Page 41 - Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders

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WHO ARE YOU . . . AND WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO ME?
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CHAPTER 2
tion, as the leader must determine what people need and how the leader can
deliver it.
Leader-coaches must adjust their focus throughout the day to address the
needs of individuals as well as the needs of the team. The model of the suc-
cessful sports coach is an apt example. Vince Lombardi was a coach who was
able to communicate to players one at a time; his players say that he got them
to play better because he raised their expectations of themselves. In other
words, he elevated their own perceptions of their abilities and in so doing
enabled them to play better.
When Lombardi addressed the entire team, he leveraged the raised expec-
tations to the entire team. But he did more: He provided a firm foundation.
How? By teaching. Having begun his coaching career as a high school
teacher, Lombardi continued his teaching of the fundamentals. His teaching
gave the team a framework upon which they could apply their individual and
collective talents.
THE TRANSFORMER
The fourth type of leadership communicator is again one part visionary,
another part expert, but this individual leans toward the visionary. He or she is
the transformer: The mission is to persuade—to change minds. Transformers
also are one part visionary. They know where they want to take their people,
and they apply their selling skills to convince people to come along with them.
The transformer as a leader-presenter is one who has both the information and
the conviction to persuade the listener to her or his point of view.
Think of a successful salesperson. Think of the words that come to mind
when you think of such an individual: knowledgeable, personable, willing to
take questions, patient, and persistent. All of these are qualities that sales-
people—and presenters who want to persuade others—need to have in abun-
dance.
A good example of a transformer is Mother Teresa. As a sister working in
the slums of Calcutta, she brought food, rudimentary medical assistance, and
hope to the street people. Realizing strength in numbers, she founded a mis-
sionary order to carry out her good intentions. Their continual presence in
Calcutta reminds the rest of the world of its obligation to those less fortunate.
As word of her work spread throughout the world, she became a willing par-
ticipant in “selling the mission” to those who could be of assistance. She bad-
gered popes, princes, presidents, and celebrities, all in the name of her
mission. She communicated her zeal for her mission through her writing and
her public appearances. Her example reminds us of what it takes to make a dif-
ference.