David Zinger, CEOs and Vulnerability

In his Zing-Review of March 3, employee engagement expert David Zinger cited research by the health care research firm Beryl on improving patient experiences in hospitals. The whole article is rich with references and research, though the title is a bit intimidating. David pulls from the final paragraph:

[The CEOs’] vulnerability is the first step in employee engagement. To decide on a “mission, vision and values” that truly reflects the [organizations’s] character, the CEO must sit down with staff from all levels to discuss improvements in culture. (from Becker’s Hospital Review, Feb 25, 2011)

Vulnerability and Intimacy

Vulnerability – openness, softness, exposure – is one of three key pieces of Intimacy as we define it. The first two, discretion and empathy, refer back to the other person in the relationship, how we treat them, but vulnerability sits squarely with us, how we treat ourselves.

Why is it so Hard?

Why is vulnerability, which conveys softness and openness, so darn hard in fact to put into practice?

Well, it starts with saying: “I don’t have all the answers.” Now, that’s terrifying! How will people respect me or my position?

And goes on to: “But I’m sure you have some ideas.” What if I don’t want to hear the things they have to say? What if they criticize me?

And concludes with: “Let’s put our heads together.” Yikes, and collaborate?

Like so many things in life, simple, but not easy.

8 MBAs Solve World Hunger. In Theory.

Back in October 2006 I started this blog, Trust Matters, by looking back from the vantage point of my 30th MBA reunion, in a post called Harvard Business School 30 Years Later: Bring Back Joe. That was five years ago.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of joining a golf outing with 7 classmates. For three days, we enjoyed some much-needed Arizona sun, golfed, dined—and talked. One night we decided to compare solutions to the Major Problems facing the United States. We were all surprised at what we heard. See what you think.

Look Who Came to Dinner

Among the 8 of us were 6 present or former CEOs, and 6 former or present management consultants. Industries represented included communications, manufacturing, restaurants, airlines, banking, healthcare services and forest products.

We’re all male, ages about 60-63. Most had children; some have kids still in their teens; some are on the cusp of grandparenthood.

If You Were Emperor of the US

We posed the question to each other, “If you were the emperor of the US, whatever that means, what policy steps would you put in place?”

Here is the list, together with the number of us who agreed (note there were some abstentions on a few questions):

  • Change the presidency to one six-year term, no renewals (7/8)
  • Imprison about 250 financial industry executives (3/6)
  • Shift House of Representatives terms to four years (8/8)
  • Reinstate some form of Glass Steagall (8/8)
  • Embark on major public works investments (6/8)
  • Adopt means-testing for social services programs (8/8)
  • Break up big banks (5/8)
  • Institute electoral campaign finance reform (8/8)
  • Increase immigration of high-education high wealth-creating people (7/8)
  • Cut the defense budget (8/8)
  • Some form of single-payer system for health care (5/6)
  • MBA programs take leadership role in creating an ethos of service in business (8/8)
  • More consumer responsibility for health care payments (7/8)
  • Cut back on scope of public sector benefits programs (6/8)
  • Increase age of social security (8/8)

(There were several substantive side comments, e.g. solve banking issues by shifting regulatory authority from the Fed to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; move public pension plans to 401ks; index social security).

I know of no reason why these 8 MBAs would differ from another group of similar vintage. And we were all quite serious in our recommendations.

Why Those Ideas Are So Not Happening

Lots of people think that the US is run by 60-ish ex-CEO’s from ‘top’ MBA programs. (Picture our two foursomes as the opening scene of a Wall Street-like movie about ‘who really pulls the strings in this country.’) But those ideas don’t seem to represent policy of either of the two major political parties. In fact, the odds are very low that most of them will be implemented.

There are many explanations for the discrepancy but two big ones are:

1. Our group of 8 was not representative
2. The world is indeed run by a small number of people, but MBAs are not at the center of it.

I vote for number 2. If we’re the ones pulling strings, apparently the strings we’re pulling aren’t attached to much.

Trust and Policies

One classmate (not in attendance) who did find his way to public office said it’s easy to explain why politicians don’t express those views: “You’d never get elected saying those things.”

Which leaves us all in a bit of a trust dilemma (assuming you think our ideas are not crazy–perhaps a big assumption):

• Are voters really that ignorant? (We all agreed that ‘yes’ is not an implausible answer).
• Is it reasonable to expect politicians to commit career suicide-by-truth-telling? (Probably not).
• Is our system broke? (We think so: that’s why we had such unanimity around social responsibility for business, and campaign finance).

