It almost sounds like the opening of a cliché movie:
An asteroid is on its way hurtling toward earth, and everyone is panicking that it could be the apocalypse, destroying the planet or at
least life as we know it.
That is, unless Bruce Willis, Jackie Chan or Viola Davis manages to blow up the asteroid or at least knock it off course at the eleventh
hour.
Of course, in the midst of the growing mayhem, our hero/heroine gives an inspirational speech, acknowledging people’s fear, reassuring them that the expert team is doing everything possible to ward off the danger, and kindling renewed confidence that our protagonist will put the welfare of the people first, and save the day.
(Kinda like how Bill Pullman’s speech in Independence Day might have sounded if Bill Pullman had even an ounce of charisma.)
Except it’s not Hollywood. It’s the news. It’s the daily announcements of more unprecedented layoffs in bedrock companies like Amazon, Salesforce, Goldman Sachs, heck even McDonalds, coupled with double-digit inflation and eggs at $5/dozen.
Oh yeah, and the hero isn't Bruce, Jackie or Viola… it’s YOU.
The people panicking and turning to you for answers, solutions and reassurance are your clients, your employees, your direct and indirect reports, your investors and partners. They all want to know what’s going to happen to:
- their job
- their investments
- their order and timeline
- that bonus they depend on every year
- Their workload (with no increased pay) if they have to pick up the slack if more teammates gets laid off
What if, what if, what if…
Now it’s up to you to figure out just the right thing to say, in just the right way, to instill confidence amidst the uncertainty, help everyone stay calm and keep them from fleeing in panic.
That’s exactly what we address this week on another special two-part episode of the Speaking to Influence podcast.
After the overwhelming response we got recently when we addressed this topic on LinkedIn Live, we decided we needed to share it with everyone else.
In this episode we get super-specific about the do’s and don’ts around having these mission-critical, emotionally charged, and heavily consequential conversations.
In order to successfully inspire confidence in your people, dedication in your team, and trust in you, tune in to hear:
What questions you need to ask yourself in advance
- How to keep yourself from rambling and babbling
- Vocal pitfalls to avoid
- What your body language must – and must not – say, whether virtually or in person
- How you need to START AND END the discussion
- How to practice, and why you should, before you start the conversation
Listen to Part 1 of the full conversation here. Tomorrow we’ll send the link for Part 2. (Of course, if you subscribe to the podcast, you’ll get part 2 automatically delivered right to your phone, so you won’t miss a thing!)
It’s really hard to brace for a storm when you don't know when and if it’s going to hit, or how hard.
But with the right leader’s voice and message, you and your team can stay strong and weather the journey together until the sun comes out again.
