Change, in any organization, requires a stump speech.
In political campaigns, candidates will typically create a stump speech that they deliver at every campaign stop. It’s the exact same speech, but it’s for a different audience each time. They talk about problems, they talk about plans, they talk about why they are running. You might only hear it once, but political candidates will say the same thing over and over and over.
Leaders are similarly yoked. We also need to create stump speeches. But it’s not because we are running for office. It’s because we have decided to make a change. Maybe a small change, maybe a big change, but a change nonetheless. And that change needs to be communicated.
Your stump speech for the change might be short and concise, or, depending on the change, it might be long and detailed. Here’s the key difference between you and the candidate: You will have to say the same thing over and over and over…to the same people.
It’s likely that whatever you are trying to do, you have been thinking about it for some time. Maybe you have worked with others, maybe you have hired consultants like me to help you work it out. You have been waist deep in it and it’s clear. You get it! Everybody else though? They will be hearing it for the first time the day after tomorrow.
They will hear it and it won’t sink in, or it will be misinterpreted, or it will be ignored. Your team harbors no malice. It’s just that we are people and new stuff takes time to sink in.
So, you prepare your communication plan in advance in whatever detail is appropriate. You assemble people. You give your stump speech. And then, the kicker, after you are done you expect it not to work. You expect you will say it again and again and again. Maybe you say it in different ways. Maybe you say it using different examples. But you keep saying it. And like the politician, you say it each time as if it’s your first time and with the same amount of enthusiasm and charm.
Here’s the news: For big stuff, like core values, and mission, and strategic plan, you will be talking about it in some way until the end of your time on this earth, or the end of your time in the firm, whichever comes first.
Who said leadership was easy?
