John Baldoni has a review of Frank Luntz' new book Words that Work in his leadership column at CIO Magazine: Saying Something Important? Three Questions to Ask Yourself First. I couldn't help thinking of The Leader with Seven Faces, as "what you say" is the first of these.
“People forget what you say, but they remember how you made them feel.” That’s what actor/director Warren Beatty told Frank Luntz at a Hollywood gathering. Luntz, the noted pollster and commentator, believes that “it’s not what you say, it’s what people hear.” The point that Beatty and Luntz are driving is that words take second place to interpretation. This is a theme that Luntz explores in his new book, Words That Work; Luntz argues that the onus of understanding falls on the communicator, not the listener. This concept is vital to leaders because so often they spend time honing their messages but comparatively little time thinking about how those messages will be received, if they are received at all.
Of course, it is important what you say, as well as how you say it and what you do after. From the lens of Herrero's book, this commentary suggests several of the "faces" of leadership beyond "what you say." And that's the point, a leader cannot expect any one approach to be effective on its own.