Chad Maxwell | Lesson Four:

Clive shared five powerful motivational lessons from Chad Maxwell (2009)

Cliff. We have come to the penultimate session of your introductory email program. Shortly after the final lesson, all five emails will be mailed to you in a gold-effect leatherlike folio with metal trim so you can refer to them in all workflow situations. (Please send $20 to cover postage.)

So far we have covered motivation, meetings and influencing. This lesson covers the important art of business communication, particularly how you can use the way you speak and write to bring others with you. I call this communicollaboration.

You know the scenario Clive, it’s Friday afternoon. You are trying to convince the board about your visionary helicopter view of the burning platform that you have highlighted in your 40 page submission. They are barely awake, the air conditioning is broken and you are not getting your birds-eye-view-backstory to be understood. You have tunnelled down but they are not taking the bait. Don’t worry. Here are my best five tips to stop being the invisible elephant in the room and become the global value-adding changemaker that you want to be.

1. Use words sparingly: last week I wrote a highly-effective PowerPoint mind-opening thought prodding pack by writing just one word on each page. One word Clive, on each of the ten pages. Imagine how effective and impressive this was. Size 50 font. Just do it.

2. Go face-to-face when needed: we all like to hide behind our documents and email them to the world. However, often the most impressive impression is impacted when you have 110% face time with your key winfluence target. Call them up and suggest an action-meet. Prepare, prepare and prepare for this. I often pick the restaurant a week in advance and take a less important person there for a trial run. Find your table. Pick your menu. Knowing where you want to sit and what to order is instantly impressive. On the big day itself psych yourself up with a carbo-fuelled run and a protein shake (incidentally my new range of business beverages is released next week). Make a physical and spiritual connection by telling your client that you rely on them and you can make them all they want to be. Don’t be afraid to hold their hand.

3. Dare to be different: we all read the latest management journals and hear about the latest Wall Street Superstar who has a new Filofax technique or advanced Outlook scheduling application. You think “I wanted to do that but I thought people would laugh”. Well, Clive, if you are going to be successful at communicollaboration then you need to shrug off the last remnants of self-doubt and just dare to be different. New ways I have brought people together to share and influence include texting your favourite colleagues at the weekend about ideas you are having, invite key coworkers around for a barbecue at short notice, arrange your next board meeting at the bowling alley. Workflow shortcuts I have instigated include never using pen and paper (how did I live before the Dictaphone!) and giving everyone I meet three business cards so they can hand out two to other clients.

4. Persuade others’ the killer idea was theirs: one of the most important things you can learn as you enter more senior and value-strategic positions in the modern information-based environment is that success is measured in terms of salary and position, not in self-congratulation. This is a vital part of building collaboration. People like people who like them back. Tell your team you could not do without them (I know, I know!), when you throw in your latest value-laden idea say that you were taken 95% of the way there by what John said, tell Mary that she just sparked an idea in her last thought-burst that you are merely reflecting back. I guarantee the more you stroke their egos the more likely they will follow you; and the more you can then tell them what to do.

5. Use silence: I talked before about the constant hum technique in meetings. Well, the opposite to this is to communicate using silence. This technique can be extremely powerful if done well. Examples include: when an email arrives asking you to take a decision you know that the sender knows that you know you don’t really want to, wait 10 days before replying. This makes the sender feel bad. In a meeting when you are encouraged to do something through the use of the “this is what is best for you” technique, get up and leave the room for a drink and never go back. In a duo-realtime-body-meet if you are pushed for a yes or no answer, shake you head slowly and sigh.

Clive, with these techniques I am convinced you can become a master of the arts of communicollaboration. Not only will you have more people around you willing to be followers, you will also be maximising the impact of your thought-led ideas. Until next time.