Communicate with Mastery

EPILOGUEIT'S IN YOUR HANDS NOW

So our book has been in your hands for the last few days, weeks, or months (ideally not years!) and now as we draw to a close, the next step is also in your hands. I often tell the leaders with whom I've worked that the time we've spent is a sunk cost. They won't get those hours back; the investment has been made.

Think of your journey with us, in reading this book, the same way. Your time has already been invested; you can only reap the dividends of your reading if you take action. My hope is that you will do just that: change how you communicate because of what you've gained here. More than that, I hope not only that you will commit to writing and speaking with greater mastery, but that you will inspire others on your team to do the same. As my friend James Buckhouse at Sequoia likes to say about storytelling: “The power is in retransmission. It's not the story you tell or the story they hear, but the story they retell that gives a leader power.” We can apply that concept to leadership communication in all its facets: it's not the presentation you give, the report you write, or the message your audiences receive that matters; what matters is the message they both recall and retell. For years at the GSB we've told our student leaders that their ultimate communication goal should be to be heard (or read), understood, and remembered. We hope you'll do the same.

Here are some tips on how best to implement what we've offered here:

• Start small and ...