Mythology, Music, Math–It’s all part of leadership communication
Terry Pearce was my guest on September 30th, and I must admit that I was a little nervous about interviewing him. Not that he’s not a nice man, he is…and very easy to talk to. It’s just that he has such a huge reputation, such vast experience, respect and knowledge that I felt a little humbled and daunted by it all. However, we got into such a deep and fascinating discussion that I soon forgot my nervousness (besides, he’s also a musician and a lover of all kinds of music, so we had that connection!).
Here’s a list of some of the points…but you must listen to the conversation to get it all—there was just SO MUCH great stuff that came out of it!–
For leaders and organizations today, integrity is a must. The Internet really “holds our feet to the fire” in all we say and do. When we display integrity and the other elements that demonstrate Abundance Leadership, others will follow you and follow your dream.
Being this quality of leader requires 2 things: “a good education and a great mom” (yes, I was surprised by the second part of that , too!) A great mom instills great values, which then helps a person define what value they can bring to others (which is reflected in the leadership communication qualities of empathy, communication, caring, confidence, trust, and inspiration), which can then impact the valuation of the service they offer the public.
But, take heart. There are ways to develop empathy, communication, trust, caring, confidence and inspiration. Terry cited some wonderful neurological studies and work done on what is termed “mirror neurons”. We can also become more tuned into others and change our reactions to others by watching our own minds, by building an “inner observer”.
It’s the responsibility of the leader to build a culture that accepts progress AND freedom to act–in all corporate documents and procedures. The leader needs to build “an awareness culture”. The leader must be able to inspire on an emotional level, AND have the data and competence to follow through.
In commenting on how to communicate in such a multi-generational, multi-cultural society, Terry said that “it’s not that hard, really.” There are ways to be confident that we understand each other. There are 3 things that we ALL have in common, and have had for thousands of years: mythology, music, and math. Mythology is the stories that are common throughout history and societies: the hero’s journey, good guys/bad guys, they’ll destroy our life, let’s engage them where they are, etc. .
Music is common to all people as well There’s a basic human need for it.
Math goes beyond mathematics to communications, to what Terry calls “show the math” to get “partial credit”. In other words, if people don’t agree with your decision, but you can demonstrate how you came up with it, they will usually go along with what you want, or at least will keep communications open. This concept extends across cultures and age groups.
Finally, when asked what it takes for a leader to achieve the high level of embodying authenticity and “personal self” in his/her leadership, Terry responded, ” A good coach”. (That was my personal favorite comment ;o)
Again, listen to the show to see how this all flows together…and be prepared to be fascinated and inspired.