Unlock your inner leader today: motivate and influence like Amazon’s CEO by reading your audience, sharing facts and earning trust
Are you a freshly promoted manager or a more seasoned executive who wants to grow as a leader? I’m writing this piece for you (#sharingiscaring) to share a framework that will shift your thinking around the language of leadership.
When it comes to motivating and influencing others, why do we do what we do? Why do we share personal stories? Why do we ask how we can help? Why do we share data and facts?
Today’s leaders
Leaders influence up, down, sideways, inside and outside. They achieve performance through people by influencing their thinking. It drives behavior, ultimately getting results. It takes a diverse set of tactics to motivate and influence a diverse crowd. The first task is often to read the situations and people.
Leaders are always searching for relevant information as an asset to be shared in an organized way. Information needs to be reliable, accurate and precise, and communicated in a digestible and timely fashion.
People appreciate leaders who say what they mean, follow through and share relevant information. Well-functioning teams share vision, trust, roles, and include the right talent to do the job.
In my research, I’ve seen a concept coming back a lot: the modes of persuasions coined as Pathos, Logos and Ethos by our friend Aristotle. What was missing was how this concept relates to leaders’ actions. Let’s deconstruct the 3 pillars of Pathos, Logos, Ethos and learn how you could leverage them.
Pathos — You care for your team and understand their emotions
Pathos is the persuasion by means of emotional appeal. You find the same Greek root in words like empathy, sympathy or patient.
Understand what moves people to change. Leaders ask themselves what emotions they could trigger to create that change of behavior. They manage themselves and their filters to avoid potential bias. Think about the research that consumer goods companies conduct before launching a commercial for the Super Bowl.
Seek to inspire and motivate by appealing to values, ideals and needs. Leaders research their audience by looking at what people need and believe in. They understand their environment, goals and current challenges.
Deal with people individually and teams one at a time. Because they understand who they talk to, leaders also understand that they need to segment their audience to have a stronger impact. Think about how politics will change the way they speak or the content of their speech based on where they campaign.
Grow your Pathos through: Audience Prep Questions
· Who are they?
· Why are they here?
· How do they feel about the subject?
· What do they know about it?
· How do they feel about you?
· What do they know about you?
· What would make them resist?
· How can you help them?
Logos — You read situations and support your argument by facts or data that are hard to argue against
Logos is the proof, or apparent proof, provided by the words of the speech itself. You find the same Greek root in words like logical, technology or dialogue.
Collect essential and relevant information. Leaders look at different sources of information inside and outside their organization. They dig in macro trends and tie challenges to the right context.
Assess value and connectedness of information. Leaders select information from sources their audience trust. They identify patterns that create insights.
Synthesize and communicate information. Leaders use frameworks to help people understand complex constructs. They create a concise message and keep what is essential. They talk in terms of outcomes and they think about impact — and impact not for themselves, but for the people that they serve
Grow your Logos through:
1. Looking outside your industry
2. Bringing in your customers/users: What they say, what they do, what they feel
3. Using the SCR framework from McKinsey to set the stage: Situation > Complication > Resolution
Ethos — You earned trust from your team
Ethos is the persuasion through convincing listeners of one’s “moral character”. You find the same Greek root in words like ethnography or ethics.
Be values-guided in your actions and decisions. Followers need to know that leaders have deep values and dreams, and they need to hear leaders speak about hope. They also want to know that those who lead are animated by some big beliefs.
Be clear about your message. Leaders use simple language that anyone can understand. They focus on a limited amount of information and have specific asks. They are also aware of how they carry themselves and understand the impact of their leadership shadow.
Do what you say you will do. Leaders instill trust by a strong sense of ownership and bias towards action. They humbly recognize their failures and share credit for their successes.
Grow your Ethos through:
1. Sharing your vision with the Golden Circle: Why? How? What?
2. Sharing personal stories and anecdotes
3. Making your writing bold and clear with Hemingway App
4. Measuring yourself and getting feedback with a survey
About me: I’ve been operating as an internal consultant to help people align and achieve a common goal without being their boss in a Fortune 5 company for the last 2 years. Before that, I experienced different roles in Product Management where soft skills are about the ability to lead teams, communicate with diverse groups and influence change throughout an organization.
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A Fusion publication. We are employees of UHG and these views are our own and not those of the company nor its affiliates.