In one respect, I imagine that we eight are like the majority of US citizens—we hold a set of beliefs about how things ought to be that is not mainly reflected in policy.

When most people feel their views are in the minority, social trust issues lurk. When it’s not one minority but many different ones, those issues are even tougher.

As one of our wiser golfers said, “Occasionally some of our global friends are inclined to over-simplify when looking at the US–this is one ungodly-complicated country to run.”

 

Trust Primer Volume 10

The theme of winning has for decades heavily influenced our approach to business. It seems as obvious as the air we breathe, hence we don’t even notice it. But winning has not always occupied the dominant positions it does today; go back and read Peter Drucker, for example. If we deeply explore the idea of customer focus, we get a different perspective; one in which customer focus is not the handmaiden of winning, but which sees winning is a byproduct of customer focus. It turns out the systemic benefits are greater with this latter view.

The concept of transparency comes up naturally in this line of thinking–customer focus demands it. You can’t well be devoted to serving customers and practicing duplicity or being opaque.

These topics and more are discussed in our Trust Primer 10, featuring, “The Two Times You Should Refer a Customer to a Competitor,” “Handling Sales Rejection Without Becoming a Narcissist,” and “To Tell or Not To Tell: The Three Question Transparency Test.” Each treats these themes from a slightly different angle.

Get the Trust Primer volume 10 here

If you enjoy this ebook, you can email it to friends by following this link. Better yet, stop by the blog and join in the conversation. If you received this from a friend or colleague and would like to subscribe to the series, click here.

Upcoming Events and Appearances: Trusted Advisor Associates

Join us at one or more upcoming Trusted Advisor Associates events. This Spring, we’ll be hosting and participating in events in New York, NY; Washington, DC; and Fargo, ND and through globally accessed webinars.

Also, a word about the Trusted Advisor Mastery Program.

————————————————

Mon. Mar. 28th New York, NY Sandra Styer

Sandy Styer will be speaking on “Building Your Trusted Advisor Skills” at the Masa Israel Journey on Monday, March 28th in New York City.

 

Wed. April 20th Washington, DC Andrea P. Howe
Andrea will be speaking at the Washington DC Chapter of the Project Management Institute on “Trust and Influence: What Every Successful Project Manager Needs to Know.” Paolo’s Ristorante, 11898 Market Street, Reston, VA, 11:30am. Open to public: Sign up here. PMIWDC Members $30; Non-Members: $30; lunch will be served. PDUs will be available for Project Management Professionals (PMPs).

 

Wed. Apr. 27th Fargo, ND Sandra Styer

Sandy Styer will be presenting “The Heart of Trust: Keys to Becoming a Trusted Advisor” at the Tristate Trust Conference of the North Dakota Bankers Association on April 27th.

——————————-

The first tranche of the Trusted Advisor Mastery Program is completing its final month. Members are taking stock. Here’s what one participant has to say about the online Forum portion of the program:

The online Forum is a group of professionals from the US and Australia – our Forum goal is to help each other take the next right actions to raise Trust, and Trustworthiness. I applied several participants ideas and they worked out great! The Trusted Advisor Master Program delivered professional and personal results beyond expectations”. (Virginia Sambuco, Sr. Director Marketing Services, Enterprise Solutions, Harland Clarke, San Antonio TX)

To be notified of the next available program, email us at: [email protected].

Reduce Stress: Stop Selling. Start Helping.

A lawyer I was coaching recently felt his sales performance was weak. He had a few prospective clients asking him about his services and “kicking tires” but not retaining him. After discussing the specifics of one such prospective client, I asked him: “what was your goal with this person?”

He responded: “To make him a client.” He told me that trying to convert the person from contact to client was uncomfortable for him. Worse still: it wasn’t working.

Is Turning a Contact Into a Client the Right Goal?

I frequently find lawyers, consultants and financial planners wanting to mine their relationships and turn the many contacts they have into clients. They are focused on business development and want to build relationships so they can get more business. That may sound like a good goal–but it’s the wrong one.

The goal should be to build relationships and help the other person. The more one tries to sell, the more the prospective client gets turned off. Just think of the times when you needed services or products. You probably just wanted to be guided and helped, not to be sold something.

