Page 39 - Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders

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WHO ARE YOU . . . AND WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO ME?
CHAPTER 2
FIGURE 2-1 Types of Leadership Communicators
Transformer Visionary 17

Coach Expert

FOUR TYPES OF LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATORS
The role that you, as a leader-presenter, play in public is up to you. As a gen-
eral rule, the closer you are on stage to what you are in private, the more mean-
ingful and believable your presentation will be.
We offer four models of leadership presentation (see Figure 2-1).

THE EXPERT
The first type of leadership communicator is the expert, or the keeper of the
mission. The expert holds to the organization’s mission—what the organiza-
tion is and how it conducts business. Experts base their decision making on
facts and their relationship to the business environment—how the company
can anticipate and capitalize on market opportunities.
Colin Powell is an excellent example of the expert who understands the
mission and what it takes to fulfill it. As one who was raised in the military
as a soldier and then as a military aide to politicians, Powell knows his sub-
ject matter. When you listen to him speak, he presents his point of view as a
matter of fact; in other words, he is abiding by the mission.
Corporate leaders, too, can be experts. They also keep close tabs on
their human resources, always evaluating whether they have the right people
doing the jobs and what they need to do to develop the next generation of
leaders.