3 Essential Elements of Your Leadership Message

0:02 - Did we check our games? Hello. All right. Hey, Kimberly.

0:20 - You know, that just cracks me up to cracks, because whenever I see you outside of the studio, you don't go.

0:28 - Hey, just when we get in these.

0:31 - Chairs, it's like the Johnny Carson show.

0:36 - Exactly right. All right, so let's get to it. Let's talk a little bit about leadership today. I wanted to talk a little bit about messaging because you and I talk about this quite a bit. We do having your message, and leaders need their message, and so let's break it down. What does that mean? I want to understand your perspective around leaders having a message. And what does that mean? Like, I'm listening and I'm like, I have no idea what you are talking about.

1:02 - I'm a leader. I don't know if I have a message.

1:04 - Do I have a message?

1:05 - Yeah. I think leaders should have something that they're messaging. So thinking about what is it that you're trying to accomplish? Where is it that you want your team to go? What is it you want them to do? You have something in mind? And I think leaders need to have a very tight message. Some specific vocabulary that they use over and over and over. And they're talking about that on a regular basis. Whether it be in a staff meeting or a one on one meeting. Or when they're setting expectations or when they're talking about the work. They're tying it back to the specific message of what they're trying to accomplish.

1:44 - So when you say this message, is it in addition to the day to day grind?

1:49 - It's within the day to day grind is the way I see it.

1:52 - Okay.

1:53 - It's part of the day to day grind. It's part of the work that you're doing when you're talking to your teams, when you're talking one on one, you're just constantly bringing it back where there might be a meeting, where you're sending the message, like, this is where we're headed right now, or this is what I want the team to focus on. But every time you have an opportunity to tie back to that message so that it starts to stick because people have to hear it over and over and over sometimes for it to really stick.

2:22 - Isn't there like a rule behind that? Like, how many times?

2:24 - Somebody has seven times or something like that.

2:26 - I'm in a complete agreement with that. They need to hear it multiple times.

2:29 - Yeah. So it's integrated into the work and into the conversations that you're having every day. Anyways, it's the way I said, what about you?

2:37 - You know, I'm completely aligned with this one. I think it is important as leaders, we are not just doing the widget maker. Right. And I think we probably have touched on this a little bit, but we're not just making widgets, but we're also doing something else in addition to that. Right. There's some larger vision to what the team needs to accomplish or perhaps needs to do in order to move forward. I do, I live in that idea that there's always opportunity for improvement in some way, either how the team is communicating, the processes they've established. But as leaders, we have to have a very tight message. What does that mean, a tight message? What do you mean by that?

3:24 - For me, a tight message is there's a big picture vision and I have specific vocabulary that I use over and over and over. I'm just going to give you an example. So let's just say that you're a leader where safety is important to you, or it should be important to you. You can't just go around saying, I'm a leader, that safety is important to me or safety is very important to this team. You have to be able to describe what does that look like, and you have to be incorporating it into your everyday messages as you're talking about the work, like, hey, we're going to go do this today. And I want us really to focus on this because this is one thing that can really make us or break us when it comes to safety. And so as you're constantly talking about it, your team is constantly thinking about it. So for me, it's just specific vocabulary, whatever that is, whatever you're working on, whatever your focus, wherever you want the team to focus, it's that, what is it to you?

