Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com November 28, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 21 BIZ BOOKS Manager, executive tips for mastering leadership "6 0-Minute CEO: Mastering Lead- ership an Hour at a Time" by Dick Cross (bibliomotion, $24.95). While Cross focuses on the role of a CEO, his message applies to all levels of manage- ment. How so? Whether you run a department or a division, your staff looks at you as their CEO. As such, it's your responsibility to act as a leadership extension of the firm's CEO. Cross believes leader- ship drivers should be "how to improve the business and conscious attention to personal character." Doesn't every manager, especially those in senior positions, think about improving the business? Maybe. In a work world of "get this done today," managers are so busy doing that they don't make (have?) time to think about what's next. Change can be viewed as a dis- traction from doing, rather than an opportunity for continuous improvement. Also, some managers think more about the next rung on the ladder than organizational goals. Relative to character, how you manage yourself determines the levels of trust and respect of subordinates. "Your expressions, words, emotions and activities are con- stantly evaluated by your people." Truth, transparency and fairness create shared aspirations and the commitment to follow. When people believe, their productivity and optimism moves the firm forward. Cross poses two questions that shine the spotlight on management's need to think: 1. "What is my business today, and does it make as much sense as it used to?" 2. Where is my business today, and where does it need to be?" Read "business" as the job you have. The answers can be found by evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of processes and opera- tions involving staff and others with whom they interact. Also, assess staff stress level. High stress leads to low morale and high turnover — both of which decimate productivity. • • • "Brief — Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less" by Joseph McCormack (John Wiley & Sons, $24). Information inundation = inattention = missed communication. McCormack identi- fies seven "Cs" that create miscommunication: 1. Cowardice — You don't want to take a stand. Maybe you're afraid someone will challenge you. Maybe you're afraid you'll make waves. The communications coward uses rambling conversation, jargon and buzzwords to avoid making a point. 2. Confidence — You're the subject mat- ter expert and you want to make sure every- one within earshot knows it. You view your job as that of the lecturer (i.e. talking to) not the communicator (i.e. talking with). 3. Callousness — You don't respect the time of others. You interrupt people with "I have a quick question" knowing that there's no quick answer. The fact that you're taking a colleague away from his/her tasks never seems to bother you. 4. Comfort — "You're long- winded with those you know well." This speaks to callous- ness as well. Just because they know you, that doesn't entitle you to keep talking because you enjoy what you're saying. 5. Confusion — When you brainstorm out loud, the order of your ideas will lack flow. When your mind moves faster than your mouth, even great ideas will come across as unconnected dots to coworkers. They'll listen inattentively — and make judgments about your ability to connect the dots. 6. Complication — "You firmly believe that there are some things too complex to be simpli- fied." When someone asks you the time, you're compelled to tell them how to build a watch. 7. Carelessness — You have so much to say that you talk before you think things through. Your mouth moves faster than your mind and people will think you're disorganized. McCormack's advice: Before starting a conversation, mentally outline it, especially the expected actions and outcomes. Think through what needs to be said to engage your audience. "Controlled con- versation isn't about con- trolling the conversation as much as it is about con- trolling yourself in the con- versation." n Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer. Jim Pawlak TALKING POINTS 2016 election trends for your business By Stephen Jewett E lections are a testing ground for new communication technologies and emerg- ing trends. The Trump and Clinton cam- paigns both solidified trends that will effect organizations of all sizes with external com- munications goals. Here are a few of them: 1. The news cycle is faster than ever and traditional rules on getting information into the news cycle have been broken. This campaign cemented the fact the news cycle is nonstop. We have progressed from the branded "24-hour" news cycle model to a news cycle that is almost hourly. Digital content and social-media plat- forms have exploded the amount of simple content creation that can then be distrib- uted at instant speed. Technologies such as Facebook's live streaming have birthed a new pool of "reporter hobbyists" powered by their phones and able to report in real time anywhere in the world with no edito- rial control. This election cycle, the best campaigns adapted to those changes by allowing more freedom to their candidates, surrogates and operatives to push messages through social media on an ad-hoc basis. Well-orchestrated campaigns have come to accept this loss of editorial control, mostly because they cannot afford to be left behind in a rapid news cycle. Advanced campaigns further progressed to launching and testing messages on social media often before going to traditional media routes. Campaigns also moved to respond to their opposition in real time on social media. TV newscasts no longer need to pan over to the opposing campaign headquarters to get a response, they just look down at their Twitter feed. Traditional media sources are happy to play this game, because it gives them more content they don't need to pro- duce to fill their own digital platforms. With an endless content stream, today's news cycle can be very good or cruel, depend- ing on how much attention you want. Timing of the release of information can shorten or extend the lifespan of a story. No one expected FBI Director James Com- ey's announcement and I'm sure it disrupted the best detailed communications plans for both presidential campaigns on the day it happened. Consider how swiftly some of the big campaign moments moved through the news cycle: Melania forged convention speech, one day; Hillary fainting, three days; Trump's tape about women, one-and-a-half weeks. The one story that had legs was Hillary's "email server" and that may have proven to be the final break down in her campaign. 2. Diversification is vital for broad-scale media campaigns. TV ads are still the king for impact- ing large segments of the population, but if you are going to reach everyone, you cannot limit your investment there. The whole population is chang- ing how, when, and what information it is consuming. In 2016, Pew Research reported 38 percent of adults "often" get news online, twice as much as print newspapers. Seventy-two per- cent of adults reported using a mobile device to get news. This Election Day became the biggest live viewing internet event in history. YouTube had 47 million live views, while over 27 million people live streamed CNN Digital. Savvy campaigns have readjusted their media spending so at least 20 percent of their media buy is accessible for mobile viewing. Clinton did not ignore social and digital, but it was the Trump campaign's main focus. Trump only ran about one-third of the TV ads that Romney ran in 2012 and was outspent 3 to 1. TV ad spending, along with polling, are gener- ally the two biggest indicators of who will win, but not this election. When the unex- pected candidate wins, we question how it happened and how to evolve to keep up. I can remember sending press releas- es by fax machine. This election pro- vides lessons on how to avoid becoming the fax machine. n Stephen Jewett is managing partner of Hart- ford-based McDowell Jewett Communications. He works on political campaigns nationally including in the battleground states of North Carolina and Pennsylvania in 2016. Stephen Jewett ▶ ▶ How you manage yourself determines the levels of trust and respect of subordinates. Truth, transparency and fairness create shared aspirations and the commitment to follow. ▶ ▶ We have progressed from the branded '24-hour' news cycle model to a news cycle that is almost hourly.

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