conversational leadership.

How do you present to top executives? This SlideShare offers useful tips.

I post this SlidesShare about presenting to Executives because it is excellent and useful.The author talks about “execuphobia”, which of course means, fear of executives. He suggests you fear FOR executives instead of being afraid OF them. It’s a partnering mindset where you’re on their team to help solve their problems. That’s a great step toward curing execuphobia.

I studied it before I spoke to a room full of lean manufacturing executives. However, instead of applying his advice directly, I took another angle. (I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t. 🙂 ) My thinking was – execuphobia is the challenge I need to address, not a trait I need to jump through hoops to accommodate.

Well, my fear FOR executives is that by inspiring fearfulness, they miss out on a lot of input that they need in order to lead well. So my talk was aimed at breaking down the walls for conversational leadership. I didn’t do that by getting to the point in one minute. I did it by catalyzing a conversation where THEY made my point in one minute. They made a lot of points for me, and admittedly, some of them took more than a minute to get to,

My style was familiar to them in theory but not in experience. Some loved it, others not so much. Some valued the way the approach cracked the surface of the discussion and got into underlying concerns. Others thought I should have been more directive.

I had a room full of talented, accomplished men and women. Why should I have made all the points? I left that approach to the other presenters and tapped into the brilliance in the room. I learned a lot, and so did they. It just might not have been what they thought they would learn. If they apply what they experienced as well as what they heard, their people might not need SlideShares about handling execuphobia.