trust is always under scrutiny. Build upon the trust that got you access to an apex leader by demonstrating the four core traits of professionalism. <- link here.
Apex leaders need to have confidence in what you share with them. They rarely have time (or the inclination) to verify or double check your work. That is for you to do when and if it’s necessary. Apex leaders’ primary responsibility is to make decisions. Can you provide accurate information someone can use to make a consequential decision?
What about the situations when your answer is not decision-making ready? This is not unheard of or even uncommon. There are factors which can change accuracy of your information. Even as you are formulating your answer.
How do you handle not giving a bad answer? This topic is explored in the article “Avoid giving bad answers that result in bad outcomes...like ruining your reputation“. You are just as responsible to not give bad answers as you are expected to give accurate answers.
Benefit
What is beneficial for an organization? This is (or should be) a leader’s primary concern when communicating with people. It is the responsibility of a leader to make decisions that result in a company meeting the requirements of its owners, investors, and any other people having a financial and/or fiduciary interest in the organization.
Central to this is awareness of an organization’s Desired Statement (DO Statement. ←link here). Prior to communicating with an apex leader, answer this question. “Will my message benefit the organization through achieving it’s DO Statement and it’s profitably and/or funding?”
In short, will your communication help the organization achieve it’s DO Statement in a way that it keeps generating or receiving funds? This last part is a bit nuanced, but important. It breaks down like this:
For-profit business: An organization serves customers successfully and receives payment for its products and services operating in a manner that it creates profits.
For-non-profit organizations: It serves customers successfully and receives payment, donations, or other funding for providing its products and services
For governmental operations: It serves its citizens in way that they elect to fund it (often indirectly) through tax payer funds.
It comes down to getting money in some way. Your (successful) communication will ideally improve this getting of money (or at least not hurt it). If your messaging impairs this activity, it is likely not beneficial to the organization or apex leaders. This may result in not getting an opportunity to even communicate with apex leaders or having your time with them embarrassingly cut short.
Here is a short-list of factors to help validate your message’s potential for an apex leader:
Will it help achieve or obstruct the related DO Statement?
Is the timing right?
Does it contribute to getting money in the ways described above?
How likely is your message to help or harm the reputation of the leader and/or organization?
Will your message create new opportunities
How can it be influenced by external events
How do you check for this before your communication with leadership? Float it out to people you trust that are in the know and experienced with your organization. The closer that person is to being near or in the orbit of the apex leader in question the better.
You can benefit from their perspectives and may gain an advocate. You can also save yourself a hit to your reputation if that message is missing the mark on money and the DO Statement.
Brevity
Five minutes, fifty words, and five hundred words (5/50/500). These are guidelines to use for communication with apex leaders. It is the typical window of opportunity you have to share an idea. Your hook (how you can contribute to the getting of money or achieving a DO Statement ) needs to take place within these parameters.
Earlier we talked about task saturation. This is what apex leaders (and anyone who treasures their time) are managing. Your job is to help with this task. Even if they do not know this is what’s important for them.
Being able to distill a message and concept into these parameters takes thought and work. It is far more difficult to craft a message into a short but meaningful package than to blather on and on. Going through this process helps you to validate a message and its potential value to an apex leader.
Brevity is a product of sharing what is essential in the most economical amount of communication. Your message needs to only be long enough to provide what a leader has requested or pique their interest. By working within the 5/50/500 framework you’re message will be constrained in its size and complexity. This will compel you into getting rid of unnecessary fluff and filler words.
Five minutes. Five minutes is more time than most people realize. It can seem like forever if you are boring your audience. Use this time wisely because it is precious to get this much access to an apex leader.Do not be surprised if you’re asked to brief a leader and spend more time traveling to a location and waiting for your time to speak than the actual time you spend answer questions.
You may get five minutes or less to interact with an apex leader during a first contact. Should your messaging prove interesting or valuable to leadership, you may be granted additional time for presentations, briefings, and other activities. Think of these five minutes as your audition for the next round in becoming a trusted resource for leadership.
Prepare for these opportunities. Do not take them for granted. Do not wing them if that can be avoided. Often you will have little or no notice for speaking with an apex leader. Commit to giving five minute briefs on current projects and tasks. This also goes for topics in your field of interest and responsibilities.
Practice with other people. Create a practice environment as close as possible to the real world environment you are likely to encounter.
This can also include wearing work attire.
Provide your practice buddy a script of questions an apex leader might ask or comments (appreciate, probing, or dismissive) to help desensitize yourself from potentially uncomfortable situations.
If no one else is available, practice in front of a mirror.
Record yourself talking. It’s awkward to watch, but you gain an appreciation for how the world see you. And what needs to worked on to be a higher-performing communicator.<- link here
Five hundred words. This is the approximate amount of words on two double-spaced typed pages for a five to seven minutes presentation. Write out your message. Practice it using the techniques above. Edit as needed for duration and impact.
Writing out a five hundred word communication has several benefits. This length document provides versatility for a number of different uses:
As a script for giving a five to seven minute presentation. It can also be used as a measure for how much content you need for different length presentations. If you are tasked with giving a ten minute presentation, you will need a four page script (two pages for every five minutes).
Foundation for fifty word pitch script. Identify trends and high points. Then highlight them in this shorter format.
This size document is fairly easy to produce from a time and effort perspective. It’s also a manageable size for creating multiple topic briefs and related edits.
Fifty words. This is your hook or pitch message. Free of bull and flowery wording. It’s your personal desired outcome statement. Write it out. Don’t wing it. Keep it between three to five sentences.
You want to structure this so your audience asks more information. Make your pitch enticing enough that your apex leader wants to know if you’ve they might have a tiger by the tail. A tiger that can lead to money and success. Practice this hook. The same way as your five minute brief.
This is different from responding to a request for information. You’ve got to wedge your idea into someone’s full schedule. Get the essential information out there. Be direct. Forego niceties and any introduction beyond your name in case someone wants to follow-up.
Note this is not without risk. While fortune favors the brave, a lot of brave people get smoked and suffer negative consequences in some way. You determine if any potential benefit is worth risk to your career. Socialize your idea with a trusted person if possible (as discussed in the Benefit section).
Conclusion
Having an opportunity to speak with apex leaders is not embraced by everyone. Anxiety and fear are common response when a person needs to communicate with someone at that level.
As with most things, fear fills the void of the unknown. You now have three strategies (communication with accuracy, benefit, and brevity) and tactics for executing each of these. You will likely have to modify these to best fit the personality of your leaders and organizational culture.
With this practices you have a starting point. Do not wait for an opportunity to communicate with an apex leader to fall into you lap without gaming out what you will do. Rehearse these techniques.
Remember communication is a window into your level of professionalism. Practice helps you prepare. Being prepared helps you stay calm. When you are calm you demonstrate composure. Composure indicates professionalism.
Prep, Practice & Review
Three essential factors for communicating with apex leaders are ___________________, __________________, and _______________________.
As an expert you are just as responsible for not giving a ________________________ answer as you are expected to provide a ____________ answer.
Apex leaders are primarily concerned about benefits related to getting ______________________ and achieving their ______________________ ___________________.
The framework for practicing brevity is ____/______/______.
Any initial or brief communication with an apex leader is a ________________________ for becoming a trusted resource.
Write a five hundred word script/essay/report on a current work topic or interest. Prepare using the Eaves Professional Development Framework in the Learning Tips brief. Deliver it to one or more people who will give your feedback. Repeat this every other week to build confidence and prepare for communication with an apex leader.