The Message: What to say in hard times
November 30, 2008
If many leaders seem at a loss for words, itโs because they are; but their silence is damaging, and their wisdom is sorely needed.
Executivesโ communication aides are just as frustrated as everybody else by the global financial crisis. Maybe more so.
โEnough platitudes already,โ an anonymous corporate communication executive tells VSOTD.com. โThe economic stuff is the elephant in the room. Itโs inescapable. You have to acknowledge it. You have to talk about it. I almost canโt hear anyone if they donโt. Oh, and by the way, our company doesnโt.โ
โThere is a psychological consequence to what our leaders say and how they say it,โ says former George H.W. Bush speechwriter Michele Nix. โConfident, unified messaging would go a long way in helping to calm markets and Main Street.โ
โIt disappoints me that today so many industry leaders are โChicken Littlesโ at worst, or silent at best,โ says Alexander Tsigdinos, managing director of the executive communication consultancy, the BlueChair Group.
Eventually the kvetching began to yield to the constructive in our conversations with executive communicators about how leaders can and should be addressing the global economic crisisโand why theyโve so far been quiet, by and large.
Mike Field, special assistant for communication to Johns Hopkins University president William Brody, understands the reticence of university presidents.
โThere is going to be lots of bad news on every [university] campus, but as yet, I donโt think anyone has gone forward to let people knowโprobably because we are all still figuring out how bad itโs going to be and how deep the retrenchment that will be needed.โ
Which, of course, is the first problem we need to solve: Leaders donโt like to say anything until theyโre pretty sure they know everything. But as with any tragedy, the best and first way a leader can communicate is by showing up.
Our sources gave us a step-by-step guide to communicating through this financial crisis:
1. Get up in front of your people and take their questions. Toyota Motor Sales manager of external/internal communications Ron Kirkpatrick said his leaders discussed the economy extensively at an annual dealer meeting and took questions at a town hall meeting on the subjectโdown-and-dirty questions about bonuses and possible layoffs. โNothing was off the table,โ Kirkpatrick says, adding that itโs important to acknowledge that โno one really knows when things will get better.โ
2. Take responsibility for your part in the crisisโor at least your lack of foresight in seeing it coming. Just as most Americans scratched their heads at the notion of mortgages with no money down, surely most business leaders saw signs that the economy was wobbling. Executive communication consultant Ron McCall proposes a kind of form apology for captains of industry: โIโm sorry I let the business of America get to the point where the government had to nationalize our banks.โ
(As for the banking executives themselves, it may be too late for apologies, McCall suggests. โWhen the government bought equity in nine private banks, the government became the CEO and the leaders of those banks became the COO. And who wants to hear from a COO?โ)
3. Explain the situation in clear and arresting terms. No one knows how the economic situation will resolve itself, but a good communicator can at least describe the causes in terms that people will understand. You might give speech that doesnโt reassure anyone of anything but leaves your audience saying, โThatโs the first person who ever explained this stuff in a way that I understand,โ says Tom Rosshirt, former speechwriter to President Clinton and managing director of the West Wing Writers Group. Even if itโs an audience of experts, he points out, you can use metaphors and other rhetorical devices to send them awayโas Warren Buffett often doesโwith a new communication tool: โThatโs the clearest explanation Iโve ever heard. Iโm going to use that.โ
4. Propose a context for the current situation. โWhatโs lacking today is a reassurance that โthis, too, shall pass,โรขโฌล โ says Tsigdinos. โBusiness and political leaders should make their sober assessments of the new economic reality, remind us that weโve survived tough times before, and instill confidence that weโll get through this as well.โ
At Toyota Motor Sales, the execs are already doing that, says Kirkpatrick. And itโs working. In reaction to reminders that the automotive business is cyclical and has been through lots of hard times in the past, โso far, associates seem to be taking things in stride, even though weโve canceled the annual holiday party and cut back on travel budgets,โ he says.
Got hope? โA wise man once taught me that the language of leadership is about presenting the brighter future,โ says Kirkpatrick. Eventuallyโafter acknowledging the reality and the severity of the situation, leaders have to try to express a positive visionโfor the good of us all. โWhen people have hope and feel good about the future,โ Kirkpatrick says, โcommerce hums.โ
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