What's Your Message

by Cam Barber

  These energy reserves were important on this occasion as the curse seemed like it would continue - Geelong were leading by 19 points midway through the final quarter, but Hawthorn rallied and won by 5 points. The curse was vanquished.

  The following week the Hawks won the 2013 Grand Final by defeating Fremantle. (In 2014 and 2015, they won again in a rare three-in-a-row performance).

  Do game-day messages tip the scales to victory?

  We can’t know exactly how influential these messages are, but we know they are important. Many great wins are linked to powerful messages driving the teams, and many players remember them as important. For example, in 2013 the players used the following words when remembering the white line presentation:

  “It stood out, we wondered what he was doing, it was really powerful.”

  “It sent shivers up the spine.”

  “I reckon all of the boys would have remembered, as soon as they stepped onto the MCG and over that white line, exactly what Clarko spoke about.”

  THE POWER OF MESSAGING IN 4 AREAS OF LIFE…

  Messaging can help you too. You might want to change the world, or perhaps just part of your own world. Messaging…

  1. Makes great leaders.

  2. Gets your ideas heard.

  3. Builds your personal brand.

  4. Promotes your organisation.

  These 4 areas include examples from people I’ve worked with as well as some successful people who have inspired me (and millions of others).

  MESSAGING MAKES GREAT LEADERS

  Great leaders are always associated with memorable messages. This is no coincidence. It’s the impact of their messages that determines whether they are seen as great leaders. If you are a leader, your messages are the reason people follow you. Your reputation consists of either the messages you drive home or the messages other people pass on about you. Here are some examples …

  Gandhi - Spreading a new idea

  Mohandas Gandhi changed the world with his ‘non-violent, non-cooperation’ position against the British occupation of India.

  He is considered the father of the Indian independence movement. Gandhi’s leadership success actually began in South Africa, where he lived for 20 years. It was there he refined his concept of non-violent protesting against injustices.

  A British-educated Barrister, Gandhi had a pivotal life experience just a week after he arrived in 1893, when, as a first class passenger, he was famously thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg simply for being Indian. Rather than retaliate or take the insult personally, his experience led him to test his leadership ideas.

  Later, when he returned to India, Gandhi assumed the leadership of the Indian National Congress. He led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women’s rights, ending untouchability, but above all for achieving Indian self-rule.

  Many civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, used Gandhi’s concept of non-violent protest as a model for their own struggles. Here are his top 3 leadership messages.

  “In this cause, I am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill.”

  This leadership message was so memorable that it was forever captured in the Richard Attenborough film, Gandhi. It was on September 11, 1906, that Gandhi addressed a group of 3,000 Indians in Johannesburg.

  The group was angry towards the discriminative laws against the colony’s Indian population. Just minutes before his brilliant message was delivered, many in the audience were advocating violence. One person jumped up and exclaimed, “I am willing to die to fight these laws”. Then Gandhi delivered the message that both composed and inspired the group.

  “In this cause, I too am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill.”

  The room went into a shocked silence with the power of this idea. It’s worth remembering that Gandhi was not known as a charismatic speaker. He just delivered his leadership messages and let them sink into people’s minds. His leadership ideas had all the power required to change people’s thinking.

  With this statement, Gandhi was able to short circuit the anger in the room, yet satisfy the desire for action. And, by the end of the speech he had them agree to take an oath to both resist the unjust laws, yet without violence.

  This is leadership at it’s most potent. He led the group with the clarity of his idea. His message was so vivid, and so transferable that he crystallised the non-violent, non-cooperation movement for the rest of the world to use.

  “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

  This is probably Gandhi’s most famous quote. You may have heard it before but not realised it came from Gandhi. It’s been repeated by so many people now this leadership idea has a life of its own. It’s an example of a leadership message continuing to lead, long after the man is gone.

  Gandhi came across a lot of people who had dogmatic views about how other people should act and what they should do. This message confronts the lack of thinking associated with dogma and turns it around to ask, ‘what are you doing with your life and the everyday moments you have?’

  The famous Gandhi sugar story

  A woman walks with her son many miles to see Gandhi. She is worried her son is eating too much sugar. She asks Gandhi: “Please, sir, can you tell my son to stop eating sugar.”

  Gandhi says, “Bring him back in 2 weeks.” Disappointed, she takes her son home.

  Two weeks later she makes the long journey again. Gandhi says to the boy, “you must stop eating sugar. It’s very bad for you.” The boy has such respect for Gandhi that he stops and lives a healthy life.

