Presenting in Front of Others? One Day It Will Seem Easy

There are many ways to incorporate activities that build our executive presence into our calendars.  What is this concept of executive presence?  It is the combined perceptions that others form about us through the ways we present ourselves at work and in key external forums:  through our attire and grooming, our chosen actions and our verbal behaviours. 

We are walking and talking billboards that generate self-messages throughout the day. Perhaps a slightly scary thought but it does not have to be daunting if we keep the following acronym up front and central to our thoughts:  L A W – our looks, our actions and our words.  

There are a myriad of ways that executives, managers and professionals can shape their executive presence and we cover many of them in the People Results’ Executive Presence workshop.  Whenever I am asked, “What is the one most effective way of communicating my executive presence?” the answer I give is always “Look for and eagerly take up opportunities to present yourself and your ideas in front of groups.”  

Typically we shrink back from being the one to present to the Board of Directors, to a group of major clients or customers or at a business or industry conference.  It is easier to let someone else do the presenting.  It is never the right time for us and we rationalise why this is so because we are “too busy, “not good at that presenting stuff,” “got more important things to focus on,” and so on.

Why do we feel like we have to climb the mental equivalent of Mount Kilimanjaro to create and deliver a group presentation?  We are generally very familiar with the information we are presenting on and even the outcomes we wish to achieve.  So this is not the difficult part.

We may fear doing a group presentation because something could go wrong.  We could make a mistake or forget what we want to say and go “blank” in front of everyone.  Or we don’t like being the centre of everyone’s attention.  That feeling when everyone’s eyes are boring into you and the weight of their expectations feels like a heavy burden.  Let someone else do the presentation of the new Strategic Plan to the Board, we think, even though we contributed 80% of the ideas and effort that went into it. 

Our caution is caused by fear that is not rational; it is emotional.  For the most part, the causes of our fear lie in childhood experiences and possibly in our previous attempts to present before a group at work or in school. 

In my view, the biggest reason why many of us do not become great presenters is that we simply don’t do enough presenting.  There is a secret to becoming a very good presenter.  The secret is to present, present and present.  Most of us only present when we absolutely have to do so.  Therefore we are always in the foothills of the mountain rather than experiencing the climb and the glorious view at the top of the mountain.  So rather than struggling to get out of presenting, struggle to get into presenting by looking for and volunteering to present over and over again.  

Attending a course such as People Results’ Confident Presentation Skills workshop, reading books and other materials, watching and listening to others’ presentations are all good ways to learn.  But they are not going to get you out of the foothills of the mountain.  The only sure way is to present, present and present and one day it will seem easy.  On that day, you will have reached the level of the successful and confident public speaker.

Regards

Lynne Lloyd 

Managing Director 

People Results 

Telephone 07 3910 1003 

Email:  enquiries@peopleresults.com.au

Web:  www.peopleresults.com.au 

People Results' Mission:  Leaders who Confidently Think, Say and Do. 

p.s. Our popular One-Day Confident Presentation Skills workshop being held on Wednesday 18th April, 2012 in Brisbane.  Numbers are limited so please register early to avoid disappointment.  

The Decline of Goldman Sachs’ Employment Brand? Three Career Signposts.

Some of the employees at Goldman Sachs refer to their clients as “Muppets,” so we learn from the letter that ex-employee Greg Smith wrote.  What I take from calling clients “Muppets” is that the investment bankers at Goldman Sachs are pulling their strings like puppet-masters, controlling what their clients know, say and do. Their clients are puppets with nothing in their heads except what they put in there.

How could a firm be so arrogant and show such distain for their most important stakeholders:  their customers?   Plainly Goldman Sachs’ analysts and bankers still consider themselves to be masters of the finance and investment universe.  They are so smart and all-knowing.  Didn’t they top their class at Harvard and Princeton?  Are they not the few that got through the tough selection process and won a job at Goldman Sachs?”  Are they not the best and brightest of their generation?

Thanks to Greg Smith, we have been given an insider’s glimpse of the way things really are within investment banking firms.  There is no reason to think that other firms are greatly different from Goldman Sachs.  How ugly and how disrespectful it shows them to be towards their clients who have trusted them to invest their millions and billions wisely and well.  It appears that nothing has been learnt and nothing has changed since U.S. investment firms packaged up mortgages into fancy –sounding investment products and, promising high returns, sold them to “muppets” around the globe. 

