Tips for leaders on how to communicate as leaders and express their ideas and thoughts on sustainability issues in business.
In business, we look for sustainability success, not through what an individual knows but how readily their organisational culture follows and builds on that individual’s leadership. Many environmental and sustainability professionals that I coach, and train feel that their organisations rarely listen to what they are saying, the question can be turned easily around and asked, ‘ are you saying anything that they want to listen to?’. We do not have an automatic right to be heard, often that right must be earned through respect, relevance, and alignment with the worldview of others.
It can be hard to build up the courage to be a ‘voice’ within an organisation, someone whose opinion is sought out for its value rather than the expectation that they must be consulted. Being heard demands energy, the acceptance of personal risk and the intellect to back up with reason what you are saying. So how do you make sure that your voice is counted – interrupt.
Many young sustainability leaders want to advocate much more strongly on environmental and sustainability issues than they dare to. Often there is a thought that I know what I want to say, but I won’t say that because it sounds imprudent or rash around this meeting table. Then, a colleague says what you were thinking, touches upon sustainability issues but puts it into a more understandable organisational setting, and everybody agrees with it. The conversation has slipped away from you and your opportunity is lost! Frustrated? You were going to say that, but you missed the opportunity, and your voice wasn’t heard!
There is a fine line in interruptions that we all must learn. We can make what we feel are helpful comments, only for those receiving them to consider the interruption blunt or rude. However, some interruptions can be timely, can reset the agenda from going off in only one direction or bring to the fore your own insight into the issues under debate.
Do not let your fear of speaking up silence you, it is not only your reputation at stake, but also the alignment of sustainability issues within the organisation. Be tenacious! The key is always to know what you are talking about, so that you don’t interrupt for the sake of interrupting, but rather that you speak up to ensure you are heard and ultimately listened to.
There are several ways to professionally to interrupt politely, a contradiction you may think, but try them out for yourself.
The objective of these points above is not only to make your interruption more effective or less brash, but they also help you hold your ground within the competitive internal environment within most organisations.
I have coached female sustainability managers who believe that they are not listened to within their organisations because most other managers are men. Some feel that they feel that they lack the internal credibility to influence the internal culture, are valued more for their external dealing of green or sustainability issues. We work on their internal communication skills, how they get their agendas across, and crucially how they stand firm when they feel they have a point that must be listened to.
Instead of walking away or expressing open frustration, it is amazing how a young leader’s persona can be re-evaluated when they stand tall, look the other managers straight in the eye, speak with purpose and conviction, and raise their voices just enough to emphasise authority and command of the room.
You may not win that argument in the first bout, but instead of seeing you as a voice that can be safely ignored, your colleagues will start to see you as a self-assured, forceful, and confident manager who is not afraid to speak up.
My last advice, and one that provides the greatest chances of success – provide Value! A colleague once commented that some provide value when they speak up, others provide value when they finally say nothing! It is a challenge, but every time you speak up during a meeting, talk to line manager or address a group of colleagues try and make an impression and advocate for greater sustainability in business. You do not have to be the most vocal contributor in the meeting, or repeatedly spout the company line, or even interrupt only occasionally, but you should provide value when you speak. Make a couple of notes in advance, set up an agenda that you want to get across, make pertinent points in the meeting and then formulate them to deliver added value, look for the opportunity to interrupt and go for it.
As you become more confident in your inceptions, and in delivering leadership communication messages, start to consider other strategies to help provide yourself with greater confidence and impact in meetings.
Too often sustainability is regarded as a drag-anchor on the business and its activities. If you are still talking in the language of compliance, legality and standards try and move your arguments towards more solution-oriented answers. I once worked with an environmental manager who presented everything in terms of adverse impacts, issues, or negative company behaviours, trying to browbeat their colleagues towards greater sustainability. It took time and work for him to reposition his own mindset and communications to point out positive facts, case study solutions, and most effective all bring competitor examples into the conversation to demonstrate the advantages that they were accruing. This helped others benchmark his words against true-life examples and to position his contributions (and interruptions) as a force for good in the debate.
The following are a couple of tips I have picked up from the training programmes within Toastmaster educational programmes and articles.
Firstly, to use Strong Words. Using cautious, tentative, or timid language can create an image of yourself as unsure or irresolute in your opinion. Replace phrases such as “It seems….”, “It can be ….”, “I hope…”, “I guess… or “I reflect that…” with more positive and confident words such as “I firmly believe that…”, “The facts are as follows,” “I am willing to commit to…..” and “I expect that….”
Secondly, use Pace and Pause. During your interjection, speak confidently and firmly, and when you make a key point, pause for a second. If it is extremely important, repeat it and pause again! When we pause in conversations, we give our listeners an opportunity to catch up, seconds to digest what we have just said, and an opportunity for their own logic to support you. Externally as a speaker, you position yourself as reflective, comfortable with the point you have made and as a confident communicator. Try it for yourself?
Finally, don’t expect them to guess or accommodate you if you are not speaking up. If you want a specific action, assert what you want clearly, upfront, and then immediately support your main point with evidence or facts. Make your point, evidence your point, and justify your point!
And, as a final takeaway, instead of getting angry or frustrated with your inability to make a valid point or being unable to stop someone whose agenda is not helpful to your sustainability agenda dominate the conversation. Interrupt, but do it with a simile, and always act professionally.
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