There is nothing in the world that helps an executive stand out as much as great manners.  You stand apart when you know what to do and how to treat others in every business situation.  There are many elements to executive presence, including communication skill, presentation style, body language, appearance and wardrobe.  However, many well dressed, articulate, smart executives don’t know, or don’t care enough to learn the rules of manners and etiquette.

I just read that Reader’s Digest tested levels of politeness in 36 cities around the world. In each city, undercover reporters from local Reader’s Digest editions performed three tests 20 times each. Cities earned a point each time one of its residents (1) helped a stranger pick up his or her dropped papers; (2) thanked someone making a small purchase; and (3) held doors open to the people following them into a building.

New York scored highest with 80%, followed by Zurich with 78% and Toronto with 70%. The cities with the lowest scores on these three tests? Mumbai (32%), Bucharest (35%), and Kuala Lumpur (37%).

Now I’m not sure how scientific this study is, or whether they just caught some of these cities on a collectively bad day, but the larger point is - as a professional or executive, your score should be 100% on these behaviors.  This came out in the Harvard Business publication daily stat report.  click here to read about the study

You never know who is watching.  And you never know what might trip you up.  Companies usually invite top job candidates to one or several dinners and social activities.  The purpose is not only to get to know you in a social setting; it is also to test your know-do you know how to handle yourself?

In these situations, nothing is overlooked.  If you don’t thank the person who took your coat, or brought your drink; if you fail to handle introductions or wait until everyone is served to eat, if you don’t know how to carry on a great conversation, it will be duly noted.  Given two capable candidates, the one who handles himself or herself superbly gets the nod. 

There is a fun quiz on manners (actuallly several etiquette topics) at manners international’s web site.  Click here to take a quiz.

I can also recommend Judity Bowman, Protocol Consultants, who has decades of experience working with business executives on etiquette: click here to read about Judith Bowman.   

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If you had already completed your budget planning for 2009 around October 1st, you are probably bemoaning the fact that you’ve had to throw out your budget and start over.  When the  stock market started plummeting and economists began their doomsday predictions of a prolonged recession, the orders came down to cut back.  So you know you can’t go into the board of directors or the senior management team with the original presentation on your budget for next year. 

At the same time, you’ve put a lot of thought and careful planning into the budget for next year.  You know the rationale still exists for many of their projects.  In fact, some of these projects seem absolutely critical, given the challenges ahead.   

 The question is how should you adapt your presentation when the financial landscape shifts?  Should you throw it out and start over again?  The answer is yes, and no.  Of course you have to demonstrate that you’ve tightened your belt, eliminated excess, done without, and become more efficient.    However,  your budget should have been clearly linked to important strategic initiatives that lead to revenues and profits.  If it was, make your case.  Do your homework and have the courage to present your projects and advocate for them in the best interests of the company.  Cut back in some areas and then take a stand where it will make a difference.

If you’ve prepared a plan that focuses on the company’s most important objectives, it should be easy to present a clear and compelling case.  You need to tie the investment directly to growth, profitability, productivity, efficiency, competitive advantage, and new opportunity.  If you do this then it should be easy to demonstrate measurable ROI.

 When we help our executive clients prepare presentations, we always start by thinking about the end “user.”  That is, who is listening to your presentation?  What would persuade them?  What are their concerns?  Forget about the beautiful slides, graphs and charts.  Put it all aside and write down the top five questions on the minds of your audience.   Then be sure you have great answers. 

For example, when you walk in the door to make your presentation, they might be thinking:

·         What do you want to do and why?

·         Can we get by without it?

·         How does it help us right now?

·         What’s it going to cost?

·         How can we do it cheaper, better, faster?

If you don’t answer those questions right up front, you will lose them.  Get right to it.

So my advice is, before you blow up your presentation, see what you have that works.  Then, write down the top of mind questions.   Answer them with compelling facts.

FI you don’t do this,  you’re doomed to fail.  If you do, you may walk out with exactly the budget you hoped for, or something close.  As the song goes, you don’t always get what you want.  But if you try sometimes, you get what you need.

For more tips on how to prepare important presentations, click here

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The other day I was talking to the head of leadership development for a global company.  “What does it really take, when you have 30,000 employees and only 350 senior positions?” I asked. 

“The differentiation is around leadership behaviors,” she replied.

“What does that mean to you?”  I asked.

“It’s the everyday things you do that demonstrate you have it, beyond your technical abilities,” she said. “Like your management style, your leadership style, and if people trust you- if you’re well respected.  And all of those things come down to your ability to communicate.”

Too often, executives focus on how to make a big impression; the big project, the big deal, the big customer, the big whatever.  It’s not that those aren’t important.  But  the people who are making the decisions about your future are watching how you communicate every single day. 

Just something to keep in mind - on your way to the top.

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I just read a great interview with Ram Charan on ceoforum.com.  Charan, an acclaimed management consultant and author, studied CEO succession planning, wrote about it in the Harvard Business Review and later discussed it on the CEO Forum. 

