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GREAT COMMUNICATION SECRETS OF GREAT LEADERS
You were clear in your explanation. You described the dangers of smoking
and its consequences. You answered the kid’s questions. What the heck did you
do wrong?
As a presenter, you did fine. As a parent, you failed to gain agreement and
discuss the consequences of failure. The relationship between parent and child
is not the same as that between presenter and audience, but there is a parallel.
As the presenter, you are the expert, “the parent of the information.” The audi-
ence receives your message; it is “the child of the information.” Unless some
kind of transformation, or change, occurs, the message will go in one ear and
out the other. You as the parent need to give the audience something to remem-
ber and something upon which to act. In short, you need to lead.
As the parent, you need to gain the child’s agreement to stop smoking and
list the consequences of failure to do so. As a leader, you need to gain agree-
ment from your audience and imply the consequences, good and bad, that can
occur when the people in the audience follow your message.

Successful leaders are those who take information and give it meaning, or
knowledge, that others can use. When this occurs, the message sticks (see Fig-
ure 11-1). Whether it is Jack Welch at G.E., Colin Powell and George C. Mar-
shall with the Army, or Vince Lombardi with his teams, a leader makes sure
that people understand what the leader is saying and, better yet, understand
what they need to do with the information once they have it. Ensuring the via-
bility of a message begins with an understanding of what the leader said.

FIGURE 11-1 Making Certain the Message Sticks

Check for understanding
Prepare leave-behind materials
Echo future communications
Transmit the passion
Live the message