5 Rules for Communicating Effectively with Executives
Do you want to be more confident when speaking with executives? Are you tired of not feeling comfortable when talking with higher ups? Discover how to be a masterful communicator through Dr. Grace's coaching program, apply here: masteryinsights.com/application
You can be the brightest and most skilled team member at work but without having the ability to connect effectively with other professionals, especially with the higher ups, real talk is... you will probably never land that promotion you've been working so hard for.
Being a masterful communicator helps exude confidence that will allow you to build trust with your executive leaders.
Dr. Grace presents in this video the top 5 rules you need to follow to be able to communicate effectively with your bosses.
Watch until the end to uncover business acumen tips that will surely wow any company executive.
Share in the comments below if you've been making the same communication mistakes as mentioned in this video.
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As a communications and executive coach, Dr. Grace has been training people in all aspects of communication and career growth.
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I am a retired executive. In my mind, the most important element has to be … be succinct. Most executives got to where they are because they are quick in grasping new concepts. They are not shy about asking you to delve into details on the parts they don’t understand. But if you are too verbose, you’ll lose their interest. Remember, your goal is to get them to buy in. The biggest mistake is to consciously trying to impress them. Do you know how many people they talk to do that? Would you not get turned off if you were in their shoes? I wouldn’t lose too much sleep on projecting confidence. Executives are used to talking to people who are intimidated by their position and often intentionally try to put them at ease. If you are worrying about your image, it may actually detract you from presenting your idea. Remember, executives had been in your position. They know exactly how you feel. They are talking to you because they want to hear what you have to say.
Totally agree with you.
Most C-suite interactions involve an attitude of "Don't give me the details, just tell me what you need from me to help". They're looking for a dragons den pitch: "I'm doing X, it's important because impacts on Y. To deliver it I need the business to commit Z". Most people will struggle with the confidence/conviction part because they haven't yet learned that most other people just make it up as they go along & say it loudly enough to not be questioned.
@@mramg6038 Management 101…learn how to spot BS. Look for inconsistencies. Check reasonability. Pay attention to body language. Apply smell test.
@@mramg6038 thanks for the tip. Why are people punished and looked down upon if they don't naturally have this quality? I just want to do the work without fuss or a power struggle and be kind. How do I change my mindset to appear confident? Thank you in advance
This was a really good comment makes alot of sense. I have recently been asked to attend a committee and provide performance updates, I find it hard to give an overview and worry I am boring people to death
I'm a retired tech exec. To get there, my biggest "secret" was to understand what problem they had, that they wanted me to fix and why (time, cost cutting, decisions....) I did not fall back on my middle degree as a computer engineer to explain things, but rather I talked to them like I would a respected friend. That means I explained things, not in technical terms, but in unbiased terms of their (business) needs. How choice A would save them time/money/people over the other choices. They knew they could bet their careers on the information I game them. THAT'S a huge part of becoming part of the management team.
1. Escape the minutia 2. Exude unshakable confidence 3. Execute rainmaking communication 4. Elongate your timeframe 5. Increase business acumen
Rules 2 and 3 need clairfication. Exuding confidence does NOT mean not admitting you don't know all the answers! Too many people advance, or try to advance their career by covering up their ignorance. Confidence in this case means that if you cannot answer the question you know that there is a good reason that you don't know it, and it's not because you aren't prepared. People who fake it until they make it ultimately bring themselves down, along with anyone foolish enough to promote them.
6. Transfer money out of "WOKE" Banks
@@victoreous626 what are you talking about?
@@ItsYaBoi888 there is no such thing as a woke bank. They're just trying to whine about capitalists pandering to young people with progressive politics
@@j3i2i2yl7 yeah I didn’t understand the rain making point at all unfortunately
Be bright, be brief, be gone. Use that mindset and you'll be fine😊
Love this! Exactly so.
Ha ha . That’s exactly what a colleague said about relating to me as their director because the psychometric test shows I was a « red »/choleric who needs others to be brief, be bright and be gone.
