Transformational Leaders Have Character

The truth is anyone can lead people; however, few people can be leaders.  What makes leadership hard for most people is that they don’t have character, or a character that is worth following.  These people, until they find theirs and lead with it, will continue to get the same frustrating results.  

Every person has the choice to develop their character and yesterday’s lack of judgment does not necessarily equate to today’s lack of character.  Without mistakes, we cannot make behavioral corrections. Without character, no leader can influence positive transformational leadership.  

Leaders today are under intense pressure to perform.  With our on-demand culture, they are expected to garner greater returns, inspire their stakeholders, and be able to do anything it takes to succeed.  While we agree that leadership in its purity has not changed over time, what has changed is how we come to measure a leader.

Leadership is a complicated topic that has spurned thousands of books, articles, and seminars, almost since the advent of writing.  For hundreds of years, humans have been detailing the lives of successful people trying to gain a glimpse of something they do that may be transferable to our own lives.  A key reason biographies sell well every year is that people are naturally curious how and why others did what they did and how they did it -readers want to learn about a person's character.

          Character is vague and somewhat nebulous.  In order to better understand what it is, we must understand that character is an aggregate construct.  As an aggregate, it takes features, traits, moral or ethical qualities, etc., and forms the individual, specific nature of a person.  As you can see, we must understand these inputs (and others) in order to truly gauge a person’s character.

An example: When we assassinate the character of person on a personal level when, and as is often the case, the conflict is more behaviorally related to the circumstance and not personal, we ourselves are demonstrating our lack of character.

A simplified and very basic example to be sure, but we hope that you understand the point: sometimes we do not understand the whole of other people and we judge their character based on a single behavior; thus, raising a significant flag to the quality of our own character.  (It is also understood that multiplied behaviors will call character into question.) 

          Think about the above example in your life.  Have you ever judged the whole of someone based on some act?  Has anyone ever judged you based on some act?  Consider this: If you believe you are a person of character, are their objectionable items that others may lay at your feet that would arguably detract from the whole?  For most of us, the resounding answer is ‘Yes, there are many.’  And yet, we still have leaders of high character.  Many transformational leaders often hold what we might call ‘objectionable character’ traits.

We are not posing an apologetic argument that reinforces negative traits can be outweighed by good deeds or better traits.  Rather, we are posing the idea that all of us are not exempt from making mistakes, sometimes big mistakes, and often times repeating the same mistakes.  The ability to err is what makes us human.  The ability to grow from our mistakes is what transforms us into leaders. 

          Consider the macro-lens, who does transformational leadership matter to?  You?  The other person?  We will argue, both of you.  And in an age where leadership is under constant pressure, we need to develop stronger ‘servant-leaders.’  For those of you who believe this reads like an absurd proposition – that we should humble ourselves, be of service to all people, and follow a path of honest reflection – we will argue that leadership today is deficient in its character because of a lack of the above.

It is our undeniable experience that leaders who follow the servant-leader model are happier, more successful leaders, and more well-rounded people. Following this path will encourage a hunger for deeper and deeper transformation inside, so that it's not just your outside deeds that are superficially correct. You will discover a passion and increasing desire to be changed from deep within.

While this is not a religious or spiritual exercise, it is also not necessarily the path to success; rather, this is the path to transformation.  It is the path of becoming leader of character.

Follow-up Action Item

          Consider your actions as a leader.  Are you a person of character?  Are you a leader of character?  Review your daily inputs.  Look at how you think about others and how you act towards others.  Take this information and see how you can improve the lives of those around you through positive character transformation.  Be the leader you are designed to be.  Be the leader those around you need you to be.

Takeaway

When you experience transformation like this, you find that you will become an entirely different sort of leader.  The light of character that spills out of you will illuminate those around you and change their lives.  It is not a leadership of obedience, but one of service.  It is not the character of weakness, it is the character of power.

Delivering Your Best

What's Your Elevator Speech?

No matter what you do, or who you are, at some point you will be given a moment to ‘pitch’ yourself.  A ‘pitch’ here is that description of who you are, or what product you sell, or what you stand for, or what makes you unique, or sets you apart, etc.

An ‘Elevator Speech’ is simply this pitch made in the time it takes to ride an elevator.  This is the time you have to make that great first impression, explain to someone your passions, make the sell, or simply inform someone about you.  The pitch is made in about 30 to 60 seconds and should be very precise, concise, and on message.

Considering the vast number of professionals who don’t know what an elevator speech is, don’t be alarmed if you don’t have one; most of the time we don’t take the time to boil ourselves down to a 30 to 60 second message.  We can assure you, with great confidence, that those who have perfected their pitch have given it countless times and reaped tremendous rewards.

The elevator speech allows us to demonstrate our passion(s) in a short time frame.  It doesn’t matter if you are a talker, or a listener, we all need a solid ‘pitch’ about ourselves and/or those things that matter to us.

