Stephen H Baum Leadership

My clients come in two “flavors:” those who instinctively consider the “audience” before or as they speak and those who are focused on themselves first.

Harvey leads a large, public company. He is so smart and quick that he is steps ahead of his direct reports in almost every conversation. Since he has little time between his myriad meeetings, he arrives at the next meeting and dives right into topics with them. I asked him to replay one of these moments, asked him to describe how well the subsequent time was used and the likely impression it left with his team.

Key words in his response: confusion, off-topic air time, blind alleys, demotivation of key players. Suggestion (in addition to having others create and socialize agendas for some meetings): take 3 minutes before walking into a meeting; decide what you want the people to believe, feel and want to do do when it is over; decide how to open the conversation with a great question. Feedback: “I have not yet adopted this fully but when I do, it works — the time is much better spent. And I have been doing my own instant replay after some meetings.

Instant replay for CEOs? At least as valuable as in sports.