@commscompany1502 I've done exec support for a decade and it's always worked for me.
things i learned the hard way when communicating with executives: - you'll often be ignored - keep it short and simple if you want their attention - dont mix work with feelings if you want to be taken seriously - get to the point - have a resolution plan if you want a better response from them - dont come to them to solve your problems
even better than the video owener, because, simpler and concise! thanks
"dont mix work with feelings if you want to be taken seriously" - While this is probably true in far too many cases, it is also the number 1 reason why a company can have an appalling culture. Given the point of the content creator's post was to provide insights into how to be invited into the inner circle of executives - ie: how to become one, not simply "communicate with them", i find this bullet point problematic. I'm sure in trying to be succinct, perhaps your message was not as clear as you intended, but it really is an area that has a massive impact on the culture of a workplace and if people reading this want to be executives, then i think it's worth highlighting the pitfalls of this bullet point. Executives who dismiss the importance of personal attachment to work outcomes (ie: "feelings toward their work"} from their staff, demonstrate a lack of empathy that results in a poor culture workplace. If your executive dismisses you or what you are trying to communicate because you have a strong personal attachment to what you are doing, then think about whether your passion for the project is coming across as needy or if you have failed to express that passion in business terms, also think about whether you're in need of a new workplace. Passion for what you're doing completely underlines your ability to speak confidently about your topic. Being passionate however, often renders a person to be closed to the idea that their project/idea needs to change for reasons they may not be aware of. If you want to be a good executive, you need to recognise that your staff will be passionate and emotional and be able to lead them from where they are, to where they need to be to make their project/idea successful.
Best ever summary!
Happens with me a lot until they have a problem that needs to be fixed by me.
Best when talking to executive is 1) be clear and succinct 2) be yourself and don’t ever BS 3) be confident about what you know and don’t know and 4) show ownership and be action able if an opportunity comes up during the discussion 5) ask relevant questions and 6) never waste their time so be prepared
Excellent. Be in the 'strategic' mindset of the company. Understand the direction that you need to align with and why.
Better rules than original video
I like this better
WRONG
I was going to say the same thing. The “rules” in the video were vague and not very clear
I remember one of my early jobs as a techy. I was asked to come to the CEOs office to explain some things to him. I wasn't in trouble. But it was unexpected. I forget the topic. But he asked me to explain something to him. As a young techy, I immediately went into my explanation and quickly went into minutiae. I remember him stopping me and saying, "I don't need all the details. Just explain it at a high level in a few sentences." Lesson learned. So, I can say from experience that you are right, minutiae is not what a CEO wants.
1. Shift from a mentality of inputs, throughputs and outputs to one of outcomes 2. Shift from a departmental perspective to a company perspective 3. Be excellent at being concise
Thanks for this sum! With a legal counsel background, I'm struggling with point 3...
@@spectershore4482 the op struggles with point 3. "Be concise" is a lot more concise than "Be excellent at being concise".
The "confidence" part was easy. The hardest part was resisting the urge to tell them how stupid they are. They eventually figured it out when they bankrupted the company.
Truee
No matter how well they communicate, their ability to ruin departments is always there by default.
Many are faking it until they make it.
Management is 80% of the problem. I didn’t resist my urge to tell them how stupid they are - then I resigned. It was great!!
I find that most executives are disconnected from the business and aren't interested in hearing anything that doesn't agree with what they already think.
I am a retired 60 yr old exec. I started, wholly owned, operated, grew, and sold two multimillion-dollar companies in Calif. One was a global company. While I appreciate this presentation, I can tell you from first-hand experience at a very high level that this some of these points are not entirely correct. Rule number 1; The minutiae. Don't escape it, but rather know when it is important and when it is not. If you approached me, and I had the sense that you didn't know the details, then I doubted your analysis and presentation. But I also appreciated someone that could know when it was important and when it wasn't. Rule number 2; Confidence, spot on, but be careful not to be arrogant or so set in your opinion or presentation that you are unmovable. Confidence can be a fine line. Rule number 3; I've NEVER heard the term "rainmaking conversations", I suggest you toss that term. It is an unnecessary phrase that makes no practical sense. Use plain terminology. But the content of the presentation in number 3 is correct overall. Rule number 4 is spot on, but as an exec, I want to know that you are thinking in terms of plan long operate short. In other words, all time frames play into the whole. I want to see you taking them all into account as they relate to each other. If you don't, then I am going to judge you as missing something. Rule number 5, is spot on.
