Communications is vital to anyone leading a business or even a part of a business. You would be hard pressed to over communicate. Here are seven reasons with explanations following.
- Persuade
- Inspire
- Educate
- Entertain
- Fund Raise
- Celebrate
- Inform
1. Persuade
The CEO needs to enlist the support of his direct and indirect reports—even the whole company. The board must be persuaded that the CEO has the right ideas to move the company forward, otherwise, the CEO may be dismissed. Stockholders, customers, suppliers all need to be persuaded to do their part in moving the company forward.
2. Inspire
Inspiring people is a bit more emotional than might be expected with persuasion. There is less use of numbers to appeal to the emotions of people. I have always enjoyed sales meetings and conference presentations of new products. They are less about persuasion and more about inspiration. My former employer has a couple of good ones. See the links below.
3. Educate
Education is not just the domain of the human resources people and the product trainers and the sales leadership. The CEO must educate the young, high-potential assistant that is training under the CEO for bigger and better things. Some board members may need to be educated on some aspects of science or information technology or competitors. While emotion may be a driving force in decisions from inspiration and persuasion above, it also must make logical sense. That’s where education plays a pivotal role.
4. Entertain
Ever have CEO introduce the latest band at a party during a convention? Entertainment helps with team building and relationships. It gets people to relax and enjoy something together. That joint experience goes a long way to building trust. Just make sure the introduction is short.
CEOs can also make themselves more approachable and human through humor in a meeting or one-on-one.
5. Fund Raise
If you are the CEO of a startup, you may be looking for your first outside investment through a grant, crowd funding source, bank, or angel investor group. I have now seen CEOs raising funds for the H round of a company. Public company CEOs also may be involved in specific fund raising activities for their own company, or for a non-profit that the company supports. Fund raising never seems to stop as shareholders look at the rise and fall of the stock value.
6. Celebrate
Pay alone will not inspire and persuade people to do their best. Recognition for a job well done or a milestone reached goes a long way to keeping people fired up and happy with the daily choice they make to work for your company and its mission and vision.
7. Inform
Sometimes, you do just have to deliver the facts and figures. You may try to persuade by spinning the numbers, or educate with graphs and charts. However, every quarter, every year, the government and shareholders demand to be kept informed of what the company has done, is doing, and expects.
I recently joined a speaking club to get even better at making presentations, talking with people, persuading them to accelerate their success. That got me to thinking about the many reasons we make speeches and talk with others. As part of getting going with the group, I was asked to Educate and Inform them about me. To help them understand what Inspires and drives me. They wanted to hear how I Celebrated challenges I have overcome. If you are interested in the outcome, I recorded it from my desk. https://vimeo.com/1010056703
INSPIRATION VIDEOS from Daimler Truck
Daimler Hydrogen Truck 2024
Daimler Truck North America “For All Who Keep the World Moving”
