Powerful explanation is key to leadership communications

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

I wanted to share this great post from the Harvard Blog.  It’s an excellent reminder of an important concept in leadership communications:  explanations, with details, are needed to persuade followers to share your enthusiasm.

John Baldoni writes, “Explanation is a key attribute of leadership communications. Leaders know to inject their communications with verve and enthusiasm as a means of persuasion, but they also need to include an explanation for the excitement. What does it mean and why are we doing it are critical questions that every leader must answer with straightforward explanations.”

The post describes three important steps:

1. explaining the initiative and why it’s important
2. defining what isn’t part of the initiative
3. persuasive call to action.

I’d add that, like a good story, an explanation needs enough detail to really energize your team.  Rich detail is what grabs a reader or listener’s attention.  It’s why a story that starts “The red Porshe screeched up to the curb” is more intriguing to a reader than the one that starts “A car pulled up.”

Read the full story

What do you think?  How do you use explanations and storytelling in leading your team?  Join the discussion!