#6 Don't bring them problems to solve if you don't also already have a proposal to solve or are already in the process of solving. I learned this the first time I worked directly for a CEO. When I came to him to vent about a problem, or present a problem without a suggested solution he would just answer "That's a toughie. What are you going to do about it?"
This only works at a certain level. For lower levels of staff, or for staff you are developing are you going to risk their inexperience or lack of expertise while they spin wheels in mud? No. If they hit a wall, give direction and coaching. Moreover, in general, a company has to work as team: pooling knowledge, experience and perspectives to get good results. Not doing this is a great way to terminate success! So the smart a**e executive who withholds superior knowledge and lets a team member struggle is helping no one, least of all the shareholders. First of all, an executive has to take responsibility, not avoid it and court corporate failure.
Agreed. The CEO brings in people to solve problems for him. He pays big bucks to consultantants from McKinsey and such when necessary.
That's a toughie?
If I had a solution, I would have already implemented it or at minimum I'd be here to tell you about the status of the solution. If every problem can be solved before going to your level, then you're not actually needed around here are you?
@@fnsmike They are needed for approval. You only hope they throw you a bone and give you credit for your work.
This is awesome advice. What I really appreciate is that each idea you share has depth to it. I've been on a growth journey for a long time and still find your videos refreshing and thought provoking. Thank you.
I am now retired but in my experience dealing with executives I just told them what they needed to do and then they did it. No big mystery.
Very accurate, and I couldn't agree more with the high level, to the point, communication. I'd also like to add that you need to know when they want you to be casual so they can get to know you more. It's definitely not easy.
I am retired C-level executive and boardroom consultant in matters of organization development, corporate governance. I can tell you that if you do all these 5 things, it is the quickest way to be invited into the ‘situation room’. ALSO, your inability to live up to and deliver what you say is an even quicker way out.
The question is however what "unshakable confidence" looks like. I have done a good deal of teaching and prestations, and the more confident i am, the more calm i am about becoming nervous from time to time. Having a litte nervousness can be fine, as long as you know your presentation and your material. Being at a high stakes postion, which can be stressful, seeing someone calm in themselves and being open about their nervousness i find to be a good thing.
Slides should be used. No words on slides. Keywords, then idea. "Faster, cheaper" Then details: "2 year project, requires $1M, has a 12 month payback." Then wait for questions. Answer questions with the least number of words needed to convey the idea. Leave them curious and wan,ting more. If they don't like the idea, they'll be appreciative you used no time. If they like the idea, they will be the one to ask questions.
Be deliberate, clear, succinct and direct!
New subscriber here! Happy to have "stumbled" on this video and thanks for the valuable insights. My takeaway is "having an unshakable confidence". I live and do business in Germany and you better have confidence and be confident on what you are saying (by knowing your topic/subject etc...) while talking to executives. From my own experience, I would add the followings: 1) Be prepared: do your homework, research, come with facts to backup your arguments (we love facts in Germany) 2) Be concised: don't waste their time nor yours. Time for them is life not only money. 3) Be your authentic self. Don't try to impress anyone. 4) Be humble and ready to learn from them as well. 5) Offer concrete solutions to the problem/issue being discussed. 6) Be at ease with answering hard questions. Wishing you all much success!
Awesome share, Victorine! Thanks for adding value by sharing your experience. I appreciate you.
#5 resonates with me now. I am getting close to the executive position but I realize that my current plan has me reaching that goal somewhere in the next 5-10 years as I accumulate connections and diversify my experiences in my industry.
Executives are the same human beings as anyone else. No need to invent rules specifically belonging to that group. Be modest, open, pragmatic, engaged, loyal, show good intentions, honest, show you are a good leader, praise your team and be proud for their achievements, replace word “I” with “we”
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts!
Came here to say this..
I agree with the sentiment that you’re trying to convey, but that I think is a little narrow. Executives get to that level by demonstrating high levels of competence and effectiveness in certain businesses and not everyone is capable of that. There are certain qualities and tendencies that go along with that and there is definitely a way to talk to and not talk to them in a business setting. I am not at the executive level, but upper middle management and a lot of this I would REALLY appreciate when folks in my department are communicating with me. When we are cutting up after work, yeah we’re all regular people
Looks like we have a great leader here. thumbs up!