What will happen at Goldman Sachs as a result of this revelation about clients being their “muppets”?  Maybe a client or two will leave them in the short-term and go to other investment banks.  In the medium to longer-terms, probably not much will change in the culture of Goldman Sachs and the bankers will go on with the same thinking, the same words and the same actions.   

What is likely to “stick” to Goldman Sachs is the damage to their employment brand from these recent revelations.  Will the best and brightest graduates still want to get into Goldman Sachs?  Will it make a difference to graduates to work at a firm or corporation that demonstrates respect and appreciation for their clients?  Instead of investment banking, will the best and brightest graduates choose to go into another financial services sector or profession that is untarnished or, more accurately, less tarnished?  Or will Goldman Sachs and other investment firms just offer even more dollars to sign them up and they will park their reservations about the firm’s culture?

Following are three points for personal career management arising from the recent Goldman Sachs’ revelations:

·         Go beyond the glossy marketing and public relations that large companies and firms use to woo you; find out what it is really like to work there from someone who is currently or has recently been employed there.  Ask her/him open questions such as:  What do you like about working there?  What don’t you like?  What would you have liked to be different about working there?  Why did you leave?

·         Do your personal values mesh well with the ways that the employer operates their business or organisation?  In other words, you don’t want to be going into work thinking about being on the horns of another dilemma that day, every day.  Just one example, if you respect your clients and regard them as your raison d’etre, you will be most unhappy working in an organisation that does not share your values.   Can you write down your core personal values?  If not, it is important to find out what your values are; in other words, what do you believe in and what gives you fulfilment in your life and work? 

·         Listen to what your heart and gut are telling you when making decisions about your next employer and don’t just go on your logical reasoning.  Your logical reasoning might be indicating, “OK, there is $5,000 more in this offer than the other offer.  Even though I am drawn to the other company, it makes sense to go for more remuneration.”  Yes, when all other things are equal, it makes sense to take the top offer but at other times you are experiencing some niggling doubts about whether you would really like working there.  Those niggling doubts are your emotional intelligence (your heart and gut) jumping up and down, saying “It’s not the right move for you!  Don’t do it!”   With respect to the money, you will be OK because, when you are working well and achieving highly, the money will always come too.

Lynne Lloyd

Managing Director

People Results

Executive Coaching and Talent Development

Telephone:  +617 39101003

Email:  enquiries@peopleresults.com.au

Web:  www.peopleresults.com.au

It is Perfectly Fine to Say "I feel...."

Women are frequently cautioned - and at times criticised - for saying “I feel….” statements in meetings.  This is huge mistake because when someone prefaces their remarks with “I feel” they are really saying “I deeply believe….”  They are speaking with the power and wisdom of all their senses and emotions.  Their words have been formed in a place of truth and integrity.  “I feel” statements are spoken with passion and intensity because of the deep conviction that the speaker has in what she (or he) is saying.

The first female US Secretary of State speaks about how her “I feel….” statements were causing her male colleagues to respond in a non-comprehending manner, “What’s with this “I feel?” they would ask her.  Secretary Albright was delighted and felt vindicated when in a high-level meeting in the United Nations another woman spoke and commenced her remarks with “I feel…”  In this video she speaks about this experience amongst other fascinating anecdotes and insights.

http://www.ted.com/talks/madeleine_albright_on_being_a_woman_and_a_diplomat.html

Any time that a fellow team member, manager, senior executive, professional, or board member starts off by saying “I feel,” it is time to prick up our ears and listen very carefully.  You will hear the deep truth from that person’s perspective.

What might have been realised, and what might have been avoided, if only people had listened to more of the “I feel” statements in the first decade of this century?  If the “I feel” statements had triggered the sharp focus of others instead of being dismissed as soft and emotional, would the dips and turns of the financial roller coaster that the world has been flung around on since 2008 have been as savage and destructive?  So let’s listen when someone speaks from their heart and gut because these are the words that can cut through to the real truth of an issue like no list of facts or numbers ever could.

