The New Boss-Dynamo or Dudsville?

by Laurie Schloff,
Senior Coaching Partner

Hal Gordon, a member of The Professional Speakers group on LinkedIN provoked my thinking about what style of leadership is working well these days.

Mr. Gordon prompted us to reflect on the November 12 issue of the Economist, which included a fascinating article on “The Cult of the Faceless Boss.” According to the article, the recent economic downturn has caused companies to reject flamboyant CEOs in favor of executives described as “humble, self-effacing, diligent and resolute souls.”

If this trend continues, says the Economist, it is only a matter of time before somebody writes The Management Secrets of Uriah Heep: be ‘umble, be ever so ‘umble.”

The Economist deplores this trend. “In general,” says the article, “the corporate world needs its flamboyant visionaries and raging egomaniacs rather more than its humble leaders and corporate civil servants.”
What style of boss behavior do you think we need in these times?
Is it possible to be ever so humble and dynamic at the same time?
Do you know anyone who fits the bill?
Send us your thoughts.

Communication Lessons from the life of Senator Edward Kennedy

by Senior Coaching Partner Laurie Schloff

It is difficult to say goodbye to such a larger than life communicator as Senator Edward Kennedy. When greatness passes away from our midst, yet lingers in our consciousness, our team pauses to ask, “What did we learn about greatness and communication from this man? What lessons can we pass along to our families, clients and ourselves?” Here are three to ponder:

1. Focus on Others, Not Yourself.

Tribute after tribute describes Senator Kennedy literally showing up in a friend or citizen’s time of need. Recently, Mayor Tom Menino of Boston had knee surgery. His first phone call upon arriving home was from Senator Kennedy. “Why are you worried about me?” asked the mayor. “I’m worried about you!” You don’t need to be a large and famous man to have a large heart.

2.Be Dynamic and Emotional.

Senator Kennedy had a loud, over the top style, different than the poetic strength of Bobby or the poise of JFK. He hugged and patted. He was effusive at eulogies (and he gave far too many of them) and persuasive even to those who disagreed with him. John McCain said “If you want something done in the Senate, call Teddy.” Like many speakers, he was best with the passionate delivery of memorable lines like these from his 1980 political convention after losing the nomination to Jimmy Carter: “The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die”

3. Be Resilient.

Perhaps more than anyone else, Senator Kennedy taught us that we have to work on being resilient in order to deal with life’s cruel blows and frequent letdowns. Recently, I came across a young woman who was devastated to learn that her boss thought her follow through on projects was inadequate and she was having trouble coping emotionally. Get over it! We must work as hard as possible to develop emotional muscle without becoming a tough person, to achieve as we grieve. Let your cause, your passion, the lessons you’ve learned from your losses keep you going strong until the day you die.

How To Know If You Need a Communication Coach

by Laurie Schloff, Senior Coaching Partner

Our coaching team at The Speech Improvement Company was delighted to hear that Google CEO Eric Schmidt knows the value of having a good coach. We’ve often been asked how to determine when engaging a communication/presentation coach is a good idea. So, here are five good reasons for working with an expert in communication:

1. You’re in a more visible positon than ever and you know your communicaiton prowess will be scrutinized.
2. You want to overcome a fear of speaking to groups and find your avoidance of speaking situations troubling.
3. You want to learn techniques for conveying more confidence and impact
4. You know you’d be more successful if you had more communication polish
5. You’re already a good communicator, but want to be GREAT.

Talking about Talking Series: The Gates-gate

Click on the link below to watch a video featuring coaches Dr. Dennis Becker and Laurie Schloff.

Are women better managers than men?

A recent article on the New York Times titled: “No Doubts: Women Are Better Managers” sparked this reaction from Coach Laurie Schloff.

Laurie Schloff

Communication Coach Laurie Schloff of The Speech Improvement Company (Boston and Tampa) agrees with Carol Smith (right) of the Elle Group that women are often better managers, but based on her work with hundreds of females aiming for the C level she cautions ambitious females:

1. Women are still cut little slack in terms of ‘acceptable’ management behaviors.

Not only do you have to be viewed as competent, you must also be warm and nice.

Remember the Hillary Clinton candidacy lesson. She was widely viewed as too “bossy”until she shed a tear at a New Hampshire press conference, Glad that Carol Smith learned not to be bossy back in sixth grade. Many of Schloff’s client’s have tried to show strength by being tough, and though that works for some males, it almost always translates into bad press for women (Think the word that rhymes with rich).

2.Women who are too nice also suffer.

One client described her boss as “Pollyanna” always looking for the good side. Carol Smith wisely trained herself to give direct and specific feedback and to tell her reports HOW to improve. Many of my senior female clients avoid Carol’s wise ways for one reason that doesn’t work in the workplace.

They are afraid to hurt someone’s feelings.

Laurie will be hosting the following event: “Effective Presentations Certificate Program” on July 30/31st 2009.
Schloff’s advice: Get over it!

Rewind: Professor Gates meets Sgt. Crowley

If only everyone had obeyed our SOS Stop-Observe-Strategize Principle, one esteemed Harvard professor and one well regarded police sargeant in Cambridge Massachuseetts would be sleeping better tonight.

So to the both of you, think mind over mouth next time.

1. Sgt. Crowley: Couldn’t you have used your astute observation
skills to surmise that the well dressed, articulate and arrogant fella
was likely a Harvard man? Could you have made nice?

