Archive for January, 2010
Nelson Mandela, The Great Communicator
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I just returned from seeing the excellent film, “Invictus,” starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela, shortly after he was elected president of South Africa in the mid-1990s. What I didn’t remember, or possibly ever know, is that Nelson Mandela is one of the most powerful communicators ever to lead a nation. He succeeded in communicating to whites that they were essential to his vision of a united nation.
After his election, he sought rapprochement with white Afrikaners, not revenge. He didn’t clear out white staffers and the security detail in the President’s office; rather he offered whites the opportunity to stay, if they wished. When he pushed the national rugby team to improve so that South Africa could win the Rugby World Cup, he retained the hated name and colors of the team. His black staff members were furious because the team symbolized years of white oppression.
President Mandela understood that whites were essential to the economy and the path to a multi-racial democracy. He recognized the urgent need to avoid another war of the races. His actions in keeping white staffers and supporting the mostly white rugby team were more powerful in communicating to whites than any words could possibly be.
In the age of text messaging, the Kindle and email, it is important to understand that words are only one of three communications channels. Photos and actions speak more powerfully than words. Nelson Mandela reached out to whites and they got the message.
How Well Do You Communicate With Yourself?
Posted by: | CommentsThere is much talk and more written about effective business communication with your customers and prospects. But what about how you communicate with yourself?
I began to ponder this question as I sat waiting to be called for a panel on my first day of jury duty. The laptops thoughtfully provided for the jurors were hopelessly slow and outdated. So I had the choice of reading the newspaper, or a paperback or pondering the meaning of life. Finally, time to THINK!
After some thought, I began a conversation with myself about how to move forward with my redesigned blog, the steps I should be taking in new business development and how I should be balancing my personal and work lives, etc. etc. Wow. That’s a lot of conversation.
As I pondered how I should be communicating my ideas to myself, I realized I had several options:
- Free Association. Just let the ideas rip. I guess nowadays that would be known as mind mapping, should I choose to write down the ideas. But doesn’t this slow down the flow of ideas to myself?
- Make a list. If all else fails, make yet another list to myself. Hey, Jeannette, what are your top three priorities for the next week, month, year? Go ahead, write them down. Wait a minute. Didn’t I just write a list, ummm, last month? Wonder where it is.
- Communicate through a friend. Yes! I’ll call Janet or Andrea and discuss possible courses of action and then ask them to feed back to me, through their lenses, what my priorities should be. This is a roundabout way to communicate with myself, but it takes a lot of responsibility off my shoulders. It’s also called avoidance.
- Say and do nothing. Now we’re getting to the heart of the dilemma that I think afflicts a lot of people. It’s easier to ignore this essential inner conversation and just keep trying stuff to see what sticks. No thinking needed for that.
What I’ve noticed in the complex world of the blogosphere is that my conversations with myself are shorter and less reflective. Got to keep checking email every two minutes. Need to get another blog written. And don’t forget a quick look at Twitter and Facebook.
No time to communicate with myself. Too busy for meaningful conversation that would replace a lot of wasted time on the web.