Lynne Lloyd
People Results 
Executive Coaching and Talent Development
Email:  enquiries@peopleresults.com.au
Web:   www.peopleresults.com.au

The A-B-Cs of Business Cards 

Business cards are funny little bits of paper that we exchange with each other. Everyone knows that but not everyone knows that business cards and how you use them are part of creating a great first impression.

At a recent networking function, I met a number of future leaders in government and business organisations.  On being introduced, or at times introducing myself, I proffered my business card which was accepted by the person I was meeting.  One person apologised that he didn't have a business card because he had just started a new role in the last two weeks. He was waiting for his new business cards to arrive.  Understandable, apology accepted.

The surprising thing was that no one offered her/his business card in exchange!  There are a number of possible explanations.  First that no one wanted to keep in touch; second, that everyone had forgotten to put some of their business cards in their wallet or pocket; third, that there was a generally poor understanding of the importance of the business card in all kinds of networking and business situations.  The most likely reason is, I believe, the latter.

The business card and how you use it is a core part of good business etiquette.  If someone you are introduced to hands you his/her business card, it is poor business etiquette not to reciprocate with your own card.  This lack of the accepted business protocol will create a poor first impression.  So always complete the exchange of the business cards.  This practice applies even if you think to yourself, "I don't want to keep in touch with this person in the future.  I don't see the point."  The point is that networking not a logical sequential process but works laterally and in some unexpected ways.  What you will never know on meeting someone for the first time is what their interconnections are.  That person's wife, husband, brother, sister, best friend, neighbour may indeed be someone who is highly placed and influential and relevant to you.  You may have missed the opportunity to be connected with someone you do wish to know.


An image to keep in mind for building connections and relationships in business and life is the circular pattern of a spider's web.  Some of the web is predictably circular but the spider also builds a lot of interconnections between the silken strands.  These smaller strands are not predictable and can pop up everywhere to strengthen the web's structure.

"But I don't have a business card!" 

Is that because your firm or organisation hasn't given you one?  Have you asked for one?  If not, ask your manager to have a business card printed because you are attending networking functions and conferences and want to be able to represent your organisation there.  You are the best form of advertising for your organisation and I would be most surprised if the vast majority of managers don't say, "Yes, no problem."

"But I'm a student!"

If you are a student and don't yet have a professional role, and you are attending professional events and industry and academic conferences, you should still have your own business card.

It is simple and cheap to have business cards designed and printed. You can organise it on the Internet or a digital printing shop or OfficeWorks.  Have your card printed on white cardboard as heavyweight as you can afford (online this weight is referred to as "Premium.")   Just include your name, email address, and telephone numbers.

When to hand over your business card 

• When you are first being introduced is the best time.  Later it can be awkward to break into the conversation and make it seem natural. 
• When you are taking your leave of someone you have been chatting to.  This can be 'hit and miss' because people do drift off to get a drink or say hello to someone else and often the opportunity to exchange cards is therefore lost. 
• When you first sit down at the table, it is a good time to hand around your business cards.  It works as an ice breaker too.

When not to hand over your business card 

• When others in deep conversation, you drop into the group abruptly, introduce yourself, hand over your business card and rush off to the next group.   Not a good look!
• When you and others are at the table and everyone is eating.  (Wait until the meal is over.)

I hope these few points about the humble, yet very important, business card are helpful.

Lynne 

Lynne Lloyd
People Results
07 3910 1003
0421 998749

Young Economists Drinks Exchange - 23rd February 2012

I am delighted to be here this evening.  Thank you for the invitation from your President to speak to you.

My short talk is about how it is never too early in your career as economists to build your executive presence. 

First, let me explain what the term "executive presence" means.  It is more than building your personal brand or how you market yourself.  That is perfectly valid.  But executive presence is broader than personal branding and it particularly looks at how you are perceived by others you work with as well as those you interact with externally to your organisation.

To explain it, every single day, we are all being judged by our fellows in three ways:  how we look, how we behave and how we speak.  I will use the acronym  of  L - A - W which is easy to remember.

L is for how you look, your personal presentation (your attire, your shoes) and grooming

A is for how you act, your behaviours, your choices, strategic networking is certainly part of it

W is for words, the words you choose to use in different forums, in formal meetings, informal social gatherings like this one, when you present to a senior Board or perhaps in a forum like the senior public servants who you see on television being grilled in forums like the Senate Estimates hearing.

