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In the months since Barack Obama has taken office, a curious thing
has occurred in his communication style. He has toned down the rhetoric
and geared up the details. As Don Baer who once worked for President
Bill Clinton put it, Obama is now "the Great Explainer."
In doing so, Obama is following in the tradition of a previous
president, Franklin Roosevelt. At his best, Roosevelt, either on radio
or to the press, took on the role of a trusted friend explaining things
in simple terms so that anyone could understand them. For example,
Roosevelt compared the U.S. program of Lend Lease to Britain in 1941 to
a neighbor lending a garden hose to a neighbor trying to put out a
house fire.
Explanation is a key attribute of leadership communications. Leaders
know to inject their communications with verve and enthusiasm as a
means of persuasion, but they also need to include an explanation for
the excitement. What does it mean and why are we doing it
are critical questions that every leader must answer with
straightforward explanations. Here are three ways to become an
effective explainer.
Define what it is. The purpose of an explanation is
to describe the issue, the initiative, or the problem. For example, if
you are pushing for cost reductions, explain why they are necessary and
what they will entail. Put the cost reductions into the context of
business operations. Be certain to explicate the benefits.
Define what it isn't. Here is where the leader
moves into the "never assume mode." Be clear to define the exclusions.
For example, returning to our cost reduction issue, if you are asking
for reductions in costs, not people, be explicit. Otherwise employees
will assume they are being axed. Leave no room for assumptions. This is
not simply true for potential layoffs but for any business issue.
Define what you want people to do. This becomes an
opportunity to issue the call for action. Establishing expectations is
critical. Cost reductions mean employees will have to do more with
less; explain what that will entail in clear and precise terms. Leaders
can also use the expectations step as a challenge for people to think
and do differently. Your explanation then takes on broader significance.
Good explainers need to be careful, however, not to overdo the
details. In a town hall meeting format, the leader sketches the facts
and supports them with data points. Dwelling too long on a single
point, or points, risks not simply boring the audience but confusing
them. Save detailed explanations, which are necessary, for written
documentation or team meetings. The latter presents an opportunity for
the next level of leaders to translate the communications into action
steps.
As such, detailed explanations work well in face-to-face situations,
or in team meetings. They become opportunities to elaborate on
possibilities. More important, they also allow individuals to offer
their feedback, something that typically cannot occur in large-scale
town hall events. The explanation becomes an invitation for discussion,
and skillful leaders use it to communicate not simply facts, but also
to engage support for their ideas.
One final point. Explanations may include aspirations. On March 31,
1945, Franklin Roosevelt gave a briefing to Congress on his meeting
with Churchill and Stalin at Yalta in which the future of post-War
Europe was discussed.
During the course of his presentation to Congress, as H.W. Brands writes in a brilliant new biography of Roosevelt, Traitor to His Class,
the President, only weeks from death, mused momentarily to talk about
the need for enduring peace. "Twenty-five years ago, American fighting
men [in reference to World War I] looked to the world to finish the
work of peace for which they fought and suffered. We failed them then.
We cannot fail them again."
FDR, like all good leaders, knew how to close a good explanation
with an equally good challenge; it puts people on notice and gives them
a reason for action.
Harvard Business
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