Communicating In A Crisis And The Lessons
We Learn
A gunman walks into a school in Georgia with an AK47 and threatens to start killing people. 19 minutes later, the man has laid down his weapon and is lying on the floor asking why the Police are taking too long to come and get him.
How did this happen? By a sterling display of effective communication by Antoinette Tuff, a bookkeeper at the school. As I listened to the 911 call mesmerized by the this ordinary woman stepping up and doing something extraordinary when it mattered the most, I distilled four elements that I believe created the result:
- Courage – despite being terrified, which she admitted at the end of the call with the hugest sigh of relief I have ever heard, Antoinette took action. And that’s the textbook definition of courage – acting, not because you have no fear but in spite of your fear. QUESTION – are you courageous in your communication? Are you willing to be forthright and honest when it matters?
- Connection – Antoinette opened her heart to the gunman by admitting that she had been in a similar place. She shared her personal experience of her husband leaving her and of her feeling suicidal. QUESTION – how often do you connect with your team members heart to heart? Do you let them see your vulnerabilities, the times when you failed and felt inadequate? It’s these moments that will connect you with your team members
- Compassion – Over and over, Antoinette told the gunman that she loves him. She used terms of endearment – “baby”. She assured him that everything would be OK. She did not condemn nor judge. Indeed, she pointed out that he hadn’t killed anybody, so it was going to be OK. QUESTION: do you approach your team members with compassion and kindness? Or do you condemn?
- Clarity – she repeated everything the gunman said verbatim and everything the operator told her verbatim. There was no ambiguity. She kept things simple and clear. This ensured that the gunman’s instructions were relayed correctly and that the police understood and knew what to do. QUESTION: how clear are you in your communication? Are you sure you are understood?
Click here to listen to the 911 call
Think again of the magnitude of what Antoinette accomplished in 19 minutes. And think of difficult situations in your organization, and how they could be resolved if you displayed courage, connection, compassion and clarity in your communication.
THE BALANCED SCORECARD
Identifying internal strengths and weaknesses is a very important part of developing the Balanced Scorecard. In my 10 years experience with this tool, I have NEVER, EVER met an organization where communication was not a weakness. NEVER. Since good strategy seeks to eliminate weaknesses, communication typically features in the new strategy in a number of ways:
- Strategic Objectives in the Strategy Map for:
a. Internal Process Perspective – Effective Communication
b. Learning and Growth Perspective – Strategic Objective for leaders who communicate
c. Customer Perspective – communication around the brand and with customers - Strategic Initiatives:
a. Internal Process – creating and implementing a structured communication program
b. Learning and Growth – developing leaders’ communication skills, in particular their skills in coaching and giving feedback - Measures: some of the measures I have seen my clients use are:
a. Customer and employee feedback on effectiveness of communication
b. Number of communiqués issues
c. Audience reached
Measuring effective communication is not easy. But it must be done if you want to improve it. And I have never encountered an organization that doesn’t see the need to improve communication.
TAKE ONE ACTION
Is there a difficult conversation that you have been avoiding? Perhaps a member of your team is behaving in ways that are injurious to the team and you have procrastinated about communicating with him/her. Or perhaps someone isn’t meeting your performance expectations and you have shared this with them. Be COURAGEOUS and have that conversation today.
INTERESTING LINKS
Is it better to be loved or feared to be an effective leader? Or do you have to be both? You decide – click to view article
Having problems getting your team to meet deadlines? Have you gotten into the habit of extending them? Here’s what happens when you do that – click to view article
Excellent summarisation of the keys to effective communication employed by Antoinette Tuff in the Georgia incident. For me that display of courage, emphathy,calm and selflessness by Antoinette Tuff in the midst of what was a highly risky situation all combined for success.
The question is , how do you create organizations of “Antoinette Tuff’s”. Is it through one time training or is it a combination of training in effective communication and deliberate cultural change?