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Being A Great Simplifier
One of the qualities of great leaders that is often cited is that they have the ability to make the complex simple.
With more and more people specialising these days, it can be a challenge when you become a leader to get your ideas, concepts, thoughts, visions and strategies across in a way that is understood by the mass.
At the same time, I believe that it is possible to become highly competent in these areas. So what are my best tips?
Keep jargon to a minimum
Every industry, profession or sector has its own terminology. The trouble is that it is meaningless to people outside that industry. Try and keep the jargon to an absolute minimum. And when you do use it, explain it.
Think about the level of detail
I can remember someone who I worked with. He knew his stuff and was a genuinely nice individual. The trouble was that, when he was in meetings, he got into way too much detail. As a result, the message was lost. Stand back and ask yourself the question, “How much detail is needed?”
Don’t dress mutton as lamb
Okay, let me clarify. By this I mean don’t think up fancy names for things to make them sound more complex than they need to be. Here are a few of my favourites:
- “Employee engagement” instead of “employee involvement”.
- “World class commissioning” instead of “effective purchasing”.
- “Business process re-engineering” instead of “changing a process”.
The Bottom Line: If you can learn to make difficult things simple, you really can be much more successful. What’s your first step?
Duncan Brodie helps accountants to improve their personal effectiveness in order to achieve more success in their career. He invites you to check out his free training resources
About the Author Duncan Brodie
Since 2006 I’ve worked with in excess of 8,000 accountants and professionals in workshops, seminars and one to one helping them land their next jobs and become better leaders, presenters and business partners. Before that I spent 25 years in accountancy climbing the career ladder from Payments Clerk to FD. I’m a CIMA Fellow, Certified Professional Coach and Team Coach Facilitator.