Politics and religion are two topics my mother told me to avoid unless I wanted the conversation to end in an argument. However, given that politics is the “topic of the year” (and was also in the forefront for the better part of last year!) it provides an interesting framework for discussing an issue of critical importance for all leaders: meaningful communication.

Communication by Sound Bite

Since the beginning of time campaigns have relied upon the use of short and pithy forms of communication, such as slogans, clichés and sound bites. Why? Because these are easy ways to convey complex messages to a large number of people (voters). When they work, they’re great (remember “it’s the economy, stupid”?). When they don’t, they’re horrible ("read my lips, no new taxes"). Same election, drastically different results. One positioned the unknown newcomer has the answer to the pain a lot of people were feeling, and the other painted the incumbent as completely untrustworthy.

So right about now you’re probably thinking, “Tom, this is all pretty obvious, but how the heck does it relate to our industry?” A lot, actually, and we ignore it at our peril. We have many of the same needs as a candidate for office (complex messages, time constraints, large and widely dispersed audiences, direction setting, etc.) and our own set of cliches and slogans ("on time on budget","people are our most important assets”, etc.). These cliches and slogans have slipped more and more into our vocabulary and the way we lead.

When the electorate gets cynical they stop voting, but when they feel part of the debate and believe that it’s meaningful they become engaged and participate. The same is true with consultants.

Actions Really Do Speak Louder than Words

Let’s look at two experiences that center around one of our most-used sayings, “people are our most important asset.” We’ve all used it, we’ll continue to use it, and it’s a maxim that is obvious to all of us.

A number of years ago I was part of the consulting organization inside of a successful software company that was going through a tough time. The economy was soft and market conditions were such that there was a lot of uncertainty about the future. Anxiety was running higher than normal. The consulting organization was well respected by our customers, turnover was pretty low, utilization was good, and our business was holding up pretty well despite the tough times. This was in no small measure due to the strength of the SVP leading the organization, who not only ran the business well but was also pretty good at communicating with the organization. By all measures the organization was being led by an accomplished leader delivering good results.

However, during the regular monthly communication sessions the theme began to shift from product and business directions to people’s anxieties and the “the consultant is our most important asset” cliché began to be regularly. At the same time, though, cost cutting actions were saying something quite different. Compensation plans were constantly changing, utilization targets were getting tougher, and more and more of the “little things” were disappearing. The result: the consultants stopped believing the message and starting voting by leaving. Turnover rose, revenue decreased, and margins began to slide. Why? The people stopped believing they were important to the company and left. An awful lot like “no new taxes” while everyone’s tax bill goes up year after year (and we know what happened then).

Contrast this to an experience I had with a large strategy consultancy that was helping launch a European expansion for our young company. The engagement was very important for us, but was also very strategic, and lucrative, for the consulting firm. During the final negotiations, our controller demanded that some relatively minor travel restrictions be written into the fee agreement. The consulting partner refused. Adamantly. He was happy to cap reimbursable expenses, even below actual costs, but he would not permit us (the client) to put restrictions on how his consultants would travel. He was willing to walk away from a lucrative and strategic contract.

This seemed very strange to me, until the topic came up at dinner one night in Munich. The consulting partner talked about how the firm required their people to work long hours (not unusual in our industry), spend an enormous amount of time on the road (again not unusual), how hard they worked to recruit their people (again not out of the norm), and how treasured these employees were (the old “people are our most important asset” slogan again). He explained that taking care of their people with small perks like nice hotels and comfortable seats on long flights was more important to them than getting a new client. It took him a while to explain this, and it made his negotiations a heck of a lot harder, but the message to the troops (and the client) was loud and clear. The end result for the consulting firm was a loyal and productive team.

Think about the Message You’re Sending

The next time you’re about to use one of the many oft-used slogans of your industry, ask yourself a few tough questions:

1. Does it sound like a campaign slogan? If it does you’re probably taking a short cut.
2. Am I committed to following through, or is it more like a campaign promise ("no new taxes") that I can talk my way around later?
3. Have I given the issue good considered thought and debate?
4. Am I using a generic, conventional message for expediency? ("cut government waste")
5. Would I react with cynicism if I heard the message?

Let’s bring this back to our original theme, campaigning and leadership. Clichés and slogans are fine, but to make them work they need to be real, meaningful, and backed up with action.

As with everything else in life, a successful campaign or building a successful team takes a lot more than a few pithy slogans.