Leadership Mad Libs
Patrick Leddin, PhD
Practice Leader | Professional Disruptive Speaker | Led the Vanderbilt Disruption Project | WSJ Bestselling Author | Podcast Host
Have you ever played?Mad Libs?
According to MadLibsLive, “Mad Libs?are stories with words removed and replaced by blank spaces. One player acts as the “reader” and asks the other players, who haven’t seen the story, to fill in the blanks with adjectives, nouns, exclamations, colors, adjectives, and more. These words are inserted into the blanks and then the story is read aloud to hilarious results.”
People enjoy filling out?Mad Libs?on long car rides to pass the time or as an after-dinner game.
There is another place where we play?Mad Libs. We play?Mad Libs?at work, and it needs to stop.
I’ve talked in the past to you about the importance of the messages you send to your people. I want to provide you with an illustration of how important that is. Let’s say, for example, that you’re getting ready to send your people a message, but then you pull back thinking, “I don’t know if I could share that information.” Or perhaps, “I can’t be quite that transparent right now.”
Let’s say, for example, you’re trying to send a message that says this:
We are on track to have our?_best_?year ever. We will be?_opening_?three retail locations,?_hiring_?100 employees, and sending out?_bonus checks_?to you and your entire team.
However, you don’t send the message. Maybe you feel like you can’t share it yet or don’t know how to convey the message. Perhaps you are waiting for the next big event to make the announcement.
I understand that timing matters and that you may have restrictions on what you can and can’t share. However, it’s important to recognize that your half-messages or silence are turned into your team members playing a game of?Mad Libs. They start filling in the blanks. Sadly, they often assume that your silence is an indication of something bad unfolding. Here’s what they are thinking:
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We are on track to have our?_best_worst_?year ever. We will be?_opening_closing_?three retail locations,?_hiring_firing_100 employees, and sending out?_bonus_checks_pink_slips_?to you and your entire team.
I made a video that explains the?Mad Libs?challenge we face at work. Please share it with others to encourage them to be more transparent, timely, and effective in the messages they deliver.
Regarding delivering effective messages, I’m also including?a classic video?about the importance of providing simple, bold, and inviting messages. You can also find a tool to remind you to create such messages as you work with your team members, customers, and the range of stakeholders in your world.
Make it a great day!
Patrick
P.S. Want more leadership insights? Get my weekly leadership article, tool, video, and more sent to you. Sign-up at https://www.leddingroup.com/newsletter
MAD LIBS Trademark of?PENGUIN GROUP (USA) INC.
President & Geotechnical Engineer at OTO
2 年This is of the biggest lessons I have learned over the past 5 years. Transparacy and communication are key but it’s so very hard to “always” get ahead of the “story”, particularly with remote/hybrid work. Huge (and constant) efforts towards building trust and getting all leaders/managers on the same page are a must.
Chief Operating Officer at Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney
2 年The reality is we all see things from our own perspective and through our own viewfinder. We pride ourselves on transparency, but as you illustrate at times trying to get the message just right, and delaying the sending of it can create Mad Labs within the organization. We have to remind ourselves that accurate and timely messaging is important - and never to let perfect be the enemy of good - resulting in delays and missed messaging.
Senior Digital Producer at Mediabrands Content Studio
2 年You’re too creative!!