2. Professor Gates, yes you just returned from China and couldn’t get
into your own house but you’ve been controlling your demeanor for good
results your whole life.

Could you have told yourself “this is really not my day” and come up with a way to humor the stone faced officer? How about finding out more about what job he had turned up at your home to do, then proudly shown your ID?

Ok no one, black or white, likes to show identification at their own house, but the officer would have called it a day and you would have had the time for tea and jet lag recovery

3. Hey guys, you are both supposedly experts in racial profiling.
Shouldn’t this have led to a bond not a breakdown?

Imagine a rewind:
Gates: Here’s my ID. I’m head of African American Studies here at Harvard–just got back from China

Crowley: Sorry Professor, this isn’t your day is it? Sorry for the inconvenience but we got a call and there’s been quite a few burglaries lately. Well I’m off to the police academy to teach.

Gates: Really, what do you teach?

CrowleY: Ethics and avoiding racial profiling

Gates: Terrific… that’s my expertise too. well keep up the good work. And thanks for watching out for the neighborhood. And keep being cool before you use those handcuffs on some dude.
Crowley: No problem professor. Remember your keys next time.

How Obama Talks: Why Obama Needs a Teleprompter

Commentary by Laurie Schloff

“When Obama’s telempromter screen shattered abruptly at a White House press briefing last week, the audience held its collective breath.

Obama’s communication strength lies in his ability to deliver a prepared, pre-written speech, not to ad lib, “wing it” or be impromptu. Communication coaches observe that this difference in skill depending on context is not unusual at all. In fact, John McCain (remember him?) was way more smooth when responding to on-the-spot questions than
reading off a teleprompter.

Luckily for Obama, there was an additional teleprompter screen at his briefing and he continued on with his usual grace.”

Question: What do you like or not like about the way Obama speaks?

Next Obama Talk: What’s he doing with his hands?

Catching Up With the Coaches – Laurie Schloff

The Coaches at The Speech Improvement Company are constantly working with new clients and launching new projects.

Laurie Schloff

Laurie’s main focus at the moment is continuing her successful collaboration with the Healthcare Business Women’s Association. She and two other TSIC Coaches, Nancy Goldberg and Lau Lapides, have developed a series of workshops called The Leadership Success Series.

>Laurie, tell us more about this series

“The series involves six workshops aimed at helping female leaders enhance their communication skills. In these workshops, we cover topics like Speaking for Success, Effective Presentation Skills, and Top Teamwork. Our latest workshop, called Masterful Meetings, will be presented on September 17th.

The series has been very successful. In fact, it recently won an award called the Global HBA President’s Award for Innovation. We received it not only for designing a unique program, but also for drawing a high level of participation from the HBA membership.”

>How did you become involved with this organization?

“I had been speaking with Dennis O’Brien, PsyD, an organizational psychologist with RHR International, who told me about the HBA’s need for our services. He put me in contact with them, and it was smooth sailing from there.”

Another exciting program that Laurie is planning is her Effective Presentations Certificate Program on July 30th and 31st. The program is designed for business professionals who need to be more comfortable, effective presenters.

>What does the certificate mean?

“This is a 2-day program. It is a small, group-oriented, informal program but it is also very intensive. We award the certificate of attendance to all the participants in appreciation of their courage and efforts throughout the program. The certificate can be very useful for demonstrating continued career development and strength in the area of presenting.”

In addition to these programs, Laurie is also in the planning stages of a new book entitled “Speech Gems.”

>What are Speech Gems?

“Over the course of my career, I’ve created numerous sayings about speaking. I call these sayings my “Speech Gems.” Clients have told me how useful and inspirational these quotations are, and that I should write a book about them. I have experience writing, and I decided it would be a fun project to take on. I’m hoping to complete it this year.”

Laurie is also the author of Smart Speaking and He and She Talk (Plume Publishing).

Global Healthcare Leader Visits TSIC program

Laurie Schloff and Nancy Goldberg, TSIC coaches greeted the Global CEO of the Healthcare Business Women’s Association, Laurie Cooke, at their recent workshop held at Perkin Elmer in Waltham Ma.

Ms. Cooked joined participants learning how to Speak for Success, part of an award winning Leadership Success Series Sponsored by the organization.

Coach Schloff heads up a team designed to build leadership communication
skills in the healthcare industry

For more information about these programs , contact
laurie@speechimprovement.com

A new radio show for WETIN

We are thrilled to hear that Lau Lapides and Laurie Schloff will be hosting a new radio show with Emerson’s station WETIN.

The show titled “Talk Shop” is a 1 hour radio show on Emerson’s new station WETIN Web radio streamed live from 7:00-8:00 PM the second and forth Wednesday evening every month. First program will premier March 25th and will kickoff the program with a discussion on Speech and the City coming up on April 4.

The power packed “Double L Team” will take on the world of communicating with two segments lasting roughly 15-20 minutes in length including fun, thematic music suited for the show. The first segment we will interview a “How Leaders Talk Guest” focusing on how leaders in their industries and organizations talk and communicate. The second segment we’ll invite a “Great Voices Guest” who will discuss and demonstrate how they use their voice in their given industry for profit or philanthropy.

Lau and Laurie are super, high-energy, fun and interactive hosts who will use humor, anecdotes, share expertise and invite live callers to call in and ask questions.

“Our purpose for the program is to interact, engage, educate, and provoke our audience to think, question, and take action to change, promote, and strengthen excellent communication skills in whatever industry they are in.” says Lau.

Stay tuned for more information about this program.