A few years ago I was raising money for a capital campaign.  During the elevator ride to my meeting, I was in the car with a stranger who engaged me in conversation.  Although I understood the ins and outs of the campaign, I fumbled around during this brief time to give a concise explanation of what I was doing and highlighted what I thought was urgent.  Unfortunately, I missed the important talking points I was so good at delivering with a client in a meeting.

I remember this story because sometime later on, when I was introduced to the critical need of having a good ‘Elevator Speech,’ I recalled this example.  Knowing that the elevator is simply a metaphor for the timing of the speech, I set down to being able to articulate myself in 30 to 60 seconds.  After years of preparing numerous pitches, I’ve condensed, written, re-written, and finally compiled a methodology for creating an effective ‘pitch.’

Take these tips below and work with them.  Subtract and add your own points as necessary, after all, it’s your pitch! Remember, no matter what:

Understand Your Product

          We cannot underscore this point enough.  We’ve heard a number of pitches where the speaker(s) did not truly understand their product(s).  Sure, the energy and desire were there, but the speakers were not completely confident with their product.  (Product, in this case, is the essence of the ‘pitch.’  It doesn’t matter if you are talking about alligators, zebras, or anything in between, if you don’t understand the ins and outs of your ‘product’ the listener will see right through you and you will lose credibility.)

          Take some paper and write down what you are preparing to pitch.  As an example: you are raising money for a library to buy books and extend their offerings to the public.

          As mentioned above we need to know what are product is.  Can you tell me what the purpose of the product might be in the above example?  An idea could be education for children and adults.  This purpose is what we are really doing and trying to convey to the listener in a tightly managed amount of time.  Buying the books and creating an avenue for additional offerings is how the library is going to accomplish this goal.

          Writing this and, obviously, more information down on our paper you can begin to write what you want to say.  On the initial drafts it’s not important how long the speech is; what is important is moving the ideas from your mind to the page.

Clarify Your Intention

          Understand your purpose.  If you are raising money for the library and the purpose is education, you don’t need to mention the need for more chairs and desks.  This is where the work comes in.  Good, no great, pitches are written and re-written numerous times.  Take the time to continually write out the intention until it is perfect.

          Every time you write out the intention, you take the opportunity to tighten up the language, remove unnecessary words, etc.  This exercise alone will help you solidify your purpose in the pitch.

          In addition, try to avoid using large, complicated vocabulary in the pitch.  Ensure your pitch can be understood by everyone who hears it.  While it is most important that you pitch decision makers, treat everyone to the same pitch.  Be careful not to dumb-down, or fluff-up your language because of your perception of the listener.  While this may be necessary at a later point, the elevator speech is geared toward using a limited amount of time to convey a concise message.

Make Your Speech Memorable

          As you want to be remembered for your speech, also be remembered for your passion on the topic.  People, in general, want to be excited with you.  When you make your pitch be excited and let your passion be both heard and seen.

          Following the library example from above, be sure to engage the name of the library and connect it with your listener so they develop proper empathy you’re working to achieve.  If you can place anecdotal information about the library and thus brand the library with the listener, your speech will be that much more meaningful to the listener.

Your nonverbal communication skill set will be very important here.  If you tend to be very reserved, you will need to learn to animate yourself appropriately.  Likewise, if you ‘talk with your hands’ be careful with allowing your gestures to speak louder than your speech.

Practice, Practice, Practice

          Need we say more?  Practice is the very essence of success.  If you want to be successful at anything you must be willing to commit the necessary time.  Crafting and reciting the perfect speech will take time and practice.  Consider it this way: you will get one shot in this 30 to 60 second window.  One shot.  Take the time to word it properly and recite it clearly.

          When practicing the speech, say it to yourself while looking in the mirror.  This is what your listener will see while they hear you.  Please do not skip this step.  Practicing in the mirror will help you build confidence, and having confidence in your pitch is critical.

          Another practical reason to recite your speech in the mirror is to observe your nonverbal communication skills.  This practice time gives you an opportunity to work on these often overlooked pieces of the communication model.

          In the shower, during your commute, during your break, in your head, out loud, etc.; these are all opportunities to practice your speech.  Practice to make it perfect!

Follow-up Action Item

           Start writing today.  It will take some time to create your perfect speech.  Don’t be frustrated if you can’t get it down right away, keep working on it.  Keep writing and listening to others and what they say, you might want to incorporate some of the things others say into your speech, but you’ll never know unless you get started.  Use the list above and/or refine it to your expertise.  Either way, just do it!

Takeaway

          There will always be a time when you need to ‘pitch’ yourself and/or a product.  Taking the time to articulate this pitch in 30 to 60 seconds will set you apart from everyone else.  Adding this tool to your communication toolkit will open more doors for you than it will close.

Delivering Your Best