Charan found that across the corporate world, succession planning is not very sound.  That could explain why (in a study that he cites) 40% of CEOs fail in the first 18 months.

“One … study found that almost half of US companies with more than $500 million dollars of annual revenue had no meaningful succession plan,” says Charan.  And when CEOs fail? ”The direct and indirect costs of this to both individual companies and the economy as a whole are simply enormous.”

Charan says any board or company that fails to put in place a decent succession plan is ignoring one of their most important responsibilities. At minimum, the board should ensure that at least two sessions a year are devoted to reviewing a minium of five potential candidates - both internal and external.

He also observes, in my view very importantly, that in preparing executives for the next big job, a classroom is not a management development program.  Executives need real experience.  ”Management training develops awareness, provides tools and resources, and helps people develop strong professional networks, but the real learning occurs on the job.”

This is such an important point that I can’t let it pass without comment.  Often our firm is asked to come in and provide a “classroom” experience for high potential executives, largely because it is perceived as good “bang for the buck.”  We have developed some very fine programs for leaders on communication strategy and skill.  While we certainly konw there is value in the classroom experience, we know that to make a lasting impact we have to work “with” the executives while they’re “on the job.” 

That’s the whole philosophy behind our executive coaching program–we work in “real time” with the leader on the projects and communication issues that are on their plate in the moment.  Over a six month or one year engagement, the executive has a partner in the process while “learning on the job.”  We can accelerate learning around leadership and communication, because they’re problem solving key issues, learning to communicate more effectively and build skill at the same time. 

Charan accurately points out that “while companies can provide the opportunity and resources to develop, development is a function of the individual, and their own motivation and capacities.”  And I think that’s why “on the job” learning in real time with the partnership of a coach provides the perfect blend of experience and training.  You know immediately who is motivated and has the capacity.  Those who are motivated have an opportunity to get something else that is rare, and essential, according to Charan - “Basically people need three things to develop: on-the-job learning, rigorous appraisal, and clear performance feedback.”

To read the article, go to: http://www.ceoforum.com.au/article-detail.cfm?cid=6172 

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The great American writer and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson said,

“All the great speakers were bad speakers first.”

You didn’t become a leader overnight.  You don’t become a great speaker the first few times you get on stage, either. Don’t be afraid to invest time and effort.  It will pay off.

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I’m wild about a brand new, beautiful, and absolutely brilliant book on how to create memorable visuals for presentations.  It’s called Presentation Zen, Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery, by Garr Reynolds (New Riders, 2008).

You only have to flip through the pages to immediately grasp Reynold’s provocative mix of inspiration and practical guidance.  As a presentation designer and internationally acclaimed communications expert, he shows how  thoughtfully designed, graceful, efficient visual imagery can make you look good as a presenter.  He has of the most popular Web sites on presentation design and delivery on the net — www.presentationzen.com.

The book is filled page after page of examples of how creativity, photos, large size font, and cool graphics can transform your PowerPoint from dull to dynamite.  Just one example - picture this - the slide on the left shows a full page photo of a runner slogging through the desert with a simple message - Less than 33% of U.S. adults are at a “healthy weight.”  Not bad.  But the slide on the right? It shows the midsection only of an overweight man grabbing his belly fat, with the caption in large print: 66% of Americans are obsese or overweight; below that a simple chart on the numbers of all adults, women and men.  It’s so much more memorable!

Garr Reynolds is a writer, designer and musician who currently holds the position of  Associate Professor of Management at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan. http://www.kansaigaidai.ac.jp/asp/

 Hence, his zen-way of seeing things.

His real message: Simplicity Rules.

How good is it?  Seth Godin  http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/ the marketing guru of gurus quips, “Please don’t buy this book! Once people start making better presentations, mine won’t look so good.”

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Media mogul Cathie Black, president of Hearst Magazines (Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar and O), www.hearst.com  spoke to the same New York conference I mentioned in an earlier post — the National Speaker’s Association www.nsaspeaker.org.  Her closing keynote was a light, breezy affair, where she shared a few tales from her guide to career and life, Basic Black (Crown Business 2007) available at www.amazon.com  

 While she didn’t win a lot of points for her presentation style ( virtually glued to a script that by now you’d think she’d have memorized) — she connected with  her charm and earnest advice. 

It’s funny, but something (Cathie Black) said stuck with me.  While it is now Friday afternoon, and her speech waas on Monday morning, it’s still in my head:

“Happiness has more to do with success, than success has to do with happiness.”

Now whether you agree, or whether you think it’s a little too sentimental, the point is this — it’s memorable.  And for every speaker, that’s one of the tests - if your audience can remember it hours or days later, the message has staying power.  Try it out.  Test a message - on your own staff - and see if they remember it the next time you get together.

As you probably know, Black was one of the first women to take a major role in American magazine and newspaper publishing. She came to Hearst by way of New York magazine, where she was the first woman publisher of a weekly consumer magazine, and USA Today, which she helped build from a small upstart into one of the country’s most widely read daily papers.