  The woman is confused and asks, “Why did you want me to wait 2 weeks to bring back my son.”

  Gandhi said, “Because before I could tell your son to stop eating sugar, I had to stop eating sugar.”

  The leadership idea: Changing yourself might help more than telling others they have to change. Further still, he said that by changing yourself, you will change how you feel and what actions you take. And so have a tangible impact on the world around you.

  “I want to change their minds. Not kill them for weaknesses we all possess.”

  Boom! Another leadership message home-run.

  When faced with a group of Indian political leaders who wanted to go to war with the British, Gandhi was able to change the minds of the people in the room by doing 2 things:

  1) Focusing on the similarities we have with others, even our enemies. 2) Reminding everyone of their goal: To change the minds of the British leadership and get them to leave India.

  This leadership message dissolved their violent rage. In just 5 seconds. When we realise we’re all imperfect it becomes easier to see alternative ways of connecting with people who are, after all, just people. (You may recall that another of Gandhi’s messages along these lines is ‘An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind’.)

  For many years, Indian politicians would seek the advice of Gandhi before making key decisions. On this occasion in Congress in September 1920, politicians were poised to use violence to fight the British for independence.

  Through his messages, Gandhi was able to convince the leaders to focus their efforts on the non-violent, non-cooperation movement, which ultimately led to the withdrawal of the British from India in 1947 – and set a precedent that may last for centuries.

  Gandhi’s Leadership Ideas

  Gandhi’s leadership ideas had a profound impact on the world. Albert Einstein captured this impact when he said: “Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this one ever in flesh and blood walked upon this Earth.”

  Nelson Mandela – His life in messages

  It makes sense to talk about Mandela next, because Gandhi’s messages had a profound impact on Mandela. A message that has the power to be transferred from one person to another, is a message that has a life of its own. This kind of transferable message is the holy grail of communication.

 
Nelson Mandela’s leadership example started with angry protest, but he grew into a humble, eloquent and inspirational figure who advocated peace, democracy and human rights.

  After being in jail for 29 years as a political prisoner, he was released in 1990, joined negotiations to abolish apartheid and to establish multi-racial elections, and was elected President of South Africa in 1994.

  Nelson Mandela was an incredibly effective leader. Here are some of his leadership messages that mobilised a movement and made him an inspiration to millions.

  “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.”

  Mandela continued: “The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

  Why is this message so powerful? Because he was asking people to join him in a fight against those with the guns and all the power. He knew they were scared. He used this message to seek support for his cause (even from jail). He gave them this inspirational message: if you’re afraid; it’s normal, you’re still a brave person. What you need to do next is to conquer that fear by taking action.

  This line is the result of a powerful technique for persuasion. I call it the “You may be thinking…” technique. By anticipating an audience’s questions, you address the concern or question in their mind. You then go past this question to the answer.

  This connects with people on a deep level. Firstly, it builds trust because people see that you understand their view. And secondly it clears the objection and makes new space in their mind for your message.

  “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion.”

  He continues: “People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

  When you think about it, this makes sense. This leadership message shakes up our thinking and gives us a fresh way to view a situation.

  This is a long message, more like an explanation, but it says so much. Like all great leaders, Nelson Mandela was able to change the viewpoint of his listeners in just a few words.

  “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”

  Boom. It says so much in so few words.

  Here he asks people not to retaliate with violence after they win their struggle. Nelson Mandela was inspired by Gandhi’s leadership example of non-violent change. When Mandela was elected President of South Africa in 1994 he encouraged his supporters to forgive their former oppressors, rather than fight back with violence.

  Why? It wasn’t only about doing the ‘right thing’. With this brilliant, short yet powerful message, he showed that resentment and retribution won’t help them.

  He said: ‘Don’t get even, don’t pay them back because it won’t help you. It won’t make you feel better. It won’t help you build a better society for your children. It will only corrupt you’.

  What followed was 3 years of transformation, reconciliation and forgiveness that finally ended apartheid in South Africa. During this time, another message Nelson Mandela shared was, “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”

  Not only does this message guide us in the right direction, it just makes sense. And that’s why we trust the leader.

  Nelson Mandela is a global leadership example. Not only did he lead South Africa through massive challenges, he set an example of inspirational leadership that continues to inspire and motivate. It’s a wonderful legacy.

  Steve Jobs - Chief Messaging Officer

  Steve Jobs changed the world in a different way. He redefined how we interact with and use technology. And messaging was his secret weapon. Here’s how Steve Jobs changed the world in the following areas:

  • Computers. He co-founded Apple Computer and led the team that created the Macintosh in 1984, the first computer with a graphical user interface and mouse.

