Impromptu

2Power of Spontaneity

Larry Page, cofounder of Google, walked up to a stranger at a conference and began a dialogue with him. The stranger was Charles Chase, an engineer who manages Lockheed Martin's nuclear fusion program. According to the New York Times, “They spent 20 minutes discussing how much time, money and technology separated humanity from a sustainable fusion reaction—that is, how to produce clean energy by mimicking the sun's power—before Mr. Chase thought to ask the man his name.”

“I'm Larry Page,” he said. Chase was stunned to know he'd been talking to the head of Google.

“He didn't have any sort of pretension like he shouldn't be talking to me or ‘Don't you know who you're talking to?’ Mr. Chase said. ‘We just talked.’”¹

Such spontaneous, nonhierarchical dialogue is the new narrative for business leaders. No longer hidden behind podiums, today's leaders are more likely to engage in interviews, town halls, elevator conversations, or brief exchanges sparked by “Do you have a minute?” These dialogues provide leaders with rich opportunities to achieve so much more than they were able to achieve when they simply stood behind a podium to deliver an annual “address.”

Below are the ways impromptu speaking has compelling power for leaders.

Abundant Opportunities

Informal conversations are everywhere—in the office, elevators, restrooms, corridors, parking lots, meeting rooms, chat rooms, cafeterias, restaurants, airplanes, golf courses, and every other place you can ...