Jan Carlson, Sweden
? Famous aphorisms at critical moments
In a customer-oriented and decentralized company, excellent leaders should spend more time listening. He communicates with employees to ensure that they work towards the same goal; He also communicates with customers to let them know about the company's new initiatives.
The simpler and clearer the information released by leaders, the easier it is for people to know how to pursue this goal.
The most powerful message is always expressed by simple and direct battle slogans. It can go deep into all levels of the organization and inspire high morale of employees. This kind of information does not need to be superior or even unconventional.
In order to communicate information, show your heart when necessary. As an actor, you know that if you don't devote yourself to the play, you will never impress the audience. The same is true for business leaders.
Every word and deed of a leader will be seen and even imitated by employees. Through the behavior of employees, the personality of leaders will soon affect every corner of the organization.
Many managers will complain about the bad habits of their subordinates, but if you carefully observe the behavior of employees, you will find that these bad habits all come from top managers.
? Key moments are not recorded.
Nordic Airlines' "Little Red Book"
198 1 the reform of SAS is in preparation, and we distributed a booklet with a red cover to 20,000 employees all over the company, entitled: Let's fight for our goals. Later, this booklet had a popular nickname-"Little Red Book". This booklet is a tool to help us explain the company's overall vision and strategy, and specifically explain the company's expectations for employees.
At first, many people thought that the contents of this booklet were too simple for highly educated employees of SAS. Each page of the booklet is printed with several big characters, and there are some anthropomorphic cartoon planes, some smiling and some frowning. Another plane swooped down and covered its eyes with two wings, looking very scared.
Whether this method is really too simple or not, this red brochure really plays an effective communication role within the company. Now that we have abandoned the traditional pyramid organizational structure, we can no longer use orders to direct employees. Instead, we should convey the company's vision and convince employees that they can and must take responsibility for realizing it. The words and cartoons in this red booklet have played this role.
Many of the stories I mentioned are about how the company encourages employees to give full play to their abilities. These are all real things. We should either inform, persuade or encourage. Generally speaking, it is communication. In a customer-oriented and decentralized company, excellent leaders should spend more time listening. He communicates with employees to ensure that they work towards the same goal; He also communicates with customers to let them know about the company's new initiatives.
I started to communicate with Nordic Airlines from the first day, especially with ordinary employees. In the first year, I spent almost half my time talking with employees at the workplace. There is even a saying in the company that if three employees get together, Carlson will probably be there and talk to them. This is how I fulfill my responsibilities and show my enthusiasm and sincerity.
In the traditional pyramid organization, the boss is responsible for giving orders, and employees have to guess the real intention of the leader. The boss just needs to make sure that his orders are accurate. But in Nordic Airlines, leaders must communicate with thousands of responsible decision makers. Only when they really understand the company's strategy can these decision makers apply it to specific situations. Therefore, the leader can no longer be only responsible for conveying information as before, he must try his best to make employees understand and absorb this information. This means changing the method: all the words used must be completely absorbed by the listener and then become their own ideas.
This is likely to force leaders to use concise and clear language, but it can't be too simple. You'd better use the clearest words, lest the employees misunderstand you. The Red Brochure is a typical example.
The simpler and clearer the information released by leaders, the easier it is for people to know how to pursue this goal. President Kennedy once announced: "I will send a man to the moon before 1970." In this way, he set a clear goal for all the American people. He is not a specific person, but it is because of this short and clear sentence that scientists can work in the same direction.
Four years ago, Harken Sundin was appointed as the coach of the Swedish national hockey team. His first words to the media were: "In three years, we will become world champions!" "Before this statement, Sweden lost to hockey power Russia many times. Many people think that the first place is still the Russian team, and it is very good that Sweden can take the second place. Even though no one believed him, Sundin stuck to his beliefs. Three years later, the Swedish hockey team really won the world championship.
The most powerful message is always expressed by simple and direct battle slogans. It can go deep into all levels of the organization and inspire high morale of employees. This kind of information does not need to be superior or even unconventional.
