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A Leadership Insight from Professor Nicholas Washienko Professor Washienko teaches in our program, Developing an Executive Communication Strategy. "Leaders often pride themselves on their ability to think and act strategically, but I’d like to point out a time when this ability is sorely lacking — the ’high stakes’ or ’business critical’ situation. Let me explain. In high stakes situations, most leaders spend the majority of their time preparing what they are going to say. When I ask executives or a group what percentage of their time they spend preparing content, the typical answer is ’80-90%.’ However, your listeners react far more to you than they do to what you are saying. That is, they react to how you are coming across to them. And they make up their minds about you based on this reaction. One of the more frightening aspects of this judgment is that it is rendered within the first five to ten seconds of your presentation. This instinctive, pre-cognitive judgment occurs whether your listeners think about it or not-- it just happens. To an enormous extent, their willingness to trust you and accept what you say is determined by that judgment. Where does the strategic mistake lie? It resides in the fact that most leaders spend 90% of their time preparing content (and/or PowerPoints) and only 10% focusing on connecting with their listeners in a way that positively disposes those listeners to them and to their message. That is not good strategic thinking. What’s the solution? The solution is not to ignore content. It clearly makes sense to spend time preparing what you will say. But it does argue for spending an equal amount of time planning for how you will create a positive dynamic or relationship between yourself and your listeners. The most effective and successful speakers in America recognize the truth of this insight and put it into practice when they communicate." Other Leadership Insights from our Faculty
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