4:17 - Yes, I agree that there's some connection that leaders need to make from that day to day work back to, in your example, safety. And what I see with leaders is we get stuck in that day to day kind of going back to the Widget. And your point is right on. When you say tight, I don't necessarily think it's about being concise or brief or short. I think being tight in messaging is you as a leader, understand vividly the connection between the work and that bigger, broader vision or strategy that the team needs to be moving towards. And I think some leaders get stuck on not connecting those two things, right? And then it goes by the wayside, they just don't reemphasize it. They lose opportunities to keep bringing their team back to this broader vision. It's not just making the Widget or not just putting the tire on the car, but now it's, hey look, this is why we're doing what we're doing. So there's a couple of components for me when I think about messaging and you've alluded to it a little bit, it's that piece of what are we working on? Right? And you're making that connection back to this broader vision. And I think you do it by saying, why are we working on it? Why is this important? And then thirdly, it's the how are we working on it? How are we working on it together as a team? Or maybe, how are we working on it together with our customers, whatever the function is, right? Those are the three components to me that are so important for leaders to sit down and think about. And again, I think sometimes we just get caught up in the day to day hustle, the day to day grind, and we forget about that larger, broader message. It's the what am I working on? Why are we doing this? Why is this so important? How is this going to make us better? And then specifically, how are we going to take and tackle this thing that's in front of us? And I know we're talking about this without having specific things, so let's talk a little bit about my team. One of the things that I've been thinking a lot about is capability of my team and what are they working on for themselves. They all need to grow in their skill set. And so I'm consistently pounding on this drum of we're going to work on this, this one project, this one thing, and it's going to grow your skill set in this area, which then helps us as a team for the future. I'm thinking two or five years down the way and I need our team moving in this direction. And remember, this one the keyhole. This is our first keyhole we're going to go through, right? And we're all going to get through it. And then on the other side, we're going to work on the next keyhole. And we're all going to do that by working on our normal day to day job.

7:17 - Yes, and I see you doing that. And I think the part that I take away from it is when it comes to that messaging, you're bringing it into all of these different conversations. So it's almost like there was a big conversation of the vision and why it's important and what does the future look like. But then there's other staff meetings where there's the accountability piece. So it's accountability conversations where you're asking people, what are you working on? And so there's the what then there may be the one on one conversations where it's the how they're doing it and you're offering suggestions or you're hearing you're kind of making some tweaking message, but you're tying it back to the how, even the when they're doing it, how often are they doing it? And so it just becomes a normal part of these everyday, ongoing conversations, even in the recognition. Right. So when you're recognizing people in your emails or giving someone kudos, you're still tying it back to that's excellent, that is exactly what we need because we're working on this skill thing and without.

8:19 - It, I talk about my experience of seeing leaders where they get kind of in the weeds. I'm curious, your perspective on without it. What happens to those teams where the leader is still focused on the Widget? What do you see in your experience?

8:36 - Well, a couple of things. One, I think the team can almost call BS on the fact that it's important. Right? Because you mentioned it one time. They never hear it again.

8:44 - One and done.

8:45 - One and done. They're like, that must be something the company told them to say, right? The other thing is I just feel like the team doesn't make progress as fast as it could or doesn't make progress at all because we're not keeping it. First of mind, just like if you're working on your health, you're doing something ongoing constantly. You're putting it something in your brain, you're focused on it. Same thing with the team. If you're not putting it in front of them constantly, they're just not going to be thinking about it on a regular basis. So your progress is going to be much, much slower.

9:15 - Man so as a leader, if you haven't identified your message and you're expecting something different out of your team, it's not going to happen. You've got to be clear, you've got to be tight, and you've got to know what that message is. So I have a tool that I've used in order to get my message tight. I'm curious before I jump into mine. You have a tool, anything that you've done in order to kind of get that message clear, concise, connected.

9:41 - I don't I want to hear your tool.

9:43 - So I've used a tool. I call it the blueprint. I have no idea why I call. I just make up stuff, honestly. But in my mind, I see a piece of paper and on one side, the left side of the paper, I see what is going on now with the team. How are we functioning? Maybe it's what is our reputation, how are we viewed? What's our level of credibility in the middle of the sheet? I want to skip that part because I want to go to the right side. So left side now, right side is future. What do I want this team to look like or be viewed or what is their credibility in the organization? So left side today, right side tomorrow, just very simply and tomorrow can be two years down the way. Can be six months down the way. It's like whatever your time frame is, in the middle is the work we're doing. It's the widgets that we're making. And in order to think about connecting the now to tomorrow, that's where I have to sit and really think about what are we doing today? And can I in my own head and in my brain make all of these three things tie? And that's the time I have to sit down and think about that as the leader. Right? That doesn't just magically come and it doesn't happen by happenstance. I have to sit down. I have to think about it. I have to really say to myself, is tomorrow realistic? Am I going to get there? Is today real? Or is this just how I feel about the team? No, I need to go get some feedback. I need to talk to my boss. I need to really think about this stuff as I see those three things or columns, areas within the sheet of paper coming together. Okay, now my message is starting to roll off the tongue, and I have to say it a couple of times, right? I have to maybe even talk to my management team and say, here's what I'm seeing, and here's what I see for the future. What do you all think? And as those conversations continue, all right, now I'm starting to get a tighter message. So that's building my message at the beginning. Where am I today? Where do I want to be tomorrow? What is the work that we're doing every day as a team? What is our function? Now, once I've gotten that message tight, I think you're right. You've got to integrate it into every conversation you're having with your employees. You don't want to beat them over the head with it, right. It gets stale. There is a balance here, but you want to do it at the right tempo, the right cadence, the right time frame. Is it monthly that you kind of bring it back up? Is it during staff meetings? Is it during performance conversations? There are times as leaders, I think that it is important for us to step back, larger picture. What are we trying to do? That's when you start interjecting those things into those one on one conversations or into those team conversations.

