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Dimensions
I personally love this data, this material on communication because communication is often times the way in, the way in which you can underscore, underpin your gravitas and it’s so learnable. So what are the top picks? What do leaders, what do our colleagues say they are looking for?
First up, they want us to speak at meetings or in larger gatherings compellingly, concisely and they want us to do that in an extemporaneous fashion. In other words, lose the security blankets, endless notes, checklists, hugely long PowerPoints; all of this gets in our way. And again, we find this is a little unisex, both men and women struggle, particularly if they’re climbing the ranks and they still feel they have to show how well-prepared they are. They overuse all of these props. And there’s huge preparation required if you’re going to walk into a meeting really knowing that there are four amazing points you want to make and you already are in touch with how you can be nimble and present them in different ways, depending on how the conversation goes. You’ve got to be aware of putting some evidence on the table, and then maybe a very short story so that the evidence sticks.
The second pick, in terms of what leaders and colleagues are saying they’re looking for, is what they call the ability to command the room. Now obviously this is linked to being concise and compelling, but there are some additional things here. One is body language: how you sit at a table, squaring those shoulders, paying attention, and not fiddling with your devices, massively important. And using eye contact. There’s nothing that competes with showing that you’re paying attention and are totally on the ball.
And then you have to learn how to read the room, read the client, read the stakeholder, and shift and be malleable and pivot your message so that it hits the mark. You do need to know beforehand who’s going to be there. Give some thought as to how you can contribute value and perhaps create bonds of trust by deliberately referencing where they’re coming from. Try and find ways in which you genuinely connect, beyond perhaps the world of work.