The problem: not thinking about time-poor executives
Imagine this. You have a 30-minute meeting with a senior executive to pitch your project. As the meeting starts, your target says: "I'll give you two minutes and then I'll decide if it's worthwhile continuing the conversation." How would you feel? That's what happened to then 21-year old Australian cybersecurity startup founder Sam Crowther when he met a US chief technology officer. Sam was lucky. Not only did he "survive" the first two minutes, he also engaged the CTO for 30 minutes more than the allotted time.
Why was the senior executive so brutal with time management?
He explained to Sam that to succeed in meetings with senior US executives, "you need to get them at hello". In other words, you must quickly establish a compelling reason for the time-poor decision-maker to listen.
Australian executives are just as time-poor as their US counterparts. Every day they are bombarded with information. Every day they are seeking clear, concise, and actionable communication.
The solution
If you want a C-suiter to listen, you need to speak (or write) their language. Author, marketer and speaker Simon Sinek encourages leaders to start with "why". He cites many examples of successful cultural changes, business transformations and consumer products articulating clear and compelling "why" frames.
But “why” isn’t exclusive for leaders. It’s just as potent in everyday workplace communication, especially when engaging upwards.
A "why" frame is typically a sound bite or short sentence that motivates the receiver. It’s attention grabbing.
When you approach a senior executive – face-to-face, on the phone, or in writing – make sure you articulate the benefit of your communication. Be clear on why your words are important to the executive. How will they help him or her do their job?
If you ignore or undersell the "why" you risk losing your executive's attention. If you put the onus on the recipient to work out the "why", then most will frame it negatively. They will think or say things such as "Is this really relevant?", "I'm too busy for all this", "why do I need to hear this now?"
The onus is on you to nail "why".
Examples of applying “why”
when speaking
"I am calling you for two reasons. One is to confirm your project is on track to go live next month, and the other following on from that, would you like to be a keynote presenter at the launch function?”
"We’re here to brief you on the customer service project. And I would like to invite your team to be part of the groundwork to shape the project’s priorities."
“Can I have 30 minutes to run through the change program’s risks and mitigation strategies? I’m keen to demonstrate our support for your Q4 priorities.”
When WRITING
The purpose of this email is to:
inform you of our new community engagement project
seek an opportunity to demonstrate the project’s value to your team.
The reason for this note is to let you know our quarterly customer feedback supports your proposal to refresh the digital product platform. Can you nominate a time that suits you for a briefing on the feedback relevant to the platform’s redesign?
Great news. The proposed HR information system will save your team about 28 hours per week, improve onboarding experiences, and boost the team’s professional development program. Can we meet next week to plan the best ways to get your team involved?