So Smart But... E-Book

Allen N. Weiner

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 307

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

This fascinating book demonstrates that to be a good communicator and therefore an effective manager, a person must have five qualities in order to be viewed as totally credible-competence, character, composure, sociability, and extroversion. While some executives seem to possess all these qualities and be born with savvy communication skills, Weiner shows how anyone can find ways to make measurable improvements in how they present themselves that will enhance their credibility.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Foreword

Introduction

Why I’ve Titled This So Smart But . . .

What Communication Is and What It Is Not

The Five Factors of Credibility (or the Original Recipe)

Distinguishing Communication from Credibility

Credibility and the Performance Review

Credibility and 360° Feedback

Chapter 1 - THE LOOK AND SOUND OF CREDIBILITY

People Pick Up on the Most Subtle Body Motions

The Way You Look

The Way You Sound

You Cannot Not Communicate

So Smart and So SMART

Chapter 2 - SO SMART, BUT CAN’T TAILOR THE MESSAGE TO THE AUDIENCE

Tailoring Your Message Before the Questions Start

Tailoring Your Message When the Questions Start

Chapter 3 - SO SMART, BUT DOESN’T GET IT

So Smart, But Doesn’t Understand Our Corporate Culture

So Smart, But Doesn’t Get It

So Smart, But Doesn’t Have Sound Judgment

So Smart, But Insists on Needs Assessment

So Smart, But Doesn’t See the Big Picture

Chapter 4 - SO SMART, BUT SOUNDS LIKE SHE LACKS EXECUTIVE PRESENCE

Get to the Point

Speak with Logic

Bottom Line Last

Tailor-Made Templates

So Smart, But Not Articulate: Improving Your Syntax

So Smart, But Has Brain Drool

Improving Your Word Choice

Using Pauses as Accents

Vowels and Consonants

Takeoffs and Landings

Primacy-Recency: Start Negative But End Positive

Figures of Speech

Chapter 5 - SO SMART, BUT LOOKS LIKE HE LACKS EXECUTIVE PRESENCE

Looking Composed

So Smart, But Presents Poorly

Chapter 6 - SO SMART, BUT THINKS HE KNOWS IT ALL

The Cure for Sounding Arrogant and Condescending

So Smart, But Looks “Cheesy”

The Cure for Looking Arrogant and Condescending

So Smart, But Doesn’t Earn My Trust

A Final Word About Character

Chapter 7 - SO SMART, BUT ISN’T A PEOPLE PERSON

Sounding Likable

Looking Likable

Chapter 8 - SO SMART, BUT LACKS ENERGY AND PASSION AND DRIVE

Showing Passion for Your Work

Looking Excited

Why Your Hands Matter

Chapter 9 - SO SMART, BUT HAS IT OUT FOR SOME PEOPLE

At First, It Seems So Minor

Goodwill: Your Boss Wants You to Succeed

A Labor Lawyer’s Perspective (Lloyd Loomis)

Chapter 10 - ASSESSING YOUR OWN CREDIBILITY

CDA’s Flagship Question Set

Credibility Is Not One Point in Time

How to Use Essessnet

Feedback Is Not a Panacea

Chapter 11 - SIXTEEN MIND-SETS

Mind-Set One: I’m Good

Mind-Set Two: I’ve Got the Edge

Mind-Set Three: I’m on Top of My Game

Mind-Set Four: They Can’t Ignore Me

Mind-Set Five: Keep It “Top Line”

Mind-Set Six: We’re More Alike Than Different

Mind-Set Seven: It’s Not About Personality

Mind-Set Eight: I Am a Teacher and a Student

Mind-Set Nine: Gas or No Gas?

Mind-Set Ten: I Don’t Need Myers-Briggs

Mind-Set Eleven: The Individual Is the Unit of Analysis

Mind-Set Twelve: I Am Not Being Manipulative

Mind-Set Thirteen: “It’s All an Act” Is No Excuse

Mind-Set Fourteen: Gender Isn’t the Huge Issue You Think It Is

Mind-Set Fifteen: You Don’t Have to Be Beautiful at Birth

Mind-Set Sixteen: It’s Okay to Be Deep and It’s Okay to Be Superficial

Chapter 12 - PARTING THOUGHTS

Appendix A - ESSESSNET QUESTION SETS

Appendix B - THE TEST FOR MACHIAVELLIANISM

References

Acknowledgments

The Author

Allen Weiner Foreword by Don Robert

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by Jossey-Bass

A Wiley Imprint

989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741 www.josseybass.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax [phone], or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax [phone], or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read.

Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey-Bass directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-956-7739, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3986, or fax [phone].

