Leader's Voice

by Boyd Clark and Ron Crossland

Book Overview

In this provocative and instructive book, The Leader?s Voice: How your communication can inspire action and get results!, business executives and others can acquire the much-needed skills effective... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590790162
• ISBN13: 9781590790168
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Select Books (NY)
• Length: 169 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Smart Way to Craft More Effective Messages

The most effective leadership messages speak to people through three channels -- factual, emotional and symbolic, according to Crossland and Clarke. Their advice to build all three channels into your communication makes great sense. The book offers lots of practical ideas and engaging examples to help you do just that. It's everything I look for in a business book -- a useful concept, hands-on ideas for implementing it, and an accessible presentation. Great info, great value.

Dynamic communication

"The Leader's Voice" reveals how to change static communication and poor performance into dynamic communication for extraordinary results. A manager speaks to only ensure the job gets done. The leader's voice uses facts, emotions and symbols to motivate and create change. A leader carries out authenticity, and foresight to not only get the job done, but to also promote a willing to go the extra mile. Providing plenty of proven examples from leaders throughout history, with the ABC's of leadership, "The Leader's Voice" equips the reader with the necessary information to remove any obstacles preventing success. Boyd and Crossland practice what they preach. Their written communication style is direct and to the point, with the determination to make a difference. Using the pictures to stir emotion, the various type fonts to personify symbols and the straight facts from the lives of other leaders immediately captured my attention. They did a fantastic job organizing the material and appealing to my creative core. I would recommend "The Leader's Voice" to anyone attempting to motivate a crowd of one to one hundred and one or more.Now let me reflect . . . I used to complain about my mother fixing so much tuna casserole. Her response, "There are alot of starving people in the world. You should be thankful we have food on the table." When my father knew I didn't feel as smart as my sister because of my grades, he would tell me, "You're intelligent. You just need to study a little longer." And when I cried after being hit by a car, my grandmother's words consoled me with, "If God looks over the sparrow, surely he'll take care of you." These voices addressed me with emotion. These voices encouraged me with facts. These voices motivated me with symbols. I now realize these are the voices of the leaders in my life.

"Facts alone seldom persuade and rarely inspire"

Drawing upon ten years' worth of research, The Leader's Voice is a collaborative examination by Boyd Clarke and Ron Crossland of how effective leaders communicate. Taking into account the hard-wiring of human brains, the importance of using three channels of communication (facts, emotions, and symbols), the dynamic and effective behaviors of skilled leaders, and much more, The Leader's Voice is a strongly recommended and highly accessible guide for anyone in a position of responsibility, whether in a business or within a community group. "Facts alone seldom persuade and rarely inspire," warns this informed and informative guide, summing up a sometimes frustrating yet undeniable facet of human nature. If you want to persuade and inspire as well as share facts, then The Leader's Voice is invaluable reading from cover to cover.

Passion, Eloquence, and Conviction

Clarke is CEO and Crossland is vice chair of tompeterscompany!. They have been friends as well as business associates for more than 20 years. What we have here is their attempt to share what they have learned about what Tom Peters describes (in the Foreword) as "the emotion, the passion, the care, the connection between leaders and followers," a subject Peters thinks other authors have short-changed in their discussions of leadership. I don't agree. Bennis, Kotler, O'Toole, and Maister (to name but four) have a great deal of value to say. (Has Peters read their works?) In fact, Clarke and Crossland have made a unique and substantial contribution to the study of a business subject which probably attracts more interest than does any other. They insist (and I agree) that the ability to communicate powerfully "is the leverage leaders need and most lack." Quoting John Gardner, "Communication between leader and constituent is at the heart of of everything." Clarke and Crossland assert (again I agree) that the biggest problem with leadership communication "is the illusion that it has occurred." That is, the leader incorrectly assumes that others understand, agree with, and care about what has been communicated; worse yet, leaders then assume that others will take appropriate action. Most of the time, these are indeed false and dangerous, often destructive assumptions. To develop what the authors characterize as "the leader's voice," it is necessary to gain clarity and depth in four areas: authenticity, foresight, connection, and context. They suggest HOW. They identify and discuss "three essential channels" by which to convey important leadership messages: factual (Chapter 4), emotional (Chapter 5), and symbolic (Chapter 6). Throughout human history, the greatest religious, political, business, and military leaders have used all three. The genius of their leadership has been their ability to "speak with a voice that pushes past cynicism, doubt, and uncertainty." For me, one of the most valuable concepts in this book is that of what the authors call "One Voice" organizations. I am reminded of one of the final scenes in the film Spartacus when the victorious Roman general and his slave master walk among the captured gladiators, determined to locate Spartacus, dead or alive. Unless he is identified, the defeated gladiators are told, all of them will be crucified. Just as their leader is about to step forward to save them, they stand up one after another and announce "I am Spartacus!" I think this is precisely what Clarke and Crossland have in mind. Everyone involved in a "OneVoice" organization identifies with its mission and its values; does everything humanly possible to achieve the organization's objectives; and, most important of all, considers herself or himself to BE that organization. The significance of that concept is illustrated every day in every contact with a customer. People do business with other people. Whenever we seek assistance from

WOW!

I'll be shocked if this doesn't become mandatory reading for all MBA Students. Clarke and Crossland have broken successful communication down to 3 channels; Facts, Emotions, and Symbols. I've been communicating in Facts and Emotions, now I know what I was missing, and have already seen results by tailoring my communication to include all three channels! Awesome! Buy it! Read it! Adopt it! you'll love the stories!