Whenever I finish my speech, someone will always say to me, "You really have a way to make us understand completely." I'm not sure if this is a compliment, but I believe that if I really let the audience understand the content of the speech thoroughly, then I must have successfully conveyed the information to them. This shows that I have found a way of communication that can stimulate the interest of the audience. To put it simply, I have passed on the information to them.
It is this communication ability that made me achieve good results when I first took over Lynne Airlines and SAS. I listen to the voices of employees patiently and try to talk to them in simple language, so I can easily understand their real thoughts. With the help of these ideas, my strategic thinking was formed. And my communication style also helped me win the support of employees, and then helped the company achieve the established goals.
In fact, the communication skills I am talking about also contain certain interpersonal art. If you want to be a successful leader, you must not be shy and taciturn. You must know how to face a large audience and "sell" your information to them. For leaders, communication ability is as important as overall planning ability.
? Someone once commented that my performance on TV was very successful. I know in my heart that this is not because my ideas are so unique, but because I try to use concise and clear language. My purpose is to convince the audience, not to show how profound my knowledge is.
1979, Sweden held a general election, and I was invited to discuss the topic of income tax on TV. For more than 40 years, Sweden's income tax rate has been rising, reaching about 90% at the highest. Like many people, I think that according to the Laffer curve, if the government reduces the top tax rate to 50%, it will get "more" tax revenue. In order to change the views of some diehards, I decided to impress the audience with new expressions.
? I calculated that if the income tax rate is higher than 50%, the government will get $6543.8+$500 million in tax revenue. So I said on TV: "If I have $654.38+$500 million, I will lock it in the safe and give it to the government for safekeeping. If the tax revenue does not decrease after the government reduces the tax rate, give me my money back and listen to my opinions on finance later. If I am wrong, then I will give the money in full, and the government has nothing to lose. "
Some people say I'm playing tricks. It's true to some extent, because I really don't have the extra $6,543.8 +0.5 billion for the government. But this expression can really touch people's hearts. Soon, my metaphor was published in newspapers all over the world. A small-town reader in Florida who signed "Faithful Colonel" wrote to me: "Even if you really bet $654.38+0.5 billion, you will definitely win!" I even received an echo from the other side of the Atlantic. All this lies not only in the views I support, but also in my unique expression.
One of the skills of sales promotion is to show your heart when necessary in order to communicate information. As an actor, you know that if you don't devote yourself to the play, you will never impress the audience. The same is true for business leaders.
So far, I have only seen the lines of the script once, and the result is very bad. There is nothing wrong with the content of the manuscript. On the contrary, the structure is complete and the rhetoric is gorgeous, but it is really not suitable for me to talk while reading the manuscript.
I have made hundreds of speeches, all of which are impromptu. Because this space is bigger, you can not only express your views on what just happened, but also adjust your speech style at any time according to the atmosphere. For example, I explained the new scheme to the employees of Lingen Airlines mentioned earlier. Before I explain, I made some preparations in advance, which involved that the Swedish lifestyle has changed, and the operating mode of Lingen Airlines has also changed, and so on. But I soon felt that the atmosphere was so warm that I couldn't remember my speech at the moment. So, I simply threw away the manuscript and completely integrated myself into the atmosphere of the scene.
The same principle also applies to the communication outside the company, such as advertising, public relations and "image building". You'd better not mention these policies unless you can clearly convey your strategy to your customers. Remember the ticket of SAS "Y50"? Its original meaning refers to discounted air tickets that young people can buy, but few people know that "Y50" means this. However, when Lynne Airlines launched the "100-yuan ticket", almost everyone understood what was going on. Therefore, what attracts people is not the idea of "100 yuan air ticket", but the way we use it to express this information.
When we started to clean up Nordic Airlines, many so-called critics laughed that we were just playing "sales promotion". They think we are too market-oriented. But in fact, our marketing budget has not increased by a penny. On the contrary, we spend more money on exchanging information and get huge returns from it.