This isn’t a new concept. There are many articles and blogs that give all the reasons to stop trying to sell. Just do a search on “stop selling.” You’ll be inundated with articles and blogs. Charlie Green published an article on this topic in 2006 called “Stop Trying to Close the Sale”.

Let Go of the Goal and Start Helping

The more you try to sell, the less the other person wants to buy. It’s one of the paradoxes of selling. So—don’t do that. Instead, really do let go of that goal. Of course you need more clients or customers–but that’s your problem, not your prospective client’s problem.

Trying too hard just doesn’t work. And, as my lawyer client said – it’s stressful. Let go of your goal along with the stress it engenders and try something else – like helping, in the context of building real relationships. Interestingly, the more you try to help, the more success you’ll have in selling. (As long as you don’t let short-term, gosh-I-hope-I-can-sell-this-one thinking reverse the means and the ends).

Helping means finding ways to assist the other person to identify, analyze and resolve his or her problem. If that process results in a need for your services, that outcome will emerge. If helping includes referring the person to someone else, perhaps even a competitor, so be it.

Helping rather than selling fits well into the Trust Principles. Helping is:

      It also reflects low self-orientation, and enhances credibility, both components of the Trust Equation.

      How Helping Reduces Stress

      Most Professionals with whom I work rarely got their JD, CPA or MBA because they wanted to sell. What they wanted to do was to practice their chosen profession and to help people. They create stress for themselves by feeling they have to sell when they don’t want to, a feeling that is compounded by then having to deal with rejection on top of it.

      This is an unnecessary, even painful, vicious circle. Change your mindset towards helping others. It will reduce your stress. And it may actually result in more business sold.

      Stop selling and start helping.

       

      The March Trust Matters Review

      Trust EquationStephen Shapiro writes about Ethos, Pathos and Logos: what Aristotle can teach you about sales. It all starts with trust. And, as an aside, Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle is still the best simple schema for writing an article, book or speech where you’re trying to convince someone of anything.

      CEO Richard Fain of Royal Caribbean talks about his managing style, see if you can spot how it’s ultimately based on trust, and why it wouldn’t work if his subordinates didn’t trust him.

      Andy Rudin discusses whether it’s possible to trust a salesperson on commission and if moving your salesforce to salaries will increase trust—and sales.

      Professors Ko Kuwabara and Oliver Sheldon compare the long term effectiveness of building trust gradually vs leaping in with a big trusting gesture works. Is your usual strategy supported by research?

      Peter Lacy, Managing Director of the Accenture Sustainability Services Group, and his co-authors lay out the case for trust and how to build it (pdf). How much does lack of trust cost you, and how much can trust earn you?

      Psychologist Elisha Goldstein asks if we should trust ourselves or experts more, and relates the question to neuroscience.

      Andrew Brandt, of the National Football Post, argues that NFL owners and players couldn’t reach a deal due to mutual mistrust, not because of the merits of the deal itself.

      Marina Ashdale tackles the question of who gets more respect, men or women, by looking at the experience of transmen, women who have had gender change operations to become men. Two guesses what they report, but the first doesn’t count.

      Thorfinn looks at the relation between government size and trust. I think he’s overdrawing his conclusions, but the data is fascinating and maybe I’m wrong.

      Nokia CEO Stephen Elop shows how to be brutally honest in a brutally honest memo about the “burning platform” Nokia is standing on. Honesty isn’t enough, but it’s the first step.


      Gwen Sharp writes about whether game show audiences are trustworthy, and what the differences are between audiences from different countries. Fascinating cross cultural comparison of trust.


      The Trust Matters Review highlights the best articles and posts on trust our research has turned up in the last month.

      If you’d like to share a great article about trust, let us know, in the comments here or through the Trust Matters Review submission form.

      For more links to outstanding articles on trust, see:

      Sample Selling Without Giving Away the Store

      “I know you recommend sample selling for intangible services, Charlie,” the caller said, “but I have to tell you, I think that’s naïve.”

      “I followed your advice,” he continued, “I gave them a great idea; but I didn’t get the deal. Worse, they stole my idea; now they’re making it a practice area. You can’t trust everyone; you can’t give away the store.”

      The Three Myths of Giving Away Too Much

      My caller is not alone in his fear of being taken. And as the saying goes, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.

      Yet he is the architect of his own misery. He has fallen prey to three mistaken beliefs. And while you can’t think your way out of all tough situations, this one you can.

