You don’t get to control it all. But choosing simpliciy whenever possible adds to life an element of deepest freedom (…) and many opportunities to discover that less might actually be more.
Jon Kabat-Zinn – Wherever you go, there you are.
Category: Communication
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever
Mahatma Ghandi
Strategy or no strategy, that’s the question
Nowadays many people are asking why time should be lost at writing or even thinking about strategies: nobody reads them and sooner rather than later if not directly, they will find their way to the bin. Well, the simple answer here is that most of the people simply don’t understand what a strategy is and what it does. Not only is a strategy an ideal way to put your thoughts into a structured framework and make them more tangible; no, it also gives you a powerful tool at hand that will help you sell your ideas and plans in a very professional and successful manner.
Let me explain this to you: imagine you are asked to drive a new product launch and all you have are highly interesting and valid but loosely tied bits and pieces of your product managers, your marketing people and your engineers. How are you going to convince your customers – let alone your internal stakeholders who are first on the list to be aligned – of the added value of your product if there is no thread, no thoroughly reflected and grounded path and no story? Well, it’s difficult…
On the other hand, even if every single milestone you undertake while writing a strategy, will confront you inevitably with new questions, issues and problems, this will only allow you to dig deeper and to find out the true value proposition that will create the ‘wow’ effect in your customer’s eyes. So yes, time consuming it is, but in the end, the outcome rewards all efforts!
Let’s take a quick look at how a strategic document could be structured (only general categories are reproduced here, in practice, many more of course exist):
1. Current Situation/Background
2. Alignment to Global or Segment Strategy
4. General Objectives (qualitative/quantitative)
3. Specific Objectives
– Long term objectives (could be external or internal)
– Short term objectives (could be external or internal)
4. Target Markets and Audiences
5. Analysis of competition (how are they positioned, how do they communicate?)
6. Communication Plan (including the appropriate comms. vehicles and key messages)
7. Evaluating Success
8. Tactical calendar
9. Budget
If you follow this simple guideline also involving if possible your mangers in the thought process (this obviously includes summarizing and structuring what you have received from your colleagues or reaching out to them), you will have all the pre-requisites for a successful launch, introduction or campaign. Not only will you generate the buzz and buy-in you need internally to get things done, but your external appearance on the market will also be a true experience and hence a success. Try it and you won’t be disappointed!
How Leadership Can Have a Real Impact on “Human Capital”
In a world that seems to rotate faster every day and in which the words “globalisation” and “digitalisation” play prominent roles in all areas, one factor becomes more and more important for every leader: the promotion and the continuing education of their motivated and qualified employees. Within a global economy, in which the financial resources are not the only necessary conditions able to ensure a competitive advantage, another form of capital, the “human capital” is more and more valorised. As the 15th Annual Global CEO Survey, carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers found out, “talent shortages and mismatches are impacting profitability now.”[1] Although more and more people are educated and mobile, many tasks can nowadays be fulfilled from anywhere in the world, in part thanks to technology. This might mean talent gaps in certain markets or certain industries where highly skilled employees are simply not available. The human being hence moves centre stage and becomes a major ingredient of a company’s success. As a result, the capacity to motivate and retain talent is in fact more important than ever.
But what can be understood when speaking about “human capital” and why, over the last decade and in some cultures, did the notion sometimes suffer from a negative interpretation?[2]Although many different ways exist to describe “human capital”, a common definition says that it is (…)the stock of competencies, knowledge, social and personality attributes, including creativity, embodied in the ability to perform labour so as to produce economic value“[3]. Obviously, through this definition and when reading pertinent literature[4] about the subject, one can easily understand the feeling of uneasiness that befalls us as there is always a slight thought or “after taste” comparing humans with machines and other production factors. Human capital becomes in a way substitutable which adds a certain insecurity to the discussion.
But, as we will all agree, human beings and individuals are more than a mere “factor of production” and one thing is for sure: (…)the loss in productivity and time when a valuable employee leaves, as well as the expense related to retraining (…)”[5] are huge and nowadays this is more and more noticed. As a consequence job-hopping becomes a fear of every employer. Moving forward, organizations are now making efforts to identify talented managers as early as possible, in order to devote time and resources for their ongoing development and motivation.
As a leader, you too can make a real difference as to a certain extent, you are able to create the conditions that allow qualified staff members to feel at ease at their workplace and identify with the corporate culture. By “leading through example” you can foster a climate of trust and transparency, allowing for growth and personal satisfaction. A “happy” employee will be less likely to accept other competitive job offers that he/she will most certainly receive during his/her career. Intrinsic motivation can be far more powerful than extrinsic motivation and the key lies in your hand, as a proactive and empathic leader!
[2] See German speaking literature like for example: http://www.harvardbusinessmanager.de/heft/artikel/a-622148.html
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_capital
[4] See for example articles from Gary Weber who carried out an extension of the applicability of economic theory in his analysis of relations among individuals outside of the market system.
Effectively mastering speeches
Have you experienced it as well? You know that you have to present in front of a major audience, maybe your company’s leaders will also be present in the room, and already three weeks before the event, you are afraid of that single moment. Well, rest assured, you are not alone; in fact, many of us feel exactly the same and this doesn’t make you a bad speaker.
Even the best and most experienced speakers around the globe though, have to prepare thoroughly what they are going to say and how they are going to interact with their audience. Exactly like acting on stage in a theatre or in front of a camera, all gestures, climaxes, intervals and jokes are carefully studied and planned. Not that there would not be any room left for adaptations or flexibility, no, of course not! An experienced speaker will simply be more at ease coping with unforeseen situations or reactions from the audience as he/she will have a reservoir of anecdotes and stories at hand to fill the gap or bridge the difficult moment.
So, how should you prepare for an important speech? A couple of things to remember when putting your slides or other support materials together:
- Images tell more than words; use as many images as you can to stress what you are saying, don’t write all you have to say on your slides (why should people listen to you otherwise, they could just read your hand-outs).
- Your only text should be key messages and take-away points; this will make your speech much stronger.
- A speech is like a story, it needs a clear, intro, climax and closure; never lose the red thread during your ‘act’, it would confuse your audience.
- Give examples that ,speak’ to your audience (you should thus know in advance who you are going to address).
And of course:
- Practice, practice, practice… as many times as it takes to feel safe and confident when you speak. Select somebody to present to, he/she might even give you interesting hints and tips on how to improve yourself.
- For the important day: choose clothes that you feel comfortable with. This is extremely important! If you are not happy with your looks, how will you be able to convince your audience?
Last but not least, when you present, please remember to:
- Speak slowly and clearly; even when time runs out (maybe something unforeseen happened): a good speaker knows how to shorten a speech and will still be able to make his/her point.
With this in mind, your speech will have the desired impact and the more often you take the opportunity to be on stage, the less anxiety you will feel. And remember: no one is born a master!