AchieveGlobal's blog

The Marginal Idiot

By Chris Blauth

When you think of ‘effective communication’ does Napoleon Bonaparte come to mind?  If not, he should.

Much has been written about Napoleon’s brilliant military strategy and his unending quest for world domination.  Less known, and perhaps legend, is the process he devised and followed to ensure that his generals understood his every command.

Enter the Marginal Idiot. Napoleon knew that if someone lacking full capacity to understand information did understand a message, then it was so clear that others in more critical positions—namely generals miles away on the battle front—were certain to comprehend the message and act accordingly.  Unlike in Napoleon’s day, we have the technology today to communicate to one or thousands at the blink of an eye.  Yet are your messages really understood by others?  Keep the following principles in mind when communicating either mission-critical strategic plans or delegating mundane tasks:

1. Organize your thoughts.  It pays to think before you speak.  Whether getting your thoughts on paper or just thinking through what you’ll say, you need to consider your objectives, your audience, and the key points in your message.
2. Deliver you message in compelling ways.  Effective communicators know that how they deliver a message is just as important as the message itself.  Use stories, illustrations, and metaphors to convey your point in memorable and compelling ways.  
3. Explore responses.  Take the time to respond to the questions, concerns, and ideas of others.  Go beyond active listening to empathetic listening.

Or you might want to run your message first by someone you work with that you feel is a…oh, never mind.

Just Admit It!

By: Chris Blauth A creative group working at or with Nike in the late 1980’s coined and marketed the now-famous slogan “Just do it.”  Since then, Nike’s marketing engine has continued to define what “it” is and looks like in the behaviors and accomplishments of popular athletes at the top of their game.    For leaders, an equally important slogan should be “Just admit it.”  The question in the case of leaders, naturally, is what is “it”?  Recently, AchieveGlobal fielded a global survey as the capstone to a comprehensive study of peer-reviewed business and leadership journals as well as focus groups with mid- and senior managers.  We pinpointed what leaders need to fess up to: their mistakes.  More broadly, successful leaders admit and accept responsibility for their own mistakes. In today’s business landscape and economic turmoil, admitting and accepting mistakes seems logical.  Who doesn’t want to see a leader come forward and be accountable for his or her hubris and egregious mistakes?  What’s fascinating, though, is that in 2003 – when the economy appeared healthy and leaders were not under the type of attacks happening today – another AchieveGlobal study found that leaders who freely admit their mistakes appear “real” or “genuine.” What’s more, such “genuine leaders” inspire trust and gain the commitment of their teams and peers.  Simply put, admitting mistakes is an evergreen facet of leadership. Have you seen leaders circumventing the need to admit mistakes and accept responsibility?  And what positive examples can you cite?  Post your thoughts here or email me at chris.blauth@achieveglobal.com. It would be wonderful if leaders never made mistakes, but that’s not possible.  So leaders: Just admit it!

Aplomb or a Bomb – You Decide!

By Craig Perrin It was Autumn. I was in Southern California on the Queen Mary for a marketing showcase with over 120 attendees. Our Product Development and Sales VPs were presenting in the ballroom – a daunting task that they handled with aplomb. I was to “spice up” the showcase and decided to include something on the impact of bad service – about six slides detailing the experience of two guys who went to an upscale hotel and had a less than stellar experience. This was a well-known story, at least for anyone in marketing. It was immensely popular – viral marketing at its best (or worst, if you work for that particular hotel chain). That part of the showcase was a hit, with over half the audience handing us their business cards so we could email the story I told.   Unfortunately, several individuals from that chain, our customers, were in the audience, and they were not pleased that we had shared the story about one of their brands. We had a significant amount of service recovery to do. This taught me a valuable lesson: Don’t comment, at least publicly, on the actions or response to the actions of any company with whom we may one day want to do business.   I would love to be neutral enough/big enough/not dependant enough, etc. that we as an organization could say what we wanted about any organization or individual in the news. Our choice, in this blog and elsewhere, is to hold our collective tongue. Have you had a similar experience? Do you agree or disagree with our approach? Please let us know!