Exactly, my boss is the VP of the company and he’s the most down to earth southern man who doesn’t mind you sitting & talking with him so long as you get to the point & come up with solutions. I get executives are busy, but any executive who won’t even give an employee the time of day unless they rush in 20 seconds is one who doesn’t care about anything that happens beneath him and is only there at that point to show up, do meetings & collect money.
exactly what I needed - perfect timing. Thank you so much for sharing.
#8 give them the cold hard facts. No fluff. I had an executive of a Fortune 100 say to me "give it to me straight are we fu*ked?" Then hit me with a pardon my French but I just want it straight. The truth was they were in a critical downward trajectory and I was tasked with bringing forth the resolve. Roller coaster for sure, but the solution was an immensely beneficial resolve. I appreciated the honesty of his asking the blow not be softened.
That's good, I always prefer it simple and succinct in communication. I've been with too many bosses who couldn't take the fact, and will bend whatever formula to make it look like we are financially doing fine. Then we were blamed for being incompetent. Yeah right, then a few months later shocked to find the company doesn't see income as expected from the beautified dashboard.
Thank you very much for this! These points are really helpful!
I really enjoyed the 5 Rules of talking to Executives especially the “Execute rain making communication” piece.
When you are asked about a "problem" by an executive, don't start with why a problem exists; they know it exists, first tell them you are on it, and it is being addressed. If you are then asked why did that happen, respond with a brief why without blame and take responsibility that you are or will immediately respond to it. Don't tell an executive that the problem is not your responsibility to solve. "Hey, that is in operations, and I am in marketing", but say you will immediately look into it and get back within a timeframe.
Good video! As a new manager I have struggled with escaping the minutia and understanding their time frame. Definitely things to work on.
I think 1 and 5 are very true. 1) You have to cut out the boring details on how you get something done unless they ask. They have other things on their mind. 2) You speak the business language for the industry. By using the key words, they think you know more than you may actually do. Remember they might only know the key words also - not the details.
I would add to point number one. A more positive and different way of looking at rule number one is what journalist abide by: don’t bury the lead. Meaning get right to the point, and then allow them to ask for the details or process or whatever.
Amazing advice in this video. It's true that executive communication needs to be succinct and not bogged down in the minutiae.
Rule #1: you don’t have a boss, you have customers. Treat your boss as your customers.
Assume you're talking with a psychopath when speaking with an executive at a large corporation. They'll mirror your confidence since they do not have genuine human emotion. Demonstrate confidence and competence and deliver results. That is all.
Elongating my timeframes is not one I had thought of before. Super helpful!
I appreciate you sharing your takeaway from this topic! Welcome to my channel, Mikey.
I agree that executive leadership doesn’t want to get caught up in the details and this is exactly why almost every new process has several issues because all executives care about is looking good to their top brass. New processes get pushed down the pike without anyone wanting to bring up the so called minutiae or the details. Rinse and repeat.
This was actually extremely helpful and answered the questions that had brought me to your video. Thank you!
Thanks. The 4th rule - the timeframes intrigued me the most. I'd never thought about that and it does make a lot of sense.
Same here
The problem is that the middle managers get in your way when you plan for the long term. It is often beneficial to bypass them whenever possible. It helps if everyone knows that the company needs you more than your manager.
@@sexygeek8996 not sure going against your direct manager is a good idea when climbing the ladder...
I'm months away from starting my new career as an Attorney. Great advice! Thank you!
Brilliant synopsis. Well packaged.
I have literally made every mistake you called out here. It definitely slowed my career down. Things are better now. It takes practice.
