that might emanate from the leaders of a less inspired company (my
apologies if this too closely resembles the communications at your com-
pany):
❖ Weekly unit meetings are mandatory for all staff.
❖ Please bring all sales reports and spreadsheets.
❖ The agenda is attached; please submit your discussion items at
least three days in advance of the meeting.
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❖ If anyone fails to attend the meeting, your supervisor will be
contacted.
Robert Marcell, head of Chrysler’s small-car design team in the early
1990s, was faced with a serious communication and morale problem.
He felt that despite the increasing Japanese domination of the small car
market, Chrysler had the ability to manufacture and market a domesti-
cally made small car. His problem? Many others within Chrysler, in-
cluding his own team, doubted Chrysler’s ability to do this alone and
wanted to partner with a foreign manufacturer.
Marcell could have done a statistical study or issued a dry report on
trends in the domestic and international small-car market. Instead, he
decided to take a more daring and hard-hitting communication ap-
proach. Reasoning that he had to hit people ‘‘where they lived’’ (emo-
tionally and geographically), he prepared a fifteen-minute slide show
that showed pictures of his hometown, a Michigan mining community
devastated by competition from foreign companies.
After each slide of boarded-up schools, the ruins of the town’s iron-
works, and closed churches, Marcell solemnly and simply announced,
‘‘We couldn’t compete.’’ He then observed that the same thing could
happen to Detroit unless at least one car company was willing to re-
enter the subcompact market. He then challenged the group to develop
an American subcompact and went directly to CEO Lee Iacocca to
make a similar emotional appeal: ‘‘If we dare to be different, we could
be the reason the U.S. auto industry survives. We could be the reason
our kids and grandkids don’t end up working at fast-food chains.’’13
Iacocca also responded on a gut level (backed up by statistics, of
course) to Marcell’s impassioned appeal. He gave the OK to begin de-
signing and manufacturing the Dodge Neon.
Centuries earlier, Paul was a master at targeting the needs of his audi-
ence; he had to be, since he was so frequently fleeing a city or desper-
ately defending himself from death in the courts. In Acts 22, he finds
himself arrested and surrounded by an angry Jerusalem mob that de-
mands that the soldiers do away with him because he is challenging the
religious orthodoxy prevailing in the city.
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A lesser man might have been rendered speechless, but Paul quickly
sized up his audience. First, he addressed them in their own language,
Aramaic, and implored them: ‘‘Brothers and fathers, listen now to my
defense.’’ When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became
very quiet. Paul then established his credentials as one of the crowd, a
Jew, albeit one who had been through a very strange and exciting spiri-
tual experience. He challenged the commander’s right to flog him, since
he (Paul) was a Roman citizen. Amazingly, the commander became
flustered, not knowing what to do.
Paul was released and given his ‘‘day in court.’’ Addressing the
Sanhedrin, he followed the cardinal rule of good presentations: He es-
tablished eye contact. ‘‘Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said,
‘My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to
this day.’ ’’ (Tony Burns, CEO of Ryder Systems, says, ‘‘You look
someone in the eyes. You can tell by the look in his eyes or the inflec-
tion in his voice what the real problem or question or answer is.’’)14
And because Paul knew his audience, he also knew how to divide
them. ‘‘My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on
trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead.’’ The Saddu-
cees did not believe in resurrection, spirits, or angels, but the Pharisees did. Paul created such an argument between these two sides of the court
that his case was transferred to the court in Rome, where he was tried
in a succession of courts, each time defending himself eloquently and
successfully. Using his great communications skills in each court, he
even tried to convert his captors to Christianity! Everywhere Paul went,
he unflinchingly communicated his message.
REPETITION
The Bible and the heroes who speak its words are notoriously repeti-
tious. Artless repetition is boring, uninspiring, and ineffective. Ideas repeated in different ways and words, at just the right intervals, constitute
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effective communication. This is particularly true if the ideas are new
or if they represent a new paradigm that the audience finds difficult to
understand or that represents radical change.
Paul, who truly represented a new and ‘‘foreign’’ paradigm (Chris-
tianity), addressed the synagogue in Thessalonica not just for a brief
‘‘guest sermon’’ but for three successive Sabbath days. Even though he
made some converts, many who heard him stuck with their old beliefs.
He needed to repeat his message many more times and in many differ-
ent ways before he would recruit large numbers of converts.
Modern business leaders, particularly those who are also introducing
or explaining new paradigms, also need to use the technique of repeti-
tion. Writing in Fast Company, Tom Peters observed:
Leadership takes an almost bottomless supply of verbal energy: working
the phones, staying focused on your message, repeating the same mantra
until you can’t stand the sound of your own voice—and then repeating it some more, because just when you start to become bored witless with the message, it’s probably starting to seep into the organization. 15
We do not know whether leaders like Jan Carlzon of Scandinavian
Airlines and Percy Barnevik of Asa Boveri Brown ever became ‘‘bored’’
with their message. Certainly we know they had to repeat it many times
in many forums; if they did not become bored that is a testimony to the
strength of their dedication and vision.
Although the Bible is highly repetitious, and the leaders in it had to
repeat themselves frequently, a search for the words bored or boredom in the Concordance of most Bibles yields few or no references. Paul’s
instructions to his young subordinate Timothy show large amounts of
perseverance and no presence of ennui: ‘‘I give you this charge: Preach
the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke,
and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.’’ (2 Tim.
4:2–3)
The inspired leaders, biblical or modern, find repetition an indispens-
able communication tool, and may even come to find this repetition
part of their inspiration, because it fuels progress toward the targeted
Communication
101
goal. And exaggeration, as long as it is not overdone, frequently works
well in tandem with repetition. Jack Welch of General Electric ob-
served:
In leadership, you’ve got to exaggerate every statement you make.
You’ve got to repeat it a thousand times and exaggerate it. So I’ll say things like, ‘‘No one can get promoted if they’re not a Green Belt in Six Sigma.’’ Such statements are needed to move a large organization. And
then you must back them up with personnel moves to show people you’re
serious. 16
LISTENING SKILLS
Will the led truly listen and respond to the exhortations of the leaders,
even when these seem unrealistic, daunting, and/or repetitive? The an-
swer to this partly depends on the answer to another question: How
well is the leader listening to the followers? Does the leader want to
hear only good news, brushing off or ignoring attempts to point out
tacks in the road (or scorpions in the desert)? Or is the leader truly
willing to listen to constructive criticism or ways that the operation can
be improved? When the followers look at the leader, do they see a pair
of ears in front of them, or only a large, ever-moving mouth?
The Bible is full of leaders who failed to listen. Lot’s wife didn’t listen to the warning not to look back at the burning cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah, and wound up as a pillar of salt. Pharaoh did not listen to
Moses, not even after his nation was hit with ten catastrophic plagues.
Noah, on the other hand, was a man who saw and understood the
value of listening. Seeing the corrupt state of the world around him, he
had no reason to doubt that God (‘‘top management’’) was about to
destroy it by flood and start over. As someone who had never built a
boat, he was ready to listen and comply when God gave him the exact
measurements (450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high). He even
listened when God told him that he could fit his entire extended family
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on this ark, along with two of every type of animal on the face of the
earth.
A modern example of someone with exceptional listening skills is J.