How strong is your voice? How convincing is your argument?
When your words aren’t scripted for you — when your notes have blown away — when you’re in the spotlight and all eyes are on you — when the pressure is on and it’s do or die —
…can you deliver?
Can you lead, inspire, direct, convince, persuade, motivate, and rally the troops to get behind you — take up their swords — and fight for your cause?
The litmus test of leadership is believability.
For others to follow you into battle — or into business, they must be firmly convinced that you are firmly convinced that you are doing the right things for the right reasons.
They must believe that the difficult or uncomfortable action that you want them to take is going to pay off down the road.
Above all, they must know that you believe in this mission and that you have a plan that is so well conceived and constructed and thoroughly thought-through that you know it by heart; you don’t need to refer to your notes…or your iPad…or go ask the wizard who’s behind the curtain.
It all boils down to this:
If you don’t know the plan and believe in the plan, you’ll never convince others to go ‘all in’ for the plan.
Likewise, if you don’t know your brand and believe in your brand, you’ll never convince others to go ‘all in’ for your brand.
You can’t convince others to get behind anything you aren’t fully invested in anymore than you can return from a place you’ve never been.
Put down your notes. Come out from behind your teleprompter.
Let us feel the believability in your eyes.
We’re only as committed as you are.
Great article Eric! I experienced one such mishap during my senior capstone group presentation in college. Last minute, someone opted to mess with the slide transition feature on our presentation which in turn caused slides to advance themselves automatically. The look on all the faces staring back at us screamed “They’re tanking the most important presentation of their college career!” We paused and while someone tried to correct it, I jumped in off the cuff and began relating our topic to a very personal phone conversation I’d had that morning. It not only took the focus off the malfunctioning PowerPoint but brought some personal testimony to the presentation to show that we believe our topic was valid and very important. Several professors complimented us on handling the situation and said we did exactly what you do in that situation. Makes me ABSOLUTELY sure I’m always planned for the worst! Really love what you’re all about Eric.
Nice article, Eric. Lately I’ve been hearing a lot about “leaders” who are being deemed as “scripted leaders” due to their use of notes and teleprompters, etc. One of the biggest examples has to be our President. He has been getting SO much backlash for his lackluster performance during the first debate – and the reason why they say he was so bad…he didn’t has his teleprompter. I’m not sure if I can put my finger on the exact reason his performance was so bad, but not having a speech or teleprompter to lead him very well could have been the reason why. Also, I feel you all the way when you said “Put down your notes. Come out from behind your teleprompter. Let us feel the believability in your eyes. We’re only as committed as you are.” I have a very hard time getting behind ANYONE who seems so scripted and cold. When a person knows what he/she is talking about and sincerely believes in it…convincing others isn’t too difficult. What do you think?