Page 138 - Leadership Secrets of Hillary Clinton

MAKING YOUR WORDS COUNT

You can usually identify a person’s communication style
preference by watching how that person communicates
with others. And if you can determine that person’s pre-
ferred style, you can figure out how to speak to him to best
get your point across to him. While most people communi-
cate with others the way they like others to communicate
with them, it actually is much more effective if you adapt
your style to what works best for the other person. So, if
you are talking with someone who is analytical, be sure to
have plenty of facts and figures to back up your point, and
be logical in your approach. But if you are speaking to a
driver, get right to the bottom line and let that person ask
you questions in order to fill in the details that matter.
Hillary is known for doing this very well. Both Richard
Holbrooke and George Mitchell, who worked with her
extensively in 2009, said that she has been helpful in bluntly
assessing the personalities of the people she deals with,
which enables her to adapt her style when communicating
with them. In an article for the Washington Post by Glenn
Kessler, Mitchell said: “One of the reasons she is so effec-
tive is because she is so direct. She is able to state in simple
terms complicated issues.” During a recent controversy over
Hillary’s exchange with Pakistani businessmen and stu-
dents, Paul Richter of the Los Angeles Times wrote, “Clinton
has earned a reputation for sometimes speaking with can-
dor more closely associated with senators than chief diplo-
mats.” The Associated Press agreed with this assessment:

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