Content You Can Use #6
In this series, I’ll share stories, examples, analogies, and quotes I’ve collected over the past several years in the hopes that you can use them to make your next message compelling and sticky.
1/ Four quotes on leadership
"Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy." - Norm Schwarzkopf
“Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them." - Robert Jarvik
When Lou Holtz was asked how he developed such extraordinary motivation on his teams, he said: "It's easy; we just get rid of the ones who aren't motivated."
"A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go but ought to be." - Rosalynn Carter
2/ NASA: Monday Notes
At the beginning of the Apollo era at NASA, Wernher von Braun implemented a communication practice called Monday Notes with his team.
Every Monday, engineers and technicians two levels below von Braun were asked to submit informal, one-page notes describing to von Braun what occurred over that week — successes, unsolved problems, decisions, failures, opinions, etc.
Once submitted, von Braun would read the notes and write his remarks (questions, reactions, guidance, etc.) in the margins:
With his remarks added, he would make copies and distribute the full set of annotated notes to every senior manager on his team.
The consistency and visibility of this type of communication allowed von Braun and his team to accomplish what seemed impossible with the budgets and timelines he was given.
Can you implement a form of Monday Notes with your team?
3/ An analogy you can use: Load Shedding
This is an aviation concept defined as deciding what systems to shut down and in what order to reduce the power consumption of the finite power remaining in a battery.
An example of this concept is how pilots are taught to manage their hierarchy of actions when there’s an in-flight issue: Aviate, Navigate, then Communicate.
Communication and navigation don’t matter if the plane crashes, so a pilot will stop communicating and even stop navigating in order to work on the issue while continuing to fly the plane.
Your turn: What would the hierarchy of actions be for your work? What can be dropped, and in what order?
4/ An analogy you can use from How Buildings Learn
Occupy a building while it's being finished or remodeled. It's worth it for the fine-tuning that your presence affords. Make sure things sit exactly where it feels best for you: counter height, fridge, sinks, etc. It should fit like tailored clothing.
There have got to be other areas of life this guidance applies to…
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If you’re interested in working together or bringing communication training to your team, let’s talk.
Thanks for reading!
Jenny
Loved the Leadership quotes.