Jossey-Bass also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Weiner, Allen, 1946-So smart but—: how intelligent people lose credibility—and how they can get it back /

Allen Weiner ; foreword by Don Robert. p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7879-8574-5 (cloth) ISBN-10: 0-7879-8574-0 (cloth)

1. Communication in management. 2. Executive ability. 3. Performance. 4. Integrity. 5. Interpersonal communication. I. Title.

HD30.3.W417 2007

650.1—dc22

2006017860

HB Printing

Foreword

I first met Allen Weiner four years ago under circumstances that are no doubt consistent with how he meets many of his clients for the first time. I had a major presentation looming on the not-so-distant horizon, and I was concerned about my ability to pull it off well. Sure, I had made dozens of speeches and presentations in the past, but this one felt a lot different to me.

I had joined Experian only a few months earlier and was unexpectedly asked to stand in for my boss, who had suddenly taken ill, at a global management conference. The conference was in a different country, and I was unfamiliar with the venue, the participants, and, truthfully, part of the subject matter. To make matters worse, the division of the company I was managing was underperforming, and I knew I had only limited time to come up with a plan to get things moving in the right direction. As if all this weren’t enough, I had peeked at the attendee list for the conference, and I knew that our board and our global executive team would be well represented there—seeing me “in action” for the first time. There was no margin for error.

Allen came to my office for our first meeting. I expected he’d videotape me and give me some tips as to how I could better present my material to the audience. What I obtained from him that afternoon, however, was a lot more powerful.

He began our meeting by helping me understand the big picture—in other words, the dimensions of credibility. We talked about how a person should look and sound for maximum impact, the importance of listening well, and the art of thinking on one’s feet.

What fascinated me about this whole discussion with Allen was that his approach was practical and scientific—backed up by research and test audience surveys. He told me why audiences responded to certain things and why they didn’t respond to others. For example, I recall Allen’s explaining to me that when a speaker starts out with a story and uses an introductory phrase like “You know, just the other day ...,” or “A couple of days ago I was chatting with Rick . . .,” the impact on his audience is similar to that of an adult telling a child a “once upon a time” bedtime story. In other words, the audience, like the child, becomes attentive, relaxed, and receptive to the message. I was already hooked on Allen Weiner’s ideas!

With Allen’s help, I built a presentation I was proud to deliver at that big meeting. It was organized around his high-impact templates; delivered with punchy, meaningful words; and augmented by great visual aids. I was more confident as a communicator than I had ever been before because I had so many new tools at my disposal.

Throughout the course of my career, I have observed why people succeed or fail when it comes to getting promoted into key leadership positions. In the final analysis, domain expertise and the ability to execute seldom separate the winner and the loser—both of them usually already have those qualities. The people who make it to the top of their game, whatever that game might be, are the ones who have the ability to communicate with credibility—to senior management, to their own department, to the sales force, to their government regulators, to their board of directors, to legions of employees, or (most often) to their own boss.

Fortunately for all of us, Allen Weiner has finally put pencil to paper, and, in so doing, shared with all of us his unique, scientific understanding of the components of credibility. He has also given us the gift of many highly entertaining true-life stories and anecdotes that illustrate just how (to use his words) intelligent people lose credibility—and how they can get it back.

On the basis of my own continuing association with Allen, I can tell you firsthand that his very best, highest-impact ideas and techniques are contained in this book. You will benefit tremendously, for instance, by putting into practice Allen’s advice on improving your word choices, listening with credibility, and sounding likable.

Taking advantage of these tips alone could dramatically change how you are perceived by others and have a positive impact on your life.

I believe So Smart But ... will take its place among the best leadership training books of this decade, simply because so many great things can happen when one learns to master the art of communicating with credibility. As you will see in this book, your job as a communicator is to say things that listeners find interesting and to hold their attention. If you learn to do that well, you’ll love the results. So Smart But . . . will put you on the course to do just that and to enhance your chances of personal and career success!

Don Robert CEO, Experian

Introduction

It was a snowy night in Chicago, late December 1996. Around eight o’clock, I was leaving a client’s offices in the Hancock Building after a week of consulting. I knew a taxi was waiting on the curb to take me out to O’Hare and finally home to Los Angeles.

I walked slowly past a row of executive offices on my way to the lobby. The CEO occupied one of those offices. We had not spoken often after the engagement was arranged that past summer, but he saw me that night and motioned for me to come in to his office. He pointed toward one of the chairs facing his desk.

He was impressive. He had done a lot, and he had gotten other people to do a lot. Bankers, investors, and stockholders admired him. He was physically impressive, too: six foot four, perhaps fifty-eight years old.