      Myth 1: Ideas, Like Shoreline, are Limited. I’ve heard it said there are really only seven jokes—all others are variations. I have no doubt that’s true: but there is no end to standup comedians telling no end of those variations. Limited categories don’t preclude infinite instances.

      Myth 2: Ideas are the Scarce Resource. As a consultant, I originally bought into the idea that corporate strategies were invaluable; if discovered by competitors, they could bring the company down.

      This turned out to be a conceit. In truth, you could give an entire industry public access to each other’s written strategies, and due to a combination of hubris, incompetence and the inertia of culture, very little would change as a result.

      As the NRA might put it, “ideas don’t change businesses—people do.”

      Myth 3: They’re Out to Take My Stuff. Yeah, some are. And they are the people who believe that ideas are limited and that access to ideas alone is valuable. See myths 1 and 2 above.

      Those who are out to take your stuff are co-conspirators in a joint exercise of self-delusion. They’re like thieves bent on stealing counterfeit cash. Go find some fresh air to breathe.

      Sample Selling without Giving Away the Store

      Let me acknowledge that there are certain businesses where idea theft is quite real. Chemical formulae in the pharmaceutical industry, novels in the publishing industry, code in the software business—I’m not talking about these cases. They are covered by patent, trademark and copyright laws. There are still lawsuits, but by and large the rules and case law are very well developed.

      I’m talking about marketing, change management, business strategy, process change methodologies, sales processes, communications, systems implementation—the world of complex, intangible services. Like jokes, there may be a limited number of categories—but there is an unlimited number of applications.

      How do you avoid falling prey to the myths? How do you not give away the store? Here are three tips to remember.

      Sample Selling Tip 1: Present Ideas Collaboratively. The context in which you present an idea is critical. Don’t waltz in and dump an idea on your client’s desk; first they’ll reject it, then they’ll tweak it, then come to believe it’s theirs—leaving you to stew in your own juices. (That’s best case; most likely, they’ll ignore it.)

      Instead, go back three steps and engage your client in a general conversation; let the idea emerge in context, between the two of you. Don’t be obsessed with ‘ownership’ of the idea unless you already have a patent.

      You might say something like:

      “Susan, I was thinking about the XYZ problem we discussed Monday. Does that situation ever arise in other divisions? I’m wondering if it’s really a process problem, or a people problem; can we bounce this around for a while?”

      If you’re really smart—and evolved; see Tip 3 below—you’ll let your client discover the idea.

      Sample Selling Tip 2: The Real Sample is Problem Definition. The idea of ‘sample selling’ is a bit of a misnomer. The real sample you’re giving the client is not a sample answer, but a sampling of how it feels to work with you.

      You do this by continually asking—with the client—“what problem are we trying to solve?” You might say something like:

      “Joe, we’ve come up with some great ideas in the business process arena. As we’ve talked, some related issues have arisen in the talent side of the business. Could we schedule some time to work those issues together?”

      Then repeat Tip 1 above.

      Sample Selling Tip 3: Rebalance Humility and Confidence. You need humility. Not humility about your ability—humility about your uniqueness. You are not Einstein (unless you are); you aren’t the only one with ideas. And frankly, your ideas are probably not unique either.

      You need confidence. Not confidence in your ideas—confidence in your ability to spot an infinite number of problem areas in your client, and confidence in your ability to generate more ideas to address each problem. It starts simply with seeing opportunities for improvement.

      Above all, you are the one with the client relationship; in that, you are unique. So—go define problems, and generate ideas collaboratively.

      You’ll get credit—but more importantly, you’ll get repeat business.

      Upcoming Events and Appearances: Trusted Advisor Associates

      Join us at one or more upcoming Trusted Advisor Associates events. This Spring, we’ll be hosting and participating in events in New York, NY; Fargo, ND and through globally accessed webinars.

      Also, a word about the Trusted Advisor Mastery Program.

      ————————————————

      Tues. Mar. 15th New York, NY Charles H. Green

      Charlie will be speaking in New York, March 15th, with Jordan Kimmel at NYU Alumni’s Executive Forum. The subject is “Restoring Trust in Post-Madoff America: What it Means for Advisors, Companies and Investors.” National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South. 5:45 Cocktails, 6:30 Dinner, 7:30 Speakers. $75. RSVP for the event here.

