Thoughts – 2009

Confident Brevity

“If I can't explain something in less than a minute, I probably don't understand it yet.” - Coaching Client

My Client had written this to share an update with his colleagues around his assigned 21st Century Skill of Storytelling (and about being more purposeful in strengthening his Brand). While he said a lot of good things in his update, this bullet captured my attention.

The Power of Succinctness
The brevity my Client is advocating, although part of his personality is to get-to-the-point, is not driven by a lack of patience for detail. The succinctness is motivated instead by a deep respect for the issue at hand and the individuals who must come together for its solution.

It is also about trust - a trust given to message recipients that began inside the messenger as self-trust. As a leader, it is about taking accountability for clarity through your studied succinctness while simultaneously trusting the knowledge, skills, and abilities of others.

Brilliant Clarity
I believe it was Einstein who said something like; if given one hour to solve a problem, I would spend 59 minutes studying it and 1 minute solving it. We don't prove our effectiveness as a leader by forcing others to hear about all we know. We are brilliantly effective when we, because of our story and experience, deliver in a small package wrapped in clarity.

This confident brevity is what invites others into the full story of problem and solution.