“We’re sorry for the massive disruption it’s caused to their lives,” Hayward said.”There’s no one who wants this thing over more than I do, I’d like my life back.”
That’s what former BP Chief Tony Hayward said. What’s wrong with it?
Now watch it.
He was apologizing, and his apology was about him. I assume he [...]
Posts under ‘Framing’
“I’d Like My Life Back”
Why I Teach Communication
The brain has 40 quadrillion–that’s right 40 followed by fifteen zeros–possible connections. Nothing our brains do is simple. No perception or behavior fires from one place. When the right connections fire over and over, people can achieve amazing things.
When you want more of something, and you want it more consistently, you have to build pathways. [...]
Tell Them Why
Nothing paralyzes a team more than when they don’t understand why their work is important.
The twist: The way you say it matters.
Some people want the logic. Other people want the emotional reasons. Some people will only listen if “the why” comes from someone they trust.
If you want to get the most out of the people [...]
We See Things Differently
You will not perceive things the same way as the people around you.
I sat over the holidays with my dad looking at pictures. They were of my parent’s trip to Scotland for their 40th wedding anniversary and a few sunset shots from their house in New England.
Certain pictures were so beautiful I couldn’t help but [...]
Does the Future Matter?
Lesson five, the penultimate idea from the Miles Bryant paper contrasting American and Native American leadership: a reduced sense of the importance of time.
Does the future matter? Of course, but what about on this project right now? When we, as leaders, worry about what someone is doing with her time right now, when we doubt [...]
Do You Micromanage or Mentor?
Lesson three from the Miles Bryant paper contrasting American and Native American leadership: Noninterference.
The principle is straightforward and not practiced in most Western organizations: Noninterference means not getting in the way of another person’s right to choose how she works.
As a leader, at the extreme it means letting people fail, even when you see it [...]
Trying To Be Funny
A manager was not well liked by his team. They thought he didn’t work as hard as they did and that he didn’t add anything to their production as a group.
The office got a new phone system. As the trainer from the phone company taught the manager and his team how to work the equiptment, [...]
Communication All-Stars: Govenor Scott McCallum, Aidmatrix
“When Scott McCallum, former governor of Wisconsin, became CEO and president in 2005, the organization had a perception problem. Recalls McCallum, “The most difficult issue is technology itself. Even the word technology tends to be cold. It’s not a feeling word. So the problem we have is taking the word technology and the purpose of [...]
No One Ever Told You–Round 2
You will misunderstand people–and be misunderstood–even if you’re a master communicator.
I had plans with a friend to go golfing. It had been raining all morning and we canceled our tee time. We planned to talk in an hour to make new plans for the evening. When we talked on the phone, the rain was just [...]
Reframing
As badly as Obama erred in his framing the Gates-Cambridge Police incident as having gone down “stupidly,” his communication virtuosity is his willingness and ability to reframe.
To reframe is to use a different word or phrase to reset expectations.
When leaders say the wrong thing, out of emotion, misinformation, or fatigue, the secret to being a [...]