  • Music. He created the iPod and iTunes Store, which changed the way people purchase and access music.

  • Consumer technology. The iPhone and iPad are full-powered pocket computers that launched the ‘post-PC era’, in which personal computer sales declined and consumer devices - that are portable, always connected and have access to cloud-based services - are the growing trend.

  • Pixar. In his spare time he created Pixar, which changed the world of animated movies.

  Chief Messaging Officer

  What’s unique about Steve Jobs is his direct involvement in the messaging of his industry, his company and the specific products he launched. It was highly unusual that a CEO (as opposed to an advertising agency) would decide on messaging, let alone launch each product personally to deliver those messages.

  For example, leading up to the iPod launch in October 2001, Steve personally managed the process of deciding on both the name and the message of this breakthrough product. What’s interesting is that Steve decided on the message before they had named the product. The message – ‘1000 songs in your pocket’ – was clear in his mind some months before the name ‘iPod’ was chosen.

  Let’s look at this example of messaging and how it helped the iPod garner an 80% share of the MP3 music player market and set Apple on a trajectory to become the most valuable company in the world.

  The master of the transferable message

  When Jobs walked on stage on October 23, 2001, to launch the iPod, he began by talking about how much he and people at Apple loved music. He went on to lament the fact that the current crop of MP3 players were frustrating and, in many cases, unusable.

  Then he started talking about what would make a great MP3 player; this included storing a lot of songs – say, 1000 songs – so you wouldn’t have to keep syncing it with your computer. It would have to be small enough to fit in your pocket, he said. Plus, it should have a user interface that makes it quick and easy to find the song you want.

  Then he paused and said, “Well, I have this perfect product right here in my pocket.”

  He pulled it out of his front jeans pocket and said,

  “The iPod. 1000 songs in your pocket.”

  At the same moment, the screen behind him reinforced the message like a billboard. Within an hour, the Apple homepage was emblazoned with the same message. ‘The iPod. 1000 songs in your pocket’. It was very clear.

  Smart messaging gets massive editorial exposure for free!

  With his vivid language, Steve Jobs achieved what other leaders have only dreamed of; massive editorial exposure for free.

  How? The audience was filled with hundreds of journalists and reviewers who wrote articles about the iPod and, of course, included the ‘1000 songs in your pocket’ message as either a headline or a key component of the first couple of paragraphs.

  In fact, the transferable-message-genius of Steve Jobs went further than that. Purchasers of the iPod proudly showed it to their friends, dutifully repeating the message. “Hey, have you seen this? 1000 songs in your pocket!”

  Steve achieved the same messaging magic with most of his product launches. For example, he very cleverly set up the iPhone presentation with the promise that he was launching “3 revolutionary products.

  • A widescreen iPod with touch controls

  • A revolutionary mobile phone

  • A breakthrough internet communications device”.

  He spoke about these 3 products for a while, toying with his audience for a few minutes. Then, delivered the vivid message:

  “These are not 3 separate devices. This is 1 device. And we’re calling it iPhone.”

  Guess which message was repeated by thousands of journalists and reviewers that day?

  “The new iPhone is 3 products in 1.”

  You can leverage the power of messaging

  Steve Jobs had other skills you and I may not be able to easily replicate – like his hypnotic charisma, stubbornness and intense focus – but we can all lev
erage the power of messaging. Here are some messages he used to build his success:

  “You can change the world.”

  When Steve Jobs was a kid, he saw a new piece of technology – a speaker that didn’t need an amplifier. He went home and told his dad, who said, “Every speaker needs an amplifier, son”. He forced his dad to come with him to look at the new technology, and observed his dad’s amazement. Steve credits this moment as the start of a driving belief that he had for the rest of his life:

  ‘The people who created all the stuff in the world are no smarter than you or me.’

  So he decided that it was quite logical and possible that he would change the world. He’s also known for convincing many brilliant people to work for him on the promise that they could, literally, change the world. Most famously, when Steve Jobs enticed the CEO of Pepsi to become Apple CEO in its early days. The message that finally convinced John Scully to quit his safe job at Pepsi and join the risky young Apple team was:

  “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to change the world?”

  John Scully says this is what persuaded him to join Apple.

  Here’s an unconventional message:

  “This is shit!”

  Jobs was a great motivator, but a hard man to work for at times. He expected perfection – sometimes an impossible perfection – from his engineers. He was famous for giving a ‘This is shit’ response to the first look at software and hardware prototypes.