Having just returned from the US-Africa Business Summit sponsored by The Corporate Council on Africa, leadership is on my mind. Attendees included everyone from Senators Coons and Isakson who are respectively the Chair and the Ranking Member of the Senate Africa Sub-Committee to Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union. There were also quite a few ambassadors, senior executives of multinationals, media people, and, me.
African Union Flag
During the course of the event I carefully listened to and watched those speaking which included the aforementioned trio as well as a plethora of senior political and business leaders. I also was fortunate enough to speak privately with Senator Coons as well as with many of the other speakers and attendees.
It was an educational experience. The Summit was composed of people used to being in charge who here found themselves surrounded by others in the same position. It made for a rowdy crowd confronting the speakers.
The skill level of all of the speakers was high but some were clearly more able to hold the attention of this rambunctious audience. Those with exceptional skill were met with great attention and diminished audience noise while those with less skill were almost drowned out by the conversations in the audience.
It was truly enlightening to watch the way the energy ebbed and flowed.
While driving back thinking about this, I remembered a recent email I received from Harvard Business Review. This email was about leadership in general but in my contemplative state seemed to also be about speaking skill…for to be a great leader you certainly need to be able to communicate exceptionally well.
So, Three Questions for Speaking…and Leadership…Success:
1. What should I stop saying and doing because these things keep me from best results.
2. What should I keep saying and doing, and even expand, because these things elicit excellent results.
3. What am I missing that I need to say and do starting immediately that will lead to exceptional results.
And whom to ask these questions? Everyone. And for change and improvement…it’s your turn to listen.
So would you say that good speakers listen?
The key to good speaking is even better listening. Listening with all of your senses and not just your ears. Hearing the words but also noticing the body language and sensing the feelings driving the language. And doing it all the time…to gather information always and to track the response you get when speaking.
As John Grinder used to say, “communication is the response your get.”