The elongate one is fascinating
The accuracy in your content is fantastic. I love it. Corporate Executives most times speak a different language from the 'regulars' hahaha. And except you're a part of their inner-inner circle you most likely won't see them speak other "languages" ( gossips, fluctuations in speech tonality etc- yh they gossip too). With language, I mean all forms of language there is ( body language, speech tonality...) one way to stand out from the "regulars" & advancing in your workplace or business is "mirroring" the corp. execs., from their diction (choice of words), dress sense, seeing things from their perspectives & understanding why & how to find a balance. Although some people think their confidence comes from the positions they hold, that's wrong, most of these guyz are brainiacs, masters of their craft, smart, highly intelligent, know when & when not to speak, how & when to deliver their message. And the execs. that are faking it always get caught by bankrupting their companies or being caught for committing frauds 🤣
Thank you 💕 Dr grace lee
Great stuff! Simple effective tips and as always boils down to effective communication
Wow that was awesome. I was so ready for that! I soaked it in
Excellent tools for communication....
These are great advice thank you. I will use these rules to pursue my next career move and interview.
Great work beautiful voice, it just makes me feel confident. Thank you 😊 Dr. Grace Lee
Absolutely excellent. Thank you.
Thanks Dr Grace Lee, happy new year! This has been enlightening to me, used to do some of these steps but not categorized as put here. Thanks again!!
Happy new year to you too, Zulu!
Pp
Brilliant. Thank you Grace.
This is really good, thank you for sharing this unique view on the conversation with executives
This really helped me
Thank you for this video, great insight and very practical, just what i needed for a presentation im about to give. I think specially the time frame part and unshakable confidence resonated strong, thanks again!
Communication is the key to business success, so they need to use advanced communication systems such as VoIP and learn ways to communicate effectively. This video is very helpful in this aspect.
Worthy of leadership
"Elongate your time frame" is new to me. Thanks for surfacing it, something to think about and implement!
You're welcome, Georgette! I'm glad you found that particular rule helpful.
MANY thanks for sharing these!
Escape the Minutiae is one of the best things I will start following and thanks for sharing the 5 rules.
Thank u for giving great clarity.
I completely love your work I'm learning from you
Glad to hear that. Welcome to my channel!
Thank you, I needed this! My thought process was in the gutter until this video.
"Do away with the Minutiae" This is new and informative for me. I usually find myself in a trap of trying to explain the details which is really not important when communicating with Executives. "Exude strong confidence" I completely agree with this because Executives look at the bigger picture and are more focused on people management and timely decision making aimed to meet desired objective. They may not be deeply rooted in Operations or new ideas to be explored. So it's important to conduct detailed research about your new idea and sell your idea to the executive. Answering following questions confidently also reaffirms the value of the idea and help them make decisions quickly.
Thanks for sharing your communication video.
The point about time frames is a game changer to aligning with leaders' visions.
Admittedly I have struggled with these points. Even more great advice from the comments. As one commented below, being good at what you do (doing your best) sometimes makes people nervous. Oddly, they don't teach that at colleges or universities.
Fantastic presentation!
Grace, I like your videos! You give very sound advices I wish I had 6 years ago...most of them learnt the hard way! :) keep going!
Awesome perspective, I’m happy your video dropped into my stream
I'm a retired UK representative at the European Technical Standards Institute and got to speak to a lot of important people. That said only 3 things really mattered. Do your homework so you know what you are talking about, obvious. Rule 2 be confident, don't shout to add stress that a giveaway that your beginning to panic. Rule 3, have a crib sheet so you don't omit anything important but don't read from a script. It's acceptable to have figures written down so they are accurate. your audience will appreciate that. I suggest you dress appropriatly. I always wore a business suit, clean shirt and shoes, and I wore an ex RAF tie. Amazing how many recognized it.
This is awesome! Thanks for adding clarity to this topic. Elongate your time frame
Great takeaway from this topic, Corey. Welcome to my channel!
All of these are intriguing, the confidence one seems like a no brained but honestly you could make many videos about that subject. But #4 on long term thinking actually ended up inspiring me to create a service package for my clients based on long term thinking as a strategy. Thank you! 🤗🧠💪🏾📈💯
Confidence was most succinctly explained to me in 1 of 2 ways. 1. Competence leads to confidence (book: Getting Things Done), means get your experience up and do your learning… become a competent practitioner of your role. (Not that all confident expressions are from competence, but that experience will bring confidence. But that requires patience and good feedback) 2. Fear and anxiety can be used constructively, only if they are acted on… fear of bad job performance can be a driving force to improve feedback, learning, competence, skills, etc… or it can become an “excuse” or translated into a disabling effect, which leads to inaction and self destruction. Some move faster with fear, some more cautious and slow. It’s difficult to shift, but… some difficulties are highly rewarded when overcome.
