In May of 2010, I was on the way home from delivering the executive presentation to wrap up Springhead’s first project — a global business and technology strategy for a $16 Billion manufacturing company. I had the consultant’s “high” after successfully closing out the engagement when I received a life-changing call.

“Hey Greg. We are in Haiti leading disaster relief efforts and we need your help.”

Earthquake Destruction in Haiti

My first thought was: The need is so great with many Haitians lives hanging in the balance. I have to go help!  That thought was immediately followed by another: I’m a business/technology strategy guy. What could I possibly do to help?!

My first thought won out; I was on a plane to Haiti four days later. If the task at hand wasn’t difficult enough, we had to deal with corrupt government officials, food and water safety issues, and transportation/logistics nightmares…not to mention the language and cultural barriers. Did I mention the brutal heat?!

During our six weeks in Haiti, our team was able to provide work and purpose to the several hundred Haitians we hired as they removed rubble and built shelters in their towns and villages…resulting in over 600 families having a home to lay their heads. This work was life-changing:

• For the men and women we employed, they had work for the first time in years. They had purpose and a sense of accomplishment. They had hope.
• For the families that received a shelter, they had protection from the elements. They had a place to call home. They had peace.
• For me, the experience brought the lowest of valleys as I witnessed suffering and a suffocating lack of hope. It also brought the mountaintops as lives were transformed and ministry took root.

Inside a family’s shelter.

Good for you, but why should I stretch myself?

I’ve learned to seek out opportunities that will stretch me. The bigger and more difficult, the better! When you choose to do the same, you will find that:

1. You will learn — You learn how to apply your skills, talents, and abilities across multiple areas in your life. You find that lessons learned in one area can be applied in many different ways.
2. You will grow — Things that you once felt were impossible or were afraid to do will become part of your everyday skill set.
3. You will be more confident — When you break through your limits, you will have a tremendous sense of accomplishment and understand that you are capable of achieving so much more than you ever thought possible.
4. You will lead others — You will learn to stretch those that you lead. You will become a better leader as you provide opportunities for your people to learn and grow.

So, what about you? Are you stretching, I mean really stretching yourself and those around you? How are you using your skills, talents and abilities to make an impact in our world?

Early in my career, it became apparent that I needed to change my communication style to grow as a leader. I started as a software engineer, a role that is focused on details and accuracy. My communication style followed suit — I would engage in lengthy discussions about binary marshalling vs. xml service calls, the timing of object instantiation, garbage collection, threading, and all of the “-abilities” (scalability, maintainability, extensibility, etc.). Within months, I had become fluent in the language of software engineering.

In addition to my “engineering speak” I was also becoming quite proficient with “consultanese”. For example, “I would assert that we could quickly ascertain the ability to achieve synergistic efficiencies as our disparate teams pursue their deliverables…all while focused on the realization of stakeholder goals while achieving KPI’s…”

Clear and concise, right?!

Let’s look at a musical analogy

I first heard this story from Doug Keely (The Mark of a Leader). It struck a chord with me, so I want to share it with you as well.

In the 1940s, Charlie “Bird” Parker was pioneering a new Jazz style called bebop. This new style pushed the limits of technique and speed beyond what others had imagined. Bird became known for playing blisteringly fast tempos and complex chord changes that would quickly sort out the real players from the wannabes.

Turn up your speakers and have a listen as “Bird” plays “Kim”.

Wow! It is a technical masterpiece…but can you hum it? Is it memorable or sticky?

Four Distinct Notes
What if I told you that you could identify a song that had only four distinct notes? Listen to the bass line (answer is at the end of this post):

Did you get it?

One Distinct Note
How about a song that begins with only one distinct note?

One note played an octave apart. Good luck getting that one out of your mind today!

Simplicity is Sticky

Similar to Birds technical masterpiece, my communication was technically right on. But it wasn’t memorable or inspirational. I realized that leaders need to distill complex ideas into concepts that are memorable and repeatable. We must create clarity from ambiguity; simplicity from complexity. Leaders need to make the idea sticky.

We must not “dumb down” the idea. On the contrary, our communication needs to convey the full scope of the complex idea. However, it must be delivered as a simple, memorable and sticky message. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry understood this concept as he said “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

Evaluate how you are communicating and remember, Simplicity is Sticky!

If you need help making your communication simple and sticky, please contact us. We can help you transform your leadership communication!

Answers:

Four distinct notes: With Or Without You (U2)
One distinct note: My Sharona (the Knack)