How to Recover When You Stumble While Speaking

A recent Rear Window item in the AFR noted Ross Du Vernet struggling to find words during a press conference (17 February). The stumble itself is understandable. The more instructive issue is how such moments are handled under pressure.

A brief mental blank can happen to anyone. Fatigue, cognitive overload, or an unexpected question are common triggers, specially in public, high-stakes settings. What matters isn’t the lapse; it’s the recovery.

Continue reading

Why talent is overrated

A number of years ago I wrote a short Australian Financial Review Letter to the Editor.

The letter was in response to an article in the AFR where a person named Tony Rutigliano stated that, ‘Training is of little benefit in sales.’

Here’s my letter retort to Rutigliano’s sweeping statement, titled

Good sales people make themselves (it will take you 40 seconds to read).

Own the Conversation

Continue reading

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.

J. Seinfeld’s POWER Strategy YOU can USE right AWAY

“He said the way to be a better comic was to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes was to write every day. He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker. He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. “After a few days you’ll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under” This is a quote from a young comedian, Brad Isaac on the advice comedian Jerry Seinfeld gave him about ‘tips for a young comedian’. It’s contained in a post by James Clear, ‘How to stop procrastinating on your goals by using the “Seinfeld Strategy”.  Recently I’ve adapted the “Seinfeld Strategy” to the work with my clients.

The process is as follows:

#1 Identify an Action Area (an Action Area is a technique/habit that my client and I have identified as a key technique to Intentionally Daily Practice (IDP). #2 My client writes the technique on a System Card that they keep in their pocket or handbag. #3 Whenever they practice there Action Area, they immediately retrieve the system card and make a cross on the card to ‘reward’ themselves for that practice #4 After a pre-determined number of crosses are made, the client gets another ‘reward’. For example, 10 minutes of web time; a small sweet; 10 minutes of free time etc. As Clear writes about in his work, one of the keys to behaviour change is immediate reward for completing a desired action.

Own the Conversation

If the above process makes sense to you, in the next seven days, trial it with a habit you want to develop. I’d love to hear your results from using the process. +++++++++ p.s. Here is a post with an AFR article ‘Homework from Hayne’. It has lessons from witnesses appearing in front of a 2109 Hayne Royal Commission. The article contains my views on the lesson of Be open (but know when to stop).  The lessons will be valuable if you ever have to face a grilling in public, or in any other type of pressured environment. Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay

The DANGER of NO Face-to-FACE meetings

‘And the third major challenge of a remote working environment identified by business leaders was the lack of observational learning.’

“I wouldn’t be chief executive of Dexus today if I didn’t have the learnings over a 30-year period. And that’s just simple things like being in meetings with people, watching how they interact and dealing with problems or how they change plans working through a development,” Mr Steinberg said.”

Continue reading

B. Hartzer – what matters is what the ‘customer’ perceives

Below is my Australian Financial Review, Letter to the Editor this past Tuesday, on a video clip on ‘How we’re responding to AUSTRAC issues’, by Brian Hartzer, Westpac Banking Corporation CEO, who lost his job yesterday.

On reflection, Hartzer might still have his job if he understood that ‘what the customer perceives is what matters’.  In this case the customer is the community.

Continue reading