Speaker 1: When the true leader speaks, things happen. There's a couple of myths in many organizations about this idea of communication. The first myth is this, that we need more communication, more information in the organization. We really don't. In most organizations, we have too much information. We have actually too much communication. What we need is more meaning. What we need is more purpose. The second myth is around communication as a leadership competency. Many of us think about leadership communication as a competency like strategic thinking or project management, innovation, and the like. Think of it as an important competency, but a competency nonetheless. In fact, it's not a competency. Most organizations put it in their top two or three competencies because they see its importance. But leadership communication is not a competency. It is your leadership. Everything you do as a leader is manifest through your communication. It is simply that important. Leadership and communication are synonymous. Now management communication is fundamentally different. It's important, but fundamentally different. Managers communicate accurate and timely information to help people do their jobs and do their jobs better. Important work. Leaders communicate to get people to think and act differently and in concert, working together, aligned, committed. Leaders push people past the normal cynicism in organizations, the doubt and uncertainty that exists. Their voice gets people aligned, engaged, and committed. But the challenges leaders are up against in organizations today are enormous. Organizations are incredibly noisy places. Think about all the messages that are flying around organizations. So how can one voice, the leader's voice, your voice be heard above the din of the crowd? It's not just about having good presentation skills. You know the skills. Eye contact, modulating your voice, pacing your message, knowing your audience, tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them and tell them what you told them. These are all important skills, but not what it takes to be an effective leadership communicator. To be heard, really heard, leaders need to speak in three dimensions, personal, future, and story. Personal. All communication is personal. Whether or not you're ordering office supplies or describing corporate strategy, you need to be able to make a personal connection. At this moment, even through this video, I'm either connecting with you personally or I'm not. You are deciding to either let my words touch you or not. I need to make that connection with you. Leaders do this by talking about passions and principles. They do it by talking about sacrifice, loyalty, service, community, the things that speak to the part of ourselves that we hold most dear. Leaders also must speak the simple, easily recognizable truth that stands out from all the spin and positioning and half-truths that float around organizations. People are listening for that truth teller and they'll make a personal connection with the person they believe is telling them the truth. The second dimension is the dimension of the future. The thing that distinguishes leadership communication is that all leadership communication needs to be an invitation to a tomorrow that is better than today. Think about all the great communication you hear from your leaders. The great leaders communicate about a tomorrow that is better than today in some way. And that message is woven through all of their communications. And the third dimension is story. All great leaders are storytellers. Storytelling is the oldest form of communication and continues to be the most important form today. Neuroscientists agree upon one thing. They agree that we listen, think, and organize our minds in stories. We cannot change until we have a new story to replace an existing one. The leader's job is to help us create a new, bigger story, both for us and for our organization. Many leaders simply try to create a grand story for their organizations, but this often falls on deaf ears. The leaders who really have an impact are those that create big stories, but big stories in which every one of us have a starring role. From the CEO to the receptionist, we all have a starring role. Think back on the great projects you've been part of, great organizations, great teams. It's very likely that there was a leader there who created a big story for your team, a big story for your organization, and made sure you had a starring role. So one voice, your voice, can make all the difference in the organization today. The leader's voice can be heard above the din of the crowd. We're all listening for it. We're straining to hear it. All of us who work within organizations are listening for that leader's voice. When the leader speaks, something inside us moves. It resonates with our deepest hopes and aspirations.