It was the start of the day and I had just asked my Storytelling class what they wanted to learn today. The Sr. Manager spoke up, “I want to learn how to get people to do something.” As a coach myself, I couldn’t help but respond with…
“Can you tell me what you mean by that?” His eagerness to learn more about persuasion was both common and understandable among the leaders I’m privileged to serve. He answered me, “When we need to get something done as a team, I want to be able to use stories to help motivate them all to get it done… even if they don’t really want to do it.”
One method for persuading a group toward action is with a template I call “The Leader’s Lesson” where the focus is on two key areas:
- a tough situation from the past and…
- an opportunity for the future.
The Leader’s Lesson Story Template
This template generates two emotions in your audience. The emotional piece is important and shouldn’t be overlooked. While we all like to think we make our decisions based on logic and data, science says otherwise. All of our decisions require a feeling element before we act upon them. In fact, Mel Robbins points out in her book The 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage, that we don’t keep our New Year’s Resolutions for one simple reason… we don’t feel like doing them anymore!
So how do you get the team to do something? They will need to feel like doing it. This is why the emotional element is so critical. The first emotion focuses more on the negative side (anxiety, nervous, scared, etc.) while the second emotion focuses on the positive (inspired, intrigued, curious, empowered, etc.).
The Negative
Start with an experience from your past and then draw the audience into the story. Let them look at the tough situation through your eyes. Let them see themselves in your role. What does this sound like?
I was 2 months into my new role as Sr. Project Manager and my supplier for the 40 web servers told me he would be 6 weeks late on delivery to our data center. My project update meeting with our executive sponsors is in 20 minutes. I’m about to walk into a meat grinder…
Invite them In
Next, you invite the audience into the story by placing them in the situation. This is where they need to feel the emotion of the tough situation. What does this part sound like?
We’ve probably all been there before… What do I say in this meeting? How do I address this issue? … What would you say? How do you handle a situation like that? We all face situations like this more than we think…
Show Vulnerability and The Lesson
Next, let them know how you handled it, how you failed, and what you learned from the experience. What might this part sound like?
I started my presentation and began with an update of the bad news I had just received. I’m immediately interrupted by the COO when she says, “Stop. Where is this in your handout I have here?” I began to respond, “Well, I didn’t have time to update the handout or the slide deck so…” She interrupted again, “STOP. This meeting is over. I expect you to be prepared when you’re speaking to this group. Please come back tomorrow at the same time when you’re better prepared.” I learned a lot that day…
Share the Challenge / Opportunity
At this point, the audience understands what you learned through failure. You’ve got their attention because they’ve experienced the emotion of a stressful situation. You’ve shown your own vulnerability, which helps the audience relate to you better, and they also know how you solved the situation.
The next step is to share the current challenge or opportunity the team is facing. They need to see the similarity between the story you’ve just shared and what you learned so they’ll be open to solving it. When they know similar tough situations have been solved successfully in the past, they’re more eager to play the protagonist role of the hero in this new story. What does this part sound like?
Our current reporting situation with our customers is very similar. We don’t have a timely method for updating our project status to each of them. While they may not speak to us in the same manner as my former COO, I can imagine what they’re saying about us after we get off our weekly calls. There’s a way we can improve our project updates. We just need to find the right solution and implement it.
Inspire them to Solve It
This is where you turn the challenge over to them without solving it for them! Avoid your urge to step in and solve the issue! Don’t let the message turn into a command and control message. When the leader takes command and attempts to control exactly what the team should do next, they’ll feel less than inspired or encouraged. In social psychology of persuasion we call this compliance but not commitment! Rather than just doing it, we want them to want to do it! What does that sound like?
Imagine your next call with Acme Corporation. Imagine when they ask you for the status on a change request given to you only 15 minutes earlier. You already have it built into the project plan and you can show them exactly how it affects the delivery timelines. Think about how you’d feel after that call compared to how I felt after my meeting with the COO many years ago. I know we can fix this. Let’s see how we can make this a reality. Let me know what you come up with and we’ll discuss it next week at our team meeting.
Make it so…
Giving your audience the opportunity to solve a problem, overcome an obstacle, rise to a challenge… is motivating. It’s inspirational and it feels empowering to the audience. Remember, we can all logically agree with what we should do (eat better, exercise more, etc.) but if we don’t feel like it… it won’t get done. Help your audience feel better about their challenges when you want them to do something!
Until next week,
Russ
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iSpeak teaches workshops on Professional Selling to help sales leaders gather the most important data and then use that information to create the right message. Are your sales presentations closing eyelids or deals?R
Russ Peterson Jr. is the co-founder and Managing Director of iSpeak, Inc. – An award-winning professional development training company. Russ is a speaker, international trainer, and published author on Professional Sales Communication and Business Communication. He delivers workshops, keynotes, and personal communication coaching services to business professionals in the US and around the world. His leadership blog assists leaders in giving voice to their vision. You can connect with Russ directly through Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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