Our previous advertisements were not only simple in style, but also vague in meaning. For example, the slogan: "Let Sweden be closer to the world!" Few people remember this advertisement, let alone understand its meaning. So as soon as we launched the European module, we changed the slogan to "No queue!" "A new lounge for business travelers!" "Give you a comfortable seat!" "Economy fare, first class service!" Wait a minute. These contents are not excessive, they are all true information, which gives passengers a basis when choosing airlines.
Besides language and advertising image, communication also includes other forms, such as setting an example. Leaders' every move, from lifestyle, words and deeds to dress, has a demonstration role. When I was at Lynn Air, the most unbearable thing was the spacious CEO office. As the CEO of the company, my office is not only spacious, bright and facing the street, but also equipped with a restaurant that can accommodate 8 people. Anyone who has eaten in it will be pointed at by the staff behind him.
I immediately realized that this restaurant had to be moved. Lingen Airlines is just a small company, but it has self-righteous built a luxurious executive restaurant, which has had a very bad influence on its employees. If I eat in it, it is equivalent to acquiescing in the behavior I have always opposed. So, for several weeks, I have been going out to buy hot dogs for lunch.
At the same time, I am also looking for a suitable opportunity to dispose of this restaurant. Once, a middle-level supervisor suggested to me that we should contact more employees.
"Great!" I said, "we can start by having lunch with the staff, so we don't have to take care of the restaurant." As soon as I got started, we immediately moved my desk into the executive dining room and changed the original CEO office into the company meeting room. Everyone can use this room when needed, which is what we really need.
After that, the supervisor began to eat in the staff canteen. This action well embodies the unity of Lingen Airlines. If you eat in a luxurious executive restaurant, the meaning is completely different. For employees, the information of this change is clear and clear, which indicates the new atmosphere of the company.
Every word and deed of a leader will be seen and even imitated by employees. Through the behavior of employees, the personality of leaders will soon affect every corner of the organization.
Many managers will complain about the bad habits of their subordinates, but if you carefully observe the behavior of employees, you will find that these bad habits all come from top managers. Not long ago, the management of Nordic Airlines became interested in business travel, and sometimes they sent a huge team to visit other cities just to discuss a few details. Recently, eight senior managers decided to "inspect" Russia for a week, which has nothing to do with the business of Nordic Airlines. When I learned about the plan, I naturally canceled their trip. But public opinion has spread: "If others can go, so can we!"
Leaders must pay attention to nonverbal communication forms, which often indicate that people follow certain behaviors. Therefore, leaders must set an example in order to establish a good image in the minds of customers and employees.
When I first arrived at Lynn Airlines, I visited the airport. Towards the end, I suddenly felt a little uneasy about the staff, but I don't know why. At this time, an employee carefully told me that everyone was waiting for me to board the plane.
"Is the plane ready?" I asked, "But I didn't hear the radio!" "
"There is no broadcast. However, after the CEO boarded the plane and selected the seat, we can start broadcasting and other passengers can board the plane. "
If you are more noble than customers, you are not qualified to call yourself market-oriented. At that time, I just transferred from Ping An Travel Agency. In Ping An Travel Agency, customers are undoubtedly the absolute first priority. So, I waited until the last passenger boarded the plane before I went in. I'm glad to find that there is still a vacancy in the cabin.
We provide newspapers and magazines free of charge on Nordic Airlines flights. But sometimes there are not enough magazines, so the staff will politely let me choose first. "No," I told them, "I won't read the magazine unless all the passengers get it."
I once heard a flight attendant comment on this typical "trivial matter": "Even the CEO is helping us improve our service level. Doesn't that mean he respects our work?" By leading by example, we show our employees and customers the real priorities.
Setting a positive example is indeed an effective communication tool, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable. Most traditional managers like to dress up as emperors. As we all know, when the era of customer first comes, they will be incompetent.