So she’s no stranger to the world of words - and we can all take a page out of her book.  Don’t be afraid to keep the message simple.  

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This weekend at the National Speakers Association convention in New York, www.nsaspeaker.org Steve Forbes took the stage.  He had 1,800 professional speakers on the edge of their seats as he shared his insights about the future of the US economy.  Forbes, President and CEO of Forbes, and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Magazine, www.forbes.com as well as a former Republican candidate for President, can actually be a little awkward on stage, yet people who get paid a lot of money to speak to corporate audiences were mezmerized; in a room full of people who love to talk, you could hear a pin drop.  Why?  Forbes was funny and smart –he made economics accessible to all.  And, even more important he told us things we really really didn’t know. 

What’s the real state of the US economy?  Not bad at all!  But don’t ask the media, says Forbes.  They would rather stand in front of a gas pump talking about $4 a gallon gas than actually do research on the the dry stuff that matters, like US monetary policy. And he’s right. (Full disclosure, as many of you know, I was a reporter for 20 years.  I know how it really works.)

Forbes spoke eloquently about the real drivers of our economy, and I was convinced after he spoke–we still have the largest most resilient economy in the world.  He pointed out that as voters we’d better start asking better questions of the people running for office. For example, how will they approach monetary policy?  Because according to Forbes, it wasn’t oil companies or mortgage lenders that brought this on, but by the Fed, which four years ago, and again last year, started printing money like there was no tomorrow.  In an overreaction to the credit crisis, both times, it did more harm than good.

But back to executive presence.  What makes Forbes so powerful on stage?  Wit, intelligence, and the ability to explain something that dry and dull and make it fascinating.  What else did we like about him?  Smart as he is, he didn’t swagger onto the stage or lord his fortune or his smarts over us.  He was hilarious really, as well as respectful.  He treated his audience as the intelligent citizens they want to be. 

Something else– he obviously wasn’t reading someone else’s talking points.  He walked away from the podium five minutes in, and stood center stage for the better part of an hour, speaking eloquently.  If you’ve seen him speak, you know that sometimes his gestures seem slightly out of sync with his message.  Yet he transitioned beautifully from gas prices to the mortage crisis, tax policy to monetary policy, government to politics, all without notes.  He even threw in several funny lines about the speaker who had immediately preceded him on stage.  That’s confidence.  

You also can’t argue with Forbes success, even if he did inherit the company started by his grandfather.  Forbes is still on the cutting edge.  In 1977 they entered the new media arena with the launch of Forbes.com. The site now attracts over seven million unique visitors a month and has become the leading destination site for business decision-makers and investors.

For a copy of his speech, contact the National Speakers Association at www.nsaspeaker.org - I highly recommend you watch it, and take notes.

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For a moment I thought I was just dreaming. I awoke to the heavenly, unmistakable aroma of fresh-baked chocolate cookies at 32,000 feet.  It filled the air with the promise of a sweet treat for weary passengers to Boston, delayed for two hours. Was American Airlines (www.aa.com) trying to reverse the curse of relentless torture with a thoughtful gesture for its valued customers?  

I waited, glancing hopefully down the aisle, expecting any moment that an airline attendant in blue to magically appear with a big plate stacked with cookies.  Should I?  Of course, South Beach be dammed.  I watched and watched.  No one came.  Finally it dawned on me.  They would not come.  The cookies were baked for FIRST CLASS PASSENGERS ONLY. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I have absolutely no issue with the airlines give extra special treatment to first class passengers.  It’s part of the deal. Food that passes as a real meal on a china plates?  Naturally!  Napa Valley Cabernet served in real stem glasses? Of course!  My only request: just keep the curtain closed.  I know I’m not special in coach, I just don’t want to be reminded.

That’s why it struck me as odd that American would so flagrantly violate this long standing rule – and send out such a big, fat smoke signal.  It wasn’t just that we weren’t chocolate chip cookie “worthy” … it’s that they BROADCAST it to us – a kind of “in your face” message that made us feel like true second class citizens.

You can’t pull the curtain on the smell of fresh baked cookies.

And it strikes me that a lot of other businesses are doing the same thing.

A lot of businesses are sending the wrong signal to their customers … alienating them with the stupidest unintended messages.  Every time we give someone less than 100% attention or miss the mark we’re saying “You’re just not that important to us.”

It’s as if we’re going on the public address system on the airplane and saying, “Dear Customers, we want to be sure that you know how we really feel about you.  You are not worthy of our best.  You are not worthy of the special treat.  You can smell the cookies but you can’t have them.

I remember reading how American Airlines once saved $40,000 simply by eliminating one olive on salads in first class.  So I don’t expect the cookie.  It’s just that if you’re going to give it to some, and do it right in front of us, you’re going to alienate us. 

Now might be a good time to examine the question – are we making sure that all our customers know they are chocolate chip cookie worthy?

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