speak out microphone find your voice

 

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“We yearn for opportunities, we pray for opportunities and we seek for opportunities.

The good news is that we meet opportunities.

The bad news is that we miss the opportunities only to come to a later realization of missed opportunities.”

 

Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

 

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Ok. This is about Trump, and it isn’t. First. The microphone. Once you get on the stage and you get the microphone there is a burden of responsibility – the responsibility to not waste it. Second. The list of things that Trump does from a leadership standpoint that aggravate me is a relatively long list, however, the one thing he does which should make every business person who has ever desired to be in a management and leadership position tear their hair out? He wastes the microphone.

He squanders opportunity after opportunity in front of the microphone. Here is what I mean.

Anyone in business who desires to lead knows their future resides in ideas. They also know an unheard idea is, well, no idea. The reality in business is that something unheard doesn’t really exist. Therefore you do anything in your power to find an opportunity to share your idea, or ideas, through some microphone. And once you gain the microphone your nervousness is less about the microphone, but more that you will squander the opportunity to present your ideas and encourage progress, of thought or in action, with regard to your ideas.

Trump squanders these opportunities. He wastes his microphone moments.

He doesn’t share ideas.

why not today microphoneHe doesn’t try and sell you on some policy or ‘thoughts we should consider for the future.’

He doesn’t present any specifics with regard to what he would change and why <other than some vague ‘we need a wall for the safety of the country’>.

He doesn’t present a case on anything.

He doesn’t really ask anyone to believe in anything specific from which they would benefit.

In other words, he wastes the microphone opportunities to further ideas or encourage progress.

All business people should ponder what I just said (regardless of whether you like Trump or do not).

I would kill for one opportunity to present ideas to the size audiences he delivers his word salads to. Shit. Any sane business person would. That is why it is so frickin’ maddening. It is apparent that he has no ideas. He delivers scripted words as if they just don’t taste right in his mouth as he says them. He reads them, doesn’t really seem understand them and certainly hesitates to believe many of them.

In front of a microphone he is a box checker. He is given words to say and he checks them off. Off script he most likely has a list of topics, which comes across as extemporaneous type adlibbing, and checks them off <delivering against the boxes with as much storytelling, hyperbole and self-gratification as possible>.

None of those boxes, unfortunately, are ideas. In business this is a sin.

Even at sales meetings or national full organization meetings where your challenge is to ‘inspire the troops’ you underpin the morale boosting and cheerleading with specific ideas and policies and programs so that people have some idea of what will make success, well, success.

You do not miss those opportunities. You do not because missed opportunities can wreak havoc through lack of direction, indecision and misapplied resources in un-directed energy. We, in business, know that even an inspired audience will seek reasons to not do shit which is, uhm, actually seeking reasons to doing nothing.

“It’s not the right time. We have too much to do now.”

“Let’s wait until after the next meeting.”

“it sounds good but we need ‘x’ before we can do it.”

All business leaders know that any big decision rarely pleases everyone.

All business leaders know that your job is not a popularity contest.

All business leaders know that tough decisions, some unpopular decisions, need clear explanation to move forward.

All business leaders know that opportunities in front of the microphone are not to be wasted by NOT actively addressing these things when you have the podium.

All business leaders know you have to keep moving forward, therefore, using the microphone for anything other than moving the ball forward is wasting the opportunity.

That is why Trump can be so maddening to a business guy like me. He has the microphone.

.......... Trump at the microphone .........

………. Trump at the microphone ………

He has the audience.

He wastes the opportunities.

I would kill for one of his opportunities and he squanders one after another on the indulgence or satisfaction of one’s own desires <self gratification>.  He doesn’t seem to understand the best way to receive all the accolades he seems to dearly desire is by sharing ideas. People love ideas  and remember who gave them the idea.

While this whole presidency is bizarrely bat shit crazy the fact Trump wastes his microphone opportunities on bullshit “us versus them” narrative and not ideas is just maddening. All I really know is that any of us who are given the privilege to speak with a microphone know we shouldn’t waste it. It is an opportunity to share an idea, or ideas, and that microphone comes with a burden attached to it – a responsibility to speak of ideas when given the microphone. You may choose to share business ideas, gender equality ideas, organizational ideas, a sociological idea or, well, any idea you want, but, it may be the only opportunity you get – so do not waste it.

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Written by Bruce