Why does this matter if you are really great economists and turn up to work most days and get your graphs, statistics and reports in on time?

It doesn't matter if you want to keep doing what you're doing now; that is perfectly fine.  Not everyone has the desire to become a senior manager or executive leader.

But if your career goals are to be in a senior executive role before you're 35, then yes L A W does matter a great deal.

Has everyone heard of Doug McTaggart?  Doug is the CEO of QIC and has been since 1998 - so 14 years at the top there.  Previously senior public servant Under Treasurer of Department of Treasury, prior to that senior academic at Bond University and PhD from the University of Chicago. Doug has published a lot of research and has also co-authored economic textbooks that many of you would have studied in your degrees.  He's a very sought-after speaker at top conferences and institutes.

Doug has executive presence in spades.

Here are 10 ways that you as young economists can start building a strong executive presence, in other words your leadership profile:

10 Ways You Can Stand Out as a Leader

1. In meetings in the workplace, be the first to speak on a topic when the Chairman opens it up for general discussion.  If you don't speak up at all, you will be close to invisible.  You are not seen to be adding value.  But if you are the FIRST and LAST to talk, you will be remembered as a strong contributor after the meeting is over, especially by senior managers.

2. Look around your organisation and industry for a successful leader whom you admire.  Invite her or him to be a mentor.  This is a great way to learn direct from someone whose reputation and achievements you wish to emulate in your own career.

3. Learn to be a confident public speaker.  Do a group presentation skills course and then get heaps of practice. The secret to becoming confident in this space is getting the practice in.  Volunteer to be the presenter at your organisation's next client breakfast, or prepare a paper, submit it and present it at an Industry conference.

4. At the next Business breakfast or luncheon you attend, be the one to get to your feet and ask an insightful question for the keynote speaker when invited to do so.  You will be visible to all as someone who is really listening and thinking about the topic as well as someone who is a self-assured professional.

5. Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.  Choose a role model who will be a more senior person in your organisation or externally, someone who has a sense of style and presence.  Adapt your own style accordingly.

6. Develop yourself as The Guru in your specialist field of economics.  You can become the person who gets into print about your topic in your professional magazine or website and/or start writing a blog.  Over time, you can become the person who is the acknowledged expert in your specialty area.  You will be the one the media rings to ask for comments or interviews.

7. Are your professional memberships working well for you?  Select one of your memberships and get more involved by joining a committee or taking on an honorary position.

8. Consider joining a membership organisation outside of your profession or discipline that will expose you to new people, different ideas and will stretch your mind and your network enabling you to increase your sphere of influence.

9. Read outside of your own discipline to develop a good general knowledge which is beneficial to your becoming an interesting and interested conversationalist across a range of situations.

10. Being a good conversationalist in formal and social situations is about having some questions to ask and then listening as people respond happily to your "small talk".  Ask them about themselves, their profession, their organisation, their sporting interests, their next holiday and they will think you're a fantastic conversationalist.

Thank you and all the very best to you all in building your executive presence.


Lynne Lloyd
Managing Director
People Results
Tel:  07 3910 1003
Executive Coaching
Talent Development
www.peopleresults.com.au

People Results has a range of talent development short programs for professionals, managers and executives including our popular half-day program, Executive Presence, which is offered as an in-house program or regularly throughout the year as a public program.  You can contact us on enquiries@peopleresults.com.au for more information.

Step Out to Ultimately Step Up

Why do CEO's, Managing Directors, Managing Partners and other senior leaders give presentations and keynote speeches?  Surely their time resources are so stretched that there are more important and pressing matters on their plate than giving a public speech on the latest financial data or industry innovations or economic predictions.  What's in it for them?  Obviously they are keen to promote their organisation whether it is an ASX-listed company such as Westpac or a Government-owned financial giant like QIC.

