Leadership and Tennis Stroke 3: People Leadership

Leadership and Tennis Stroke 3 – People Leadership

Great leadership requires a deep understanding of people.

Excellent communication is a vital starting point. But in addition, you need to understand what people need to be successful and motivated in their jobs.

Here is a simple framework that has proven to be one of the most valuable things I have ever learned about leadership.

There are five critical things a person needs from a leader in just about any situation:

Leadership Stroke 1: Communication

Early in my own career, I was given a technique for helping with all forms of communication but especially face to face. In fact it was so useful I had the model printed onto the back of my business card for a number of years. The technique had four steps – Opening, Clarifying, Generating and Closing – not a particularly good acronym but the diagram helps!

• Opening communication is about purpose of the communication and importance;

• Clarifying is about the seeking and giving of information and summarising the information;

• Generating is about adding to the communication by seeking ideas and suggestions as well as making and developing suggestions;

• Closing is about summarising the outcomes and agreeing the next steps and follow up.