becoming a trusted advisor - lynne viscio - fcn october 20 2011
DESCRIPTION
Presentation by Lynne Viscio, CRA, Inc., to the Federal Communicators Network, October 20, 2011TRANSCRIPT
Behaviors of a Trusted Advisor
FCN Ι20 October 2011
Agenda
!! Welcome and introductions
!! Realities
!! What trusted advisors know and understand
!! What trusted advisors do
!! Final thoughts
reality is that which,
when you stop
believing in it,
doesn’t go away.!
3
Trust noun
1. Firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.
4
5
What Trusted Advisors Know & Understand
!! Communication is a strategic activity
!! Why smart people sometimes fail
!! Relationships and connections matter
!! It’s all about the frame
6
Three Goals at the Heart of All Interaction
!! Task Goal:
"!What do I want people to know?
"!What do I want people to believe or feel?
"!What do I want people to do?
!! Identity Goal:
"!How do I want to be seen?
!! Relationship Goal:
"!What type of relationship am I trying to continue or build?
Communication Styles
!! Expressive
–! Situations are static.
–! Directness and clarity in communication.
–! “Say what you think.”
!! Conventional
–! Situations have conventional meanings.
–! Adaptive to social situations.
–! “Say what’s appropriate.”
!! Strategic
–! Situations are created by behaviors and messages.
–! Communication is a strategic tool to manage outcomes.
–! “How you say what you say makes all the difference.”
How Does Each Type Approach Communication?
Expressive Conventional Strategic
Focus on self: internal needs. Focus on what’s demanded by the situation and how to achieve personal goals.
Focus on self and others: relational needs.
Generally insensitive to others. Sensitive to others when the situation demands it.
Sensitive to others’ perspectives: empathetic.
Managing impressions is manipulative: “Take me for what I am.”
Impression management is a skill: “You only get one chance to make a first impression, so put your best foot forward.”
Impressions are formed and reformed as we exchange information.
Task is everything: “Did you get the job done?” Everything else is a conversation.
Image counts: “What do others think of you? Are you positioned for success?”
Relationships are everything: “Mutual cooperation is long-term success.”
What Can You Do Now to Become More Strategic?
!! Constantly focus on the ideal outcome of your communication – planning task, identity, and relationship goals. (Being ‘right’ versus being ‘effective.’)
–! Task: What do I want to achieve?
–! Identity: How do I need to be seen?
–! Relationship: What type of relationship do I need to build?
!! Realize that there are no magic formulas to apply when it comes to communication.
!! Ask more questions.
!! Be flexible in communication, recognizing the negotiation process.
!! Pay attention to nonverbal communication and address gaps between words and expressions.
!! Start spending time thinking about your relationships.
Trustworthiness Assessment
!! Credibility
!! Reliability
!! Personal Connection
!! Motives
!! Results
What’s the gap between your stakeholder’s
perceptions and reality?
Based on The Trusted Advisor, by D. Maister, C. Green, & R. Galford
Trustworthiness Assessment
!! Credibility
!! Reliability
!! Personal Connection
!! Motives
!! Results
How can you move the needle?
You are always
negotiating the
relationship.
Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm…
Competent Jerk Star
Incompetent Jerk
Lovable Fool C
om
pete
nce
Likeability
Star
Lovable
Fool
Incompetent
Jerk
Competent
Jerk
Source: Harvard Business Review, July
2005 (Fool vs. Jerk: Whom Would You Hire;
T. Casciaro & M. Sousa Lobo)
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When Frames Collide…
!! After attending a concert of Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, a process guru handed the conductor the following memo:
–! For considerable periods, the oboe players had nothing to do. Their numbers should be reduced and their work shared throughout the orchestra.
–! All 12 violins were playing identical notes with identical motions. The staff of this section should be drastically cut resulting in immediate savings.
–! Much effort was expended playing 16th notes. All notes should be rounded to the nearest eighth. This will allow the use of trainees and lower-grade operators with no loss of quality.
–! No useful purpose appears to be served by repeating with horns the same passage that has already been handled by the strings. If all such redundant passages were eliminated, there would be significant savings in salaries and overhead.
–! If Schubert had attended to these matters on a cost-containment basis, he probably would have been able to finish his symphony.
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Framing
!! All professions have their own ways of seeing the world that are “common sense” to the people in that profession.
!! Most professions also have their own specialized language.
!! To people outside a particular profession, the frames of reference may seem foreign and the specialized language sounds like “a bunch of confusing jargon.”
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There’s nothing wrong with PR people talking
like PR people with other PR people.
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A Framing Exercise…
Tailoring your conversation, so that you’re most effective when interacting with…
An HR professional
How would you define their frames of reference?
What will you say or do, or avoid saying or doing as a
result of knowing the lens through which they see the
world?
A professional
from the Legal department
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Your Key Stakeholders
!! Who are they?
!! What are their frames of reference?
!! How are they like you (you share a frame)?
!! How are they different (your frames differ)?
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Words That Work: Communicating Beyond Your
World
!! Word choices take on disproportionate importance, because…
…in the absence of other cues, people make judgments about us and whether or not we “get it.”
!! The words we choose can foster trust or create mistrust.
Word Choices
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Illegal aliens Undocumented workers
Harmonizing Censorship
Drilling for oil Exploring for energy
Right-sizing Layoff
Change initiative Transformation
Inheritance tax Death tax
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The Point Is… !! While word choice isn’t everything, word choices do have significant
consequences.
!! We can learn to frame messages into the language of the audience that we are trying to effectively inform and influence in order to get better results.
!! We Need To Ask Ourselves…
1.! What words and themes will make sense to them…will come across as plain old common sense?
2.! What are some of the words, distinctions, terms or phrases we use that are commonsense to us, but likely to frustrate, annoy, or alienate those outside our world?
What Trusted Advisors Do
!! They build powerful networks
!! They deliver feedback to inform and influence
!! They strategically manage expectations
!! They carefully manage the relationships that matter most
!! They play the part
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Who is this?
This story is from “The Tipping
Point” by Malcolm Gladwell;
chapter 2, pages 30-34.
Creating Allies (or Advocates)
!! The value of your network is based on:
–!Number of advocates.
–!Network laws and constraints.
!! It is not about “working the network”—it’s about understanding how networks work.
What’s Your “Network Type”?
!! Isolate
–! Solitary recluse communicates infrequently, if at all.
!! Most of us (Typicals)
–! Communicate with average frequency to an average number of people.
!! Bridge
–! Communicates the same amount as others but has key relationships with people from a variety of groups.
!! Star
–! Communicates and maintains relationships with a significantly greater number of people than the average person.
The greatest power you have is the power to
change the way someone feels.
How We Interpret Feedback Messages
Positive Feedback
Constructive Criticism
Insult
Flattery
Valence
1
Utility
+ _
High Low
Feedback Models
Universal Use:
!! More of…less of…appreciate most
!! Continue…stop…start
!! Feedforward: On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate…? What would it take to get to a x?
Event Driven:
!! Here’s what I observed…the impact was…and my recommendation is…
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Positively Violate Expectations Expectancy Violation Theory
Ex
pe
cta
tio
ns
Results
0
-1
+1
0 H
igh
Lo
w
High Low
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15 x 2 > 1 x 30
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With Regard to Powerful and Attractive Markers…
…the best style is a blended style. Know your predominant style and learn how to use and balance these markers to
achieve the desired effect as you interact with others.
100% STYLE
100% SUBSTANCE