       

      Wed. Mar. 16th Global Charles H. Green

      Charlie will interview investor relations expert Laura Rittenhouse, on the subject of “How the CEO Candor Crisis is Strangling Our Economic Recovery.” Laura is president of Rittenhouse Rankings, Inc., an investor relations company that advises managements on strengthening corporate candor in order to improve execution and financial valuation. The Rittenhouse Rankings annual survey is the world’s only benchmark to correlate financial performance with CEO Candor. She is the author of Buffett’s Bites and Do Business with People You Can Trust. Log in to listen at www.voiceamerica.com. 12pm EST.


      Mon. Mar. 28th New York, NY Sandra Styer

      Sandy Styer will be speaking on “Building Your Trusted Advisor Skills” at the Masa Israel Journey on Monday, March 28th in New York City.

       

      Wed. Apr. 27th Fargo, ND Sandra Styer

      Sandy Styer will be presenting “The Heart of Trust: Keys to Becoming a Trusted Advisor” at the Tristate Trust Conference of the North Dakota Bankers Association on April 27th.

      ——————————-

      The first tranche of the Trusted Advisor Mastery Program is completing its final month. Members are taking stock. Here’s what one participant has to say about the online Forum portion of the program:

      The online Forum is a group of professionals from the US and Australia – our Forum goal is to help each other take the next right actions to raise Trust, and Trustworthiness. I applied several participants ideas and they worked out great! The Trusted Advisor Master Program delivered professional and personal results beyond expectations”. (Virginia Sambuco, Sr. Director Marketing Services, Enterprise Solutions, Harland Clarke, San Antonio TX)

      To be notified of the next available program, email us at: [email protected].

      Empty Calorie Social Networking

      I’m an enthusiastic user of many social media. I welcome interaction on Twitter (@charleshgreen), for example. In many ways, online networking is sort of the first derivative of the old, face-to-face type—faster, shallower, but broader and more far-reaching, and with essentially the same objective.

      Still, there are some differences. In ‘real’ (i.e. analog) life, socializing can be an end in itself. Online, sometimes the connection is dropped; the symbol no longer links to the symbolized. Numbers become their own narcissistic rationale.

      Call it empty calorie social networking—lots of apparent connections, but with no socially nutritional value.

      Buying Friends and Buying Lists

      Which feels more personal to you: email addresses, or twitter handles? If you’re like most people, you probably have a lot more email addresses than twitter addresses. After all, the social media are opt-in—you choose who gets to be in your network.

      But check this out.

      You can buy a one-time email list of people who purchased homes in the State of New Jersey in the last 30 days. It will cost you $500 for about 5000 names—that’s $0.10 per name.

      You can also buy 10,000 twitter followers for $97.00—that’s $0.01 per name—one tenth the cost of emails.

      The email list is ten times more expensive than the twitter list. Still think opt-in networks are special?

      Of course, there are a lot of reasons why those particular numbers might diverge, but one of them is this: a lot of the ‘social’ in ‘social networking’ is nothing of the kind. It isn’t just ‘lo-cal’ networking, it’s utterly ‘no-cal.’

      Who’s Consuming All Those Empty-Calorie ‘Connections?’

      I’m not talking about those who follow @charliesheen (1.8 million at this moment) or Justin Bieber (7.8 million). I’m talking about those who follow 20,000 people and who have 20,000 zombie-like followers themselves—and who have only ever published ten tweets.

      What’s driving this is a perversion of relationships—reciprocity gone wild. You follow me, I’ll follow you, and we’ll all get—bigger numbers. But for what end?

      There is more than a whiff of spam about all this, but that’s not all that’s going on. Spam is imposed against our will; following is not. Spam survives on one hit in 10,000—following gets darn near 100% returns. Like Pogo, we have found the enemy, and it is us.

      Much as high-calorie junk food addiction is being linked to obesity in the physical realm, there’s an addictive quality about this empty-calorie following. Fat follower lists are not conducive to relationship help.

      Out of control eating no longer has anything to do with nutrition; out of control follower-collecting no longer has anything to do with relationships.

      Ask yourself: why are you following someone? If your answer is anything but “because they sound interesting,” enlighten me.

      The Trusted Advisor and The King’s Speech

      Datapoint 1. Maybe you’ve seen the Oscar-winning The King’s Speech by now. Certainly you’ve read about it.

      Datapoint 2. If you’re reading this blog, you probably know I’m the co-author of The Trusted Advisor (with David Maister and Rob Galford).

      There is a connection between those two datapoints. But it took executive coach Paul Rutherford to make the case.