12:26 - Thoughts? No. I like the three column method, right? And I also see that middle column. That is the little bit of the how, but it's also to me, it's the gap closure, right? So it's like, how are we getting from the left hand side to the right hand side? That middle part is your gap closure. It should be evergreen, right? So the status of what was over on the future should eventually come over to be the status of how we're working now. And I think that's how, you know, like, you've made some progress. Like, okay, this one, we've made good progress on this. You can't just let it go. If you want to keep it alive or whatever, that change that your team has already made. So then you may bring that up, like you said, on a less often basis, and you go beat a different drum. So that's kind of what I want to talk about. Now. Is it just one message, or is it can you have several messages going at one time?

13:16 - That's a good question. I like the one message. I feel like one to two is max, but that's me, right? I mean, I think that's probably my personal preference. I think any more than that, things just start to get muddy. Things start to get confusing, and it's hard to keep people focused. But I think that's probably my personal preference. One to two is really where I can get myself focused and get my team focused. How about you? Where are you at on this one?

13:48 - I think one or two big ones. Right? You have big drums that you're beating, but then there are the lighter drums, the little drums that in the background of things that maybe you've already made progress on or things that are not just top of mind, but you don't want people to forget about. And so you beat those drums a little softer and a little less often. But I agree with whatever it is, if you're trying to drive some major change or get your teams to do things differently, I think there's got to be at one drum, they're beating really loudly on a regular basis. And so then that brings me to how do you know? How do you know you've made that arrival? How do you know that the team gets it?

14:28 - You hear them say it. I think we've talked a little bit about this in the past, but I do think they're able to articulate what you've been saying. And the other thing, I'm a data person. I do like numbers. And if there are opportunities for metrics, you see the metrics change and they improve into the direction you are targeting. It makes me think I just had a meeting this week, and we were talking specifically about data and how we were performing as a team in a certain area. And over the last five years, we've seen a change, and it's been a good change. It's been the right change, it's been the right direction. But now I'm continuing to challenge and say, let's keep going in that direction. Let's tighten up that data, let's get more positive. And I'm really clear about what the data should look like, right?

15:16 - Yeah, measurable.

15:18 - Exactly. It has to be measurable in one way or another. What about you? Do you have anything else besides data? And having your team say, hey, here's what we're working on now?

15:28 - And that's the part that I love when it's not just rolling off my tongue, but it's rolling off their tongue. And you hear them even talking to their customers or other people around the organization, they're explaining what we're doing and why we're doing it, and they're tying it back correctly. That's where I'm like, okay, I can go beat a different drum, because they're already beating this drum for me. Exactly.

15:47 - Right now I can transition to the new one. That's a good point. All right, I think we're done with this conversation. Is there anything else you want to add on?

15:54 - No, I think that was a good shorty.

15:55 - That was a nice short one. Get your messages tight. Start thinking about what is it that you want your team focusing on in addition to the day to day grind. Start exercising that leadership muscle.

16:08 - And here's my messaging. Don't forget to share this podcast with your leadership friends. If you're really enjoying it. Somebody else probably would, too. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button, then come back again for an Extra Shot of Leadership.