uptalk

Uptalk will give the impression that you are unsure. 

As a leader, you want to be aware of your uptalk and work on reducing it. How you sound will determine if people believe you or not. As a leader, you want to sound certain, sure, and assertive in good times and in bad times. Your people rely on your certainty for their sense of confidence.

Uptalk is not all bad, and you do not want to eliminate it. You want to just reduce it to a level where it does not impact your credibility.

Peter Khoury

"3 Ways To Reduce Uptalk To Boost Your Credibility As A Leader", Magnetic Speaking. Accessed December 7, 2021

negaphobia

The corporate world has a disease that Robert McKee calls “Negaphobia.” It’s the fear of anything that is negative and the potential consequences. Too often, everything needs to be positive, with a smile on the face and not talking about “problems” or “weakness.” If you want to earn trust from your audience, share the problems, struggles and weaknesses that are part of life.

Typically, presentations avoid problems and emphasize the good. This is the best way to lose your credibility. Everything that sugarcoats your point, leave that at home. The audience trusts in honesty and not in perfection anymore.

Joni Galvão

"10 Golden Principles for an Effective Presentation" MARTECHseries. December 2, 2019

rely on your team

Important advice to any leader is to be humble enough to admit that you don't know something. Too many people come in to a leadership position saying: Well, these people gotta respect me so I better know what I'm talking about. They miss an opportunity to learn the essence of the work they're being called upon to do because they didn't ask.

As a CEO (New York Region American Red Cross), the people who report to me are like Ken Turner, who runs disasters for 26 counties. He knows his stuff. I'm not going to pretend I know more about disaster response than he does. He taught me disaster response. He's counting on me for other skills, and I'm relying on him to get the job done. (While Taravella is interim CEO in New York, Turner will fill her position, and his regional disaster oversight will be filled by Susan Pope, a disaster program manager for the Central New York chapter.)

I learn from Ken. One of the best things I ever did is say: OK, teach me this business guys. It's counter intuitive. You think you going to lose credibility by admitting you don't know something. You gain credibility. So that's a tip for anyone aspiring to leadership responsibility: Don't be afraid to ask questions.

If you want it as a bullet point: Rely on your team. If you're being asked to lead a team, then you have to believe in that team. Part of believing in that team is to trust them and to have them teach you what you don't know.

Rosie Taravella interviewed by Stan Linhorst

"Rosie Taravella on leadership: Be humble enough to admit that you don't know something". syracuse.com. November 21, 2017. 

the tremendous power of particularity

Appreciate the tremendous power of particularity. If your identity is formed by hard boundaries, if you come from a specific place, if you embody a distinct musical tradition, if your concerns are expressed through a specific paracosm, you are going to have more depth and definition than you are if you grew up in the far-flung networks of pluralism and eclecticism, surfing from one spot to the next, sampling one style then the next, your identity formed by soft boundaries, or none at all.

(Maybe this is why younger rock bands can’t fill stadiums year after year, while the more geographically defined older bands like U2, Springsteen and the Beach Boys can.)

The whole experience makes me want to pull aside politicians and business leaders and maybe everyone else and offer some pious advice: Don’t try to be everyman. Don’t pretend you’re a member of every community you visit. Don’t try to be citizens of some artificial globalized community. Go deeper into your own tradition. Call more upon the geography of your own past. Be distinct and credible. People will come.

David Brooks

"The Power of the Particular." New York Times. June 25, 2012.

reasons why change efforts typically fail

1. People leading the change think that announcing the change is the same as implementing it.

2. People’s concerns with change are not surfaced or addressed.

3. Those being asked to change are not involved in planning the change.

4. There is no compelling reason to change. The business case is not communicated.

5. A compelling vision that excites people about the future has not been developed and communicated.

6. The change leadership team does not include early adopters, resisters, or informal leaders.

7. The change is not piloted, so the organization does not learn what is needed to support the change.

8. Organizational systems and other initiatives are not aligned with the change.

9. Leaders lose focus or fail to prioritize, causing “death by 1,000 initiatives.”

10. People are not enabled or encouraged to build new skills.

11. Those leading the change are not credible. They undercommunicate, give mixed messages, and do not model the behaviors the change requires.

12. Progress is not measured, and/or no one recognizes the changes that people have worked hard to make.

13. People are not held accountable for implementing the change.

14. People leading the change fail to respect the power of the culture to kill the change.

15. Possibilities and options are not explored before a specific change is chose.

When most people see this list, their reaction depends on whether they have usually been the target of change or the change agent. Targets of change frequently feel as though we have been studying their organization for years, because they have seen these reasons why change fails in action, up close and personal. The reality is that while every organization is unique in some ways, they often struggle with change for the same reasons.

When change agents look at this list, they get discouraged, because they realize how complicated implementing change can be and how many different things can go wrong. Where should they start? Which of the fifteen reasons why change fails should they concentrate on?

Over the years it has been our experience that if leaders can understand and overcome the first three reasons why change typically fails, they are on the road to being effective leaders of change.

Ken Blanchard

Leading at a Higher Level: Blanchard on Leadership and Creating High Performing Organizations. FT Press. 2010.