Kak
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This is a very important topic. I have always long held that leadership is the single most important part of business. You can create or build anything you want as long as you can convince enough people that it’s a legitimately good idea and provide value to them.
So what is a leader’s most important tool? Communication.
Of course you can start by reading books on the topic, pick up best practices and try to implement them into your daily life, but, it didn’t get better for me until my daily life started requiring it of me.
I used to spend time lobbying legislators in Austin 3-6 times a month. I would stack all the meetings on one day, make the drive and take 3-5 meetings a day.
After stumbling over my first few meetings, I grew into it, I became massively on top of my game. I spoke carefully and precisely. I was able to persuade well. I was able to leave meetings with a lot of what I wanted.
Then, if you know anything about Texas government, legislative session would end and meetings would slow. I was taking one meeting at a time instead of 3-5. They were happening less and less frequently as well. Just like that, my meetings died down to a trickle, and my communication skills eroded back to an acceptable yet still frustrating level.
When you are used to working a room like a master and you begin to struggle, even if the people you are meeting with don’t notice, you will.
I say all of this because you need to IMPLEMENT your best practices and PRACTICE your best practices.
It wasn’t until I started my radio show that I was forced to use these skills very often. The first 50 episodes are probably complete garbage by comparison to the last 50 I have recorded.
If you don’t ever do it, you’ll never have it. If you don’t use it frequently enough, you'll lose it.
Join a toastmasters group and volunteer to speak in every meeting. Start requesting way way more pitch meetings for your business, this might also make you more money. Embarrassing, but narrate your drives, by yourself, out loud in the most eloquent way you possibly can. (I know, it’s weird, but helped me.)
Learn to think faster than you speak, and that may require you to slow down for a while. 95% of the people you come across, after you realize this, speak faster than they think. It becomes like a mode that you “turn on.”
Use every possible opportunity to move this from outside of your comfort zone to solidly inside of your comfort zone. Confidence plays a BIG part in being able to operate at full capacity.
I hope this helps. Great thread! Looking forward to this one.
So what is a leader’s most important tool? Communication.
Of course you can start by reading books on the topic, pick up best practices and try to implement them into your daily life, but, it didn’t get better for me until my daily life started requiring it of me.
I used to spend time lobbying legislators in Austin 3-6 times a month. I would stack all the meetings on one day, make the drive and take 3-5 meetings a day.
After stumbling over my first few meetings, I grew into it, I became massively on top of my game. I spoke carefully and precisely. I was able to persuade well. I was able to leave meetings with a lot of what I wanted.
Then, if you know anything about Texas government, legislative session would end and meetings would slow. I was taking one meeting at a time instead of 3-5. They were happening less and less frequently as well. Just like that, my meetings died down to a trickle, and my communication skills eroded back to an acceptable yet still frustrating level.
When you are used to working a room like a master and you begin to struggle, even if the people you are meeting with don’t notice, you will.
I say all of this because you need to IMPLEMENT your best practices and PRACTICE your best practices.
It wasn’t until I started my radio show that I was forced to use these skills very often. The first 50 episodes are probably complete garbage by comparison to the last 50 I have recorded.
If you don’t ever do it, you’ll never have it. If you don’t use it frequently enough, you'll lose it.
Join a toastmasters group and volunteer to speak in every meeting. Start requesting way way more pitch meetings for your business, this might also make you more money. Embarrassing, but narrate your drives, by yourself, out loud in the most eloquent way you possibly can. (I know, it’s weird, but helped me.)
Learn to think faster than you speak, and that may require you to slow down for a while. 95% of the people you come across, after you realize this, speak faster than they think. It becomes like a mode that you “turn on.”
Use every possible opportunity to move this from outside of your comfort zone to solidly inside of your comfort zone. Confidence plays a BIG part in being able to operate at full capacity.
I hope this helps. Great thread! Looking forward to this one.
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