Page 51 - Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders

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DEVELOPING THE LEADERSHIP MESSAGE
CHAPTER 3
FIGURE 3-1 Establishing Credibility
Don’t Hide Bad
News

Speak the Truth 29

Do What You Say Never Over-
You Will Do Promise

Credibility is a leader’s currency. With it he or she is solvent; without it he
or she is bankrupt. Communications reinforces a leader’s credibility. How can
a leader establish credibility (see Figure 3-1)? 1
Speak the truth. Tell people what the facts are. Be straight with people.
The “open book” management style (where employees are free to look
at management finances and policies) works because it shares informa-
tion across all levels. The approach fosters a greater sense of responsi-
bility. Zingerman’s, a thriving community of food-related businesses in
Ann Arbor, Michigan, employs the open book style with great success.
As a result, Zingerman’s owners have created a sense of shared owner-
ship as well as an esprit de corps for the entire enterprise.
Don’t hide bad news. We live in an era of transparency: People want to

see inside an organization. With the multiplicity of information chan-
nels that are available, bad news always becomes known, so it behooves
management to be candid right from the start. Winston Churchill did
not shirk from telling the British people how dire the odds were in May
1940 as Britain stood alone against the Nazi war machine. And there
was no wide-scale panic. People are capable of accepting the truth if
you are honest with them.

Never overpromise. Do not make promises that you cannot keep. Politi-
cians seem never to learn this lesson. Campaign promises are not