5 Steps to Becoming a Better Leader

I was driving home with my wife from visiting our 5-month-old granddaughter. By the way, she is really cute. My cell phone rang, and a pleasant voice on the other end called me by name and said who she was. Since I get a lot of calls from people and I do not know who they are, they may be clients or potential clients, so I try to listen and interact enthusiastically. The lady’s name was Karen. As I said, Karen called me by name. But I did not recognize the voice. She could have gotten my name from my website. Or it could be I knew her and simply had not recognized the voice yet. Karen then told me I would receive a free quote for health insurance so I could compare costs. As politely as I could, I informed Karen that I was not interested in switching insurance carriers and thanked her for her call. I really was not thankful for the call. I was just trying to be polite.

As I mentioned, the call came in while I was driving, and as a result, it went over Bluetooth to my car speakers. That meant my wife heard both sides of the conversation. Now, my wife is not a salesperson. She is very introverted and never likes being brought into the spotlight. That’s a lesson I keep having to relearn. Her only involvement in sales is as a purchaser. And as a purchaser, she had some very interesting insights into the sales process. After I hung up, she said, “I think salespeople’s tactics are going to have to change.” I agree with her. Of course, I’ve found that when I don’t, I am usually wrong. I mean that sincerely. Her insights are pretty accurate.

Let’s look at what happened when Karen called.

When Karen called, she had my attention. I thought she might be a potential client or a past client whom I did not recognize. However, Karen never gave me a reason to be interested in her or her product. She only said she would send me a price list so I could compare prices. She never established the fact that I needed or even wanted her product. Consequently, I didn’t want it. The only thing she did was allow me to see myself taking time out of my busy day to accomplish a task that would benefit only her. Comparing prices!? That’s an activity that may or may not benefit me. In fact, my belief that all reputable providers will be pretty close in price leads me to conclude I will not receive any benefit at all. It only costs me.

Persuading someone to do something you need to have done is real leadership. Every executive, manager, and salesperson, mother, or, for that matter, everyone has to answer the question, “How can I convince someone else to do something I need to have done?” Mothers have to convince little Johnny to clean up his room. Salespeople are trying to convince buyers to purchase their products. Managers try to convince employees to complete a task within a designated period. Employees try to convince their manager that they need more resources. Everyone needs to persuade someone else about something.

Fortunately, there is a proven, successful 5-step approach. It was developed in the 1930’s by Alan Monroe. Dr. Monroe was a professor at Purdue in the 1930s. Monroe created the Monroe Motivated Sequence. The sequence is a logical progression of steps to motivate someone to take action.

These steps may seem a little trite to you. You’ve seen it at work so many times in so many places. You’ve seen them used in everything from infomercials to presidential elections. Why? Because they work. Here they are:

1. Attention – You need to capture and hold your audience’s attention. Use a story, shocking example, dramatic statistic, and quotations, something that will capture the imagination.
2. Need – Show that the problem is real. The problem is truly significant, and it is not going to go away on its own. Use statistics and examples. In this step, you’re convincing your audience that there’s a need to take action.
3. Satisfy – Now you need to provide a solution to the problem you have just outlined. Be specific and give solutions that can be implemented. And once implemented, the problem will either be solved or improved.
4. Visualization – Tell the audience what will happen if the solution is implemented. Draw word pictures; let them actually see the result in their minds.
5. Action – Tell the audience what specific action they can take personally. No, this is not obvious. Without this step, the conclusion your audience will draw will be, “Yeah, that’s a great idea. Somebody should do that.” You want them to be that somebody, so tell them what they can do. The next time you need to give a presentation, write an article, make a sales call, or convince little Johnny to clean his room. Think about what you are going to say. Think about the other person. How do they understand their needs? How does your proposal or product satisfy that need? If they see how they benefit, they will be a willing participant in your proposition.

Learn the steps in the Monroe Motivate Sequence and put them into action. If you do, you will be a better persuader, which means you will be a better leader.