Leadership lessons from former Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer

Recently I listened to an insightful 65 minute podcast, Enjoying the ups and overcoming the downs of being a CEO of a very public organisation where former Westpac Bank CEO, Brian Hartzer was interviewed on the podcast The Leadership Diet by host Pod O’Sullivan. Memorable points from the podcast for me included: #1 Hartzer lauding the book Made to Stick. Hartzer said the book was an essential read for leaders on how to communicate with their people. Made to Stick has six powerful ways to make your messages memorable. One point Hartzer made in relation to the book was that, ‘the value of novelty in communication is under-appreciated’. #2 How Hartzer cultivated his judgement skill. In a crisis, he would judge a situation with this process: – Sit back and think about what a certain action(s) would have on different stakeholder groups. – Determine what was the question that needed to be answered. – Field opinions from a wide range of trusted people on the matter at hand including what question needed to be answered. #3 To use a combination of humility and confidence when making decisions.

Own the Conversation

Clients I work with often ask me if there is one book I’d recommend they read on communication. I’ve recommended different books over the course of my career, including Made to Stick. After being reminded of the the worth of Made to Stick  by Hartzer, it will now be the top book recommendation for clients. I strongly recommend that you read it. You’ll discover at least one fresh idea or technique to make you a better communicator. And better communicators, make better leaders. ++++++ p.s. In the podcast Hartzer said he has learned many things from his time as CEO of Westpac. He didn’t mention any specific mistake he made. In my view, one glaring mistake Hartzer made, was how he communicated in a press conference – about the AUSTRAC scandal – during his final days as CEO of Westpac. Below is (1) my AFR analysis of Hartzer’s delivery in the 3:16 minute press conference, and (2) the clip of the conference. (1) My Australian Financial Review ‘Letter to the Editor’ about Hartzer’s performance in the press conference. (2) Here is the clip of the press conference. Hartzer’s performance in the conference is one you should, NOT emulate.

When was the last time you reviewed your leadership principles?

Recently I was having a virtual meeting with a friend, Dio Saucedo. Dio holds a PhD in Educational Psychology and regularly works with professional athletes to improve their performances.

One vignette Dio shared was as follows…

During a coaching session asked his athlete clients to consider how much time each day they spent on improving their physical performance. For example, for baseball players, improving the batting.

Then he asked the clients how much time they spent on improving the mental performance. He suggested several time options but in the end, the athletes agreed the amount of time spend on mental performance improvement, was just 3 minutes.

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When you open Q&A – never use this question

‘Does anyone have any questions?’

Admit it.

Near the end of a one of your prior presentations, I would bet – at least once – you have used this question to open a Q&A session.

And most likely you received a mediocre response to the question.

Here’s the first take-away message for you.

BAN all Yes/No questions when you open Q&A

including ‘Does anyone have any questions?’

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How counting your ‘ums’ & ‘ahs’ can make you a better speaker

Everyone uses filler words when they speak. The filler words become a problem, when they distract a listener from your message and/or when a listener starts counting your filler words. Filler words/phrases include ‘um, ah, like, so, well, you know’. Noah Zandan makes some good points in this article How to stop saying “Um” “Ah” and “You Know” . Here is a two step process I use when working with clients to reduce their filler word usage. #1 After identifying their target filler word they want to eliminate, I ask the person to talk for 30-50 seconds on any topic, for example, what they will do on the upcoming weekend. Before they start to speak, I tell them that I will say ‘wait’ for any filler word I hear (and on hearing ‘wait’ they need to stop speaking for a moment and then continue speaking). I then tell them when I hear a sentence with no filler words I will say ‘good’. This immediate feedback usually reduces the person’s filler word usage, but it often causes the speaker to use a slower cadence. #2 I then tell the person to do this task. For the first 10-15 seconds of every speaking episode, they should put extra effort to not use their key filler word. After the 15 seconds they should forget about eliminating the filler word and speak as normal. By using this process – over time – the person will gradually reduce their filler word usage. You can use Step 2 of the process. Another process you can implement is to

incentivise a trusted person’s awareness* of your filler word usage.

Here’s and explanation of the process: Find a trusted person and tell them your target filler word. Prior to a presentation or meeting, tell the trusted person to count the number of target filler words they hear. Tell them you’ll give them a reward them for every 5 or 10 filler words they count. A reward you can give the person might be, a Chupa Chups lollipop for every 10 filler words they hear. If you keep incentivising people for counting your filler words, again over time, your filler word usage will decline. By the way there is app LikeSo specifically designed to reduce filler word usage.

Own the Conversation

Here’s what to do over the next seven day:
  1. Identify your filler word/phrase.
  2. Trial either Step 2 or the incentivising awareness process.
  3. Reflect on trialling the process.
+++++ * Here is post on how luminary gridiron quarterback Tom Brady, incentivises his teammates to improve his passing of the football.

Canadian PM Justin TRUDEAU on how to HANDLE a QUESTION

In my Listen and speak under pressure programs one schema I share with participants for handling tough questions, is my signature Think on your feet, five step schema.

Here is the schema…

#1 As a person is asking you a question, simultaneously starting nodding to acknowledge that you are engaged. (I call this an ‘Engagement nod) and picture the letters DBAE (which stands for Don’t Be Anywhere Else) on the questioner’s forehead. (The DBAE technique will help nail you to the present moment).

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