Monday 15 July 2019

Pitching To A Democracy

Decisions today are made in groups comprised of individuals who have vested interests, different priorities and often very little meaningful ‘positional power’ over each other. As leaders and influencers, we are tasked with the challenge of being persuasive in front of this audience, driving our agenda and elevating our priorities to get their attention, support and approval. When dialling into their calls or showing up at their meetings, we must share our story and ask clearly for what we want. I call this challenge ‘pitching to a democracy’.

In these difficult political times, whilst I hesitate to use the word democracy, the reality is that this is what we are faced with in business today. And it’s not easy.

I’ve talked many times before about the importance of a clear, concise and compelling message, combined with confident, articulate and engaging communication skills.

And that’s still not enough when faced with a team, because we have to flex to the dynamics which sit behind influencing a group of people, versus dealing with just one person.

So what do we do? Well for starters……

1. Understand the culture of the team

What are some of their behaviours? Language? Preferences that have evolved over time? What’s their ‘style’? Their approach? Their ‘mood’? How are they with each other and with those who sit outside of team? There is a richness and a subtlety to understanding the answers to these questions, which means we need to be able to ‘read the room’ and flex our style to convey that we ‘belong’.

2. Identify the (formal and informal) power structures within the group
These can be obvious and they can also be subtle. Who are the key influencers? Big hitters? Quiet assassins? Naysayers? Technical experts on whom they rely? We need to know ‘who’s who’ so that we can flex our approach in order to target our message at the right person, in the right way, to achieve the right response.

3. Know the quirks that make them unique
I have a client where there is a senior leadership team that talks a lot about the Times crossword. You’d better know the most difficult anagram that everyone is struggling over on that particular day. I have another team that talks about cooking. Yes, cooking. If you don’t know your Nigella from your Delia then you’re not coming in and by the way, some of you won’t understand what I’ve just written. This is exactly my point.

4. Stay On The Right Side Of The Line

Group dynamics by definition create ‘raised stakes’. Every single one of us is wired to save face and knowing how far (and with whom) we can push it is vital. If we get it wrong, we’ve alienated not just the individual, but also the whole team and they’re coming after us. Knowing when to step back, regroup offline and revisit another day is absolutely essential.

5. Get The Learning

Like democracy, groups evolve and nothing remains static. Every time we seek to influence a team it is vital that we learn from it. Good or bad, yes or no, fun or not fun, the absolute worst is not to learn from it. We have to reflect, reinforce and revisit our approach in order to be even more effective in the future.

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