Here I am again with another Tough Talk tip after I said that I was done at 20. Well, as I continue to work every day in strategic communications, sometimes I remember other bits of advice I’ve offered through the years. So, I write.
And, if you’re new here and want to read what I’ve already written, here’s a handy, dandy list with links.
Tip #1 - be brave and decide to have the difficult conversation.
Tip #2 - communicate to solve the problem.
Tip #3 - say as much as you can upfront and get it behind you.
Tip #4 - don't say everything! Leave out the unhelpful bits.
Tip #5 - use words we all understand. Be inclusive.
Tip #6 - people will make up their own facts if you don’t start talking. Get in the fray.
Tip #7 - think of the “evergreen” questions people will ask. Start there.
Tip #8 - give your “dreaded question” some thought too. That builds confidence.
Tip #9 - it won’t be perfect but folks are likely to cut you slack if you try to fix it.
Tip #10 - you must have a plan because it’s not just a conversation.
Tip #11 - don’t over communicate. Keep it simple and strategic.
Tip #12 - use real words that have meaning. No word salad.
Tip #13 - be interesting. Say something your audience can remember and repeat.
Tip #14 - get your head right. Your attitude will contribute to your success or not.
Tip #15 - beware of over-explaining. Don’t offer a multi-layered reason.
Tip #16 - it’s okay to say, “I don’t know.” It happens no matter how prepared you are.
Tip #17 - you’re not a robot, so don’t act like one. Emotions are good!
Tip #18 - choose the correct audience. Not everyone needs to hear from you.
Tip #19 - say it in writing. Sometimes a written statement is best.
Tip #20 - you can’t reach everyone. Shake the dust off your feet and move on.
Bonus Tip! - the one-on-one Tough Talk is a bit different but many of the tips apply.
Tip #21 - give it a minute. Process destructive emotions before you start talking.
That’s how we arrived here at #22. Get this one right. It’s a biggie.
When you’re facing a sticky issue, resist the urge to hand it off to someone “at corporate” or in a management layer above you. Fight for the opportunity to handle the situation as locally as possible.
It probably won't be much of a fight, to be honest. As a rule, people will go to great lengths to avoid talking about sticky issues so you will probably win this one.
And that’s a good thing. When the most qualified person, closest to the issue has the Tough Talk, they’re facing the music personally. They’re stepping up to address their audience and potentially, their critics and that is powerful.
They’re also likely to be the person who knows the most about the situation and is in a much better position to field questions and follow up with answers.
And, since they’ve lived the sticky issue, they have more invested in fixing it and making things right. It affects them differently.
When the local leader handles the issue, it tells the audience, “We’ve got this. We’ll fix it.” Handing it off to someone who is not local says the exact opposite. It says, “someone messed up so we’re stepping in to take care of things.”
It’s really hard to regain trust with your core audience if you hand off the responsibility to address a difficult situation to the suits at the big office.
Here’s my favorite argument for handling it locally; when corporate shows up to address your audience, it horribilizes the situation that happened. Yes, I’m aware that horribilize isn’t technically a word, but I’m using it anyway with this definition; taking a bad situation and making it worse unnecessarily. You’ve escalated the issue in the minds of your audience when you make it untouchable by the local leadership team.
When you communicate about a challenge, by all means tell your audience that the CEO, corporate headquarters or whomever is on board with your decision to explain the situation and make needed change. Have them in the room or behind you at the podium if possible. That’s helpful but it’s a far cry from allowing them to handle the matter for you and take over what should be your role.
Now, I concede that there will be times when the local person who should handle the matter can’t because they’re in a jail cell, or subject to some kind of legal limitation which ties their hands. That happens too, but it’s not the typical scenario.
Let’s go back to the example we looked at in TIP #2 and work through it.
…Let’s say you’re the head coach of a prize winning little league team and the parent who helps you with the financial details has been charged with fraud. That’s never good.
In this case, the problem is that you rely on parent trust and corporate gifts to fund team operations so you must restore trust and make sure systems are corrected so this can’t happen again. If parents and the community don’t want to participate any more, you’re done.
All of your communications on this topic should solve the principal problem of restoring trust and correcting the system failure. There may be other problems to solve, so tackle them in order of importance.
The local leader should make the effort to clean up this mess because they’re the one who entrusted the financial dealings to someone who engaged in fraud. Addressing the other team parents shows a willingness to accept responsibility and work to make things right.
In this scenario, having a representative from the league at the meeting or copied on the email to parents is reassuring, but stepping back to let them manage will signal to the other parents that they’ve lost confidence in in the local leader. And the parents will likely follow suit.
Let’s end with this. While reviewing an old file today, I came across this gem I offered to a colleague a few years back - see below:
”Referring them to corporate, only on this topic, will escalate it and give the
audience the impression that you are unable or unwilling to discuss the issue locally.
I doubt that’s what you want them to believe, but they might if you make
this topic untouchable for the local management team.”
Don’t kick it up to corporate and expect to get your reputation back when it’s over.
.
I like the idea of trying to solve things yourself instead of passing it off to a supervisor. Not only is it better customer service, but demonstrates to the higher-ups that you're capable.