Recently I read a terrific article about the newly appointed CEO of The Ford Motor Company, Jim Hackett. The article was written by Jerry Useem, in a 7/3/19 Australian Financial Review, Review Magazine edition, entitled: Why Ford hired a furniture maker as CEO.
This article is well-worth reading. A comment in it that made be pause and think was this. “If you look at business history, the winners are almost always those that get their user experience right”.
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Consider this. He or she who loses their cool – loses.
Leaving aside the value of his policies and views, and scoring Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison against a benchmark of a competent, inspiring, forward-looking, calm-under-pressure leader of state, conveyed through facial expressions, tone of voice, body language and feeling tone- in his 35 minute interview with Waleed Aly last week, I scored Mr. Morrison’s performance as 6.5/10.
Michael Kelly’s letter to the editor in the AFR published on 15 March 2019
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In this AFR Boss article, Michael Kelly provides insights in to the lessons to be learned from the grilling at the Hayne Royal Commission.
Australia will soon have a state election in New South Wales followed by a federal election. There will be winners and there will be losers. As numerous politicians will be delivering their post-loss, concession speech, it’s timely to re-visit Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard’s concession speech.
A number of my clients are frustrated when delivering important presentations to their Leadership Team or Board.
There frustrated because soon after they start presenting, a member of the Leadership team or Board interrupts them.
This interruption interferes with the speaking flow, and turns into a free flowing discussion between the leaders in the room, leaving the presenter stranded and often resulting in deferring the decision on the matter to a later time.
and it can take months before a final decision is made.
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For many years one of my body language research methods is as follows:
During weekdays in the Sydney CBD, when the opportunity arises, I stop at a cafe that has a view of an entrance to an office tower.
This vantage point allows me to observe how business people present themselves through their face, body and movement – as the enter and exit the tower, and while buying their flat whites and lattes.
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‘Walks are personal, a movement signature, and they tell us a lot . . . a person’s walk is so telltale for Paul Taylor, one of the world’s greatest modern-dance choreographers, walking is the first thing he ask dancers to do at his auditions.
“I can eliminate half of them by how they walk . . . They’re either too self-assured enough, or they’re just weird. You can tell an awful lot.” say Taylor'(from Walking with Grace, p.166-167, by Grace Killelea).
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Consider this . . .
What speaking behaviour regularly bores an audience?
You know this. It’s the monotonous voice.
First, the monotonous voice ‘loses’ the ear of an audience. Then, the minds of audience members start to wander . . . to other things…
‘let’s see I’ve got to get some chicken on the way home, the dry cleaning, then . . . ‘
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During his interview with Leigh Sales (7:30, ABC TV) on 7 February 2019 , Ken Henry, with the blow-torch of negative scrutiny squarely trained on him, grudgingly, showed cracks in his arrogant self-presentation.
Henry’s initial, pained countenance, downward gaze and mumbling speech at the start of the interview, was akin to a shameful, sheepish schoolboy in the principal’s office having to explain his poor behaviour.
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