Looking forward to more. Thanks
Love the list!
I need to remember and practice being more succint.
Thank you for this advice!
Thank you
I found this extremely eye opening and informative. Thank you....you are making a big difference. Thank you
Thank you for the kind words, Carole. Glad to have you here on my channel.
I relate all. Good content. Thanks!
By invitation only...so correct!
Lots of great information! Thank you.
Excellent
This video has really help me take my career and my life to the next level
Doc. Do give an example bout communicating in an elongated timeframe in sync to the executive. Appreciate it
Excellent!
Fascinating
While it may be a generalization, I disagree with the idea of strict timeframes for executive briefings. In my experience at the Department of Defense, we followed a "Five-Star General Baby Talk" approach where the summary had to fit onto one slide with no more than four bullets, each containing no more than ten words. It was crucial to support each bullet with factual evidence, or else you would face consequences. Similarly, when working at Bosch, our briefings for the Geschäftsführer had to be clear and focused on how the proposal would quickly generate profits.
Timeframe resonated most with me. I am 71, can have a pension, had once cancer, started a new business a few years ago. So wat's the point of a timeframe in my situation? Impute and opinion is appreciated. Thanks.
Great video, it answers so many questions.
Great. Now I have more knowledge about communicating with executives. Thanks!
Next step is to apply the new knowledge! Glad to have you here, Ryan.
Basically be interesting and be useful to them, all in a good sense.
I am of the opinion that this kind of influencing to yes makers is why many organizations lose their “competitive advantage” . Top leaders want to have intimacy in their projects , products and processes. An experience gap is a known phenomenon. When executives are often polled and asked what their end customer thought about their product or service, they often ranked their companies favourably yet when the customer is asked to rate the companies product or service the outcome is different.
The "experience gap" is the reason why smaller and focused companies are able to gain market share from larger corporates.
amazing advice and insight
I do take notes. I don't believe that's a bad thing necessarily but it's an inherent thing that makes me appear beneath them.
Very insightful it num 1,2 and last
Regarding #2, many executives can smell unwarranted confidence as they've been bitten by it before. Moving up the foodchain, information is less binary and more probability. Individual executives are tasked with taking probability based input and making binary decisions. Committees and boards are about dispersing accountability and require more shepherding to arrive on a binary consensus. Reagarding #5, sometimes you need to alter an executives timeframe as some issues carry enough risk for their timeframe to not exist.
Just because somebody thinks the executive lifestyle is the ultimate one it sure doesn’t mean it is. We are nobody’s but our own executives and we don’t want OUR time wasted by people who spend most of their time trying to appear important. Real leaders understand that people are different and all of them have different content to share in their own authentic way.
Your comment resonates with me. There are obviously inspiring business leaders and we may want to be in their orbit to learn from them. But not all executives are like that and wanting to be around any leader, just for the sake of possible career advances, may be just the reason why people may appear to be lacking the confidence that they should be 'oozing' according to this video. The executive lifestyle is not desirable per se and differs from person to person and corporate culture to culture. I've seen nice examples, but also ones where the experience can be cold, ignorant or lacking empathy. I liked this vid and only after reading some comments I thought: 'wait a minute'. I can get angry with myself for being uncritical at first only to contemplate afterwards and can envy people who are sharp right out of the gate.
Great content on this channel.
Dr. Grace thank you.❤ I can see things in a more different perspective because of what you're sharing to us.🥰
Always happy to read your comments, Joshua.
@@DrGraceLee I'm really glad to be on your channel.❤
True Story! Me too. Thank you Dr. Lee!!
Super helpful! ❤
Very thought provoking. I am an executive, and frequently what is discussed in executive meetings are quarter to quarter results. This seems to contradict rule 4, which is around time frames. This leads me to believe that this is overly academic. The lions share of executives I have run into are all about the next investor call. It is too bad that this is the state of things, but it is what it is.