Page 55 - Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders

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DEVELOPING THE LEADERSHIP MESSAGE
CHAPTER 3
FIGURE 3-2 Four I’s Leadership Message Model
Inform
Leadership Involve 33
Messages
Invite
Ignite
offer suggestions. Add to this the fact that Southwest Airlines is
employee owned, and you have a successful model for involvement
because employees have a stake in the enterprise.
Ignite people’s imaginations about what they can do to make things
better for themselves and their organizations. Imagination is a powerful
mental tool. Consider the example of Mohandas Gandhi in the indepen-
dence movement in India. Gandhi’s words and example, coupled with
the charisma that sprang from his commitment and simplicity, rallied
a nation to think about the possibility of becoming independent from
Britain. While many thousands of leaders in every region of the sub-
continent made separation possible, it was Gandhi who lit the flame
and stoked it by words and example.

Invite people to participate in the enterprise, whether it be the fulfill-
ment of a goal or the transformation of a culture. Leaders who talk
about what people can do for themselves and by themselves are leaders
who understand their role as inspiring action or change. Joe Torre never
batted, fielded, or pitched for his Yankee championship teams, yet he
was the one who invited superstars and other players to play together as
a team in order to win. His invitation made players of all abilities feel
that they could contribute, and as a result, they did. Other successful
coaches do the same thing, and in the process create win-win situa-
tions: a win on the scoreboard and a win for the collective psyche of
the team.
All four elements need not be apparent in every message. Sometimes the
leader’s message is simply an update. Other times it’s a call to action or an invi-
tation to do something. But over the course of a leader’s tenure, the success of
leadership communications depends upon including these four elements over
and over again.