For instance, why does Doug McTaggart, the CEO and Managing Director of QIC turn up year after year at the suburban Chamber of Commerce Breakfast to present his graphs and forecasts post Federal budget?  Yes, he is there as the head of QIC but he is also there to reinforce his own successful leadership; he is there as the CEO super salesman.  Equally he is there to promote and reinforce his own executive presence as a highly successful and respected senior business leader.  He is reminding the business community at all levels that he has been there at the helm, steering QIC from strength to strength surviving the tough times and diversifying, expanding and growing the business.

Many CEO's and Managing Directors are salespersons-in-chief.    They know there is a lot of mileage for them personally as well because, while they are promoting the success stories of their organisation, they are promoting themselves as a senior executive success story.  They know they will not have to apply for their next role whether it is a senior executive role or whether they want to secure Board directorships or Chairman roles.  They will be discreetly approached for these scarce opportunities and will be appointed rather than have to go through a competitive selection process.

So in ways that are consistent and acceptable within the culture of your organisation, always be promoting what you have achieved, giving credit where it is due to others, and sharing your ideas and vision.  You must be visible and noticed by those who matter; you need to step out to ultimately step up.

If you would like further ways to build your executive presence, consider attending a People Results' Half-Day Executive Presence workshop held regularly throughout the year.  Contact us at People Results for the next available date, or visit our website at www.peopleresults.com.au

What is influence and is it important to have it?

How influential are you within your workplace or community?  Do others respect your views?  Do they seek you out on issues, asking for your advice and eager to hear your thoughts?  Perhaps people come and metaphorically “sit at your feet” and listen with deep absorption. 

In ancient times the common people would gather to hear orators give forth their views and hold their audiences spellbound with their brilliance.  These philosophers and religious figures had no political or positional power yet they were influencers whose names we still know today.  Names such as Plato and Aristotle. 

Influencing skills are as critical in the 21st Century as they ever have been and perhaps even more so because the stakes are so much higher.  We need to be effective influencers in all kinds of situations, organisations and countries.  So let’s take a look at what personal influence actually is.

It is defined in the Concise Oxford dictionary as “the capacity to have an effect on the character or behaviour of someone or something….”  So we can see that influence is active.  You cannot sit in a meeting with other managers and executives, say nothing and be influential.  To be influential, we have to move and say and take some decisive actions.  Even when someone becomes influential without trying to be influential - quite possibly because they have been around for a long time and have “paid their dues” - it is their observable actions that have accumulated and been observed by others that cause them to be perceived as “influential.”

Another key element is that, if we are effective influencers, there are observable outcomes, i.e. “effects on the character or behaviours of someone or something.”  So influence is a kind of personal power that produces changes.  It is a subtle and controlled form of power that is writ with a small, discreet ‘p’ not an aggressive, commanding “P.”

The other major element of personal influence is that it is potentially in the hands of everyone and not just those at the head of a family, organisation or government.  It is fascinating to think how women have used their influence.  Not generally occupying the most powerful positions in society, women have adapted and used their high intuition and empathy to sense what others need and want.  It turns out that empathy -  literally the ability to put oneself into the other person’s head and heart -  is a precursor to effective influencing. 

Over time women have unconsciously - as well as intentionally - used their influence in extraordinary and highly effective ways.  Just one example is Abigail Adams, the wife of the 2nd President of the United States.  Abigail was greatly influential behind the scenes.  She writes privately to her husband in March 1776:

"I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.”

More information on Abigail's letters to her husband is at: www.thelizlibrary.org/suffrage/abigail.htm

Influence is a female strength that is now being openly acknowledged.  It is a strength that women can bring to the table as they join men to play their parts in solving the complex social, political and business issues in this first century of the new millennium.

So, to summarise, influence is active, not passive.  It produces real and observable outcomes.  And influence is open to everyone regardless of their positional, economic or political power.

Do you want to become more influential at work or in your community?  People Results offers a short course on practical influencing strategies and skills for the workplace: “Influential Practices.”   A public workshop is being held in Brisbane on Wednesday 29th February 2012 and we invite you to register for it.

Please share this information with colleagues and others in your network.  All details are on the People Results’ website at http://www.peopleresults.com.au

People Results’ Influential Practices workshop is also offered as an in-house program exclusively for your team members.  To discuss this option or any other matter, you are invited to ring or telephone Lynne at People Results on +617 3910 1003 or 0421 998749. 

Look out for our next article on The Influencing Mindset.