      The Movie and the Book

      Rutherford—former Comms director at Xerox–wrote a blogpost—Advice Fit For a King–linking the movie and The Trusted Advisor that is so good, I’m embarrassed I didn’t think of it myself.

      He suggests that the movie brought to life (in ways that a book could never do) some of the key principles we had articulated as being critical to a trusted advisor. Specifically:

      • Trusted advisors are consistent
      • Creating intimacy takes courage
      • Illustrate, don’t tell
      • Earn the right to offer advice
      • Focus on the client as an individual, not as someone filling a role
      • Be sure your advice is being sought
      • When you need help, ask for it
      • Just because the client asks a question doesn’t mean it’s the right question to answer.

      Rutherford cites moments in the movie to illustrate each of these points. I’m beginning to think the screenwriters had read our book!

      Credit where credit is due. If you’re online, click through to read Advice Fit for a King on Rutherford’s site, so he gets the traffic numbers. If that’s not feasible for you, then I have—with his permission—reprinted it below. Rutherford’s twitter handle, should you choose to give him a shout-out publicly, is @ruthertweet.

      Paul, many thanks for such an insightful movie-cum-book review.

      —————

      Advice Fit For a King

      (quoted with permission from Paul Rutherford)

      Like lost car keys, learning can turn up in the most unexpected places.

      After a recent workshop on Client leadership, I’ve been reading The Trusted Advisor by Maister, Green and Galford. It’s a comprehensive, well-structured handbook aimed at those in professional services who need to build and reinforce their business relationships.

      Brimming with anecdotes, checklists and ‘how to’ tips, it’s thorough and full of examples. Almost too thorough; no matter how many notes I made, and key paragraphs I underlined, it wasn’t sticking. It’s one of the shortcomings inherent in the ‘handbook’ form – I needed something to make it come alive.

      Then yesterday I went to see The King’s Speech.

      Movie Masterclass

      Geoffrey Rush plays Lionel Logue, the Australian speech therapist who helped Prince Bertie, the Duke of York (Colin Firth) – and second son of King George V – to overcome a debilitating stammer. To make matters worse, his elder brother (David aka Edward VIII) abdicated the throne to marry a divorcee, and Bertie became King on the eve of WW2 – at the time when the country needed a clear voice of leadership.

      Like all great pieces of entertainment, it’s a movie that works on multiple levels: It’s the story of a man trying to conquer his daemons. It’s the portrait of a leader struggling to step up to his role. It’s a study of class and social hierarchy. It’s an essay on the impact of radio broadcasting on politics and society.

      And it’s a masterclass in becoming a trusted adviser. Here are eight scenes from David Seidler’s original screenplay that beautifully illustrate many of the principles in Maister’s book:

      1. “Trusted Advisers are consistent”

      It is Bertie’s wife, Elizabeth, who first approaches Lionel about treating her husband. She does so under the pseudonym of Mrs Johnson. He is direct and to-the-point with her:

      LIONEL: Where’s Mr Johnson?

      ELIZABETH: He doesn’t know I’m here.

      LIONEL: That’s not a promising start

      He tells her to have hubby ‘pop by’ to give his personal history. She says “you must come to us.”

      LIONEL: Sorry, Mrs J, my game, my turf, my rules

      ELIZABETH: And what if my husband were the Duke of York?

      The penny drops for Lionel, but not his faith in his method and his success rate:

      LIONEL: I can cure your husband. But for my method to work there must be trust and total equality in the safety of my consultation room. No exceptions.

      It’s a testament to Helena Bonham Carter’s performance that you can see the relief in her face. Here is an adviser that is different, confident and will not make exceptions. Whether addressing commoner or royalty, he takes the same approach.

      2. “Be not afraid. Creating intimacy takes courage.”

      Obviously, this could be a flagship Client for Lionel; in that era, the gravitational pull of deference would have been immense. But his method – his advice – is based upon a relationship of equals, which he makes very clear to Bertie when they first meet.

      LIONEL: I was told not to sit too close. I was also told, speaking to a Royal, one has to wait for the Royal to choose the subject.”

      Cleverly, Lionel is already chipping away at the protocol; even Bertie acknowledges, with difficulty, that with him it could be a ‘rather long wait’. It’s a light moment before the inevitable conflict arises as the Adviser tries to map out his territory, focusing on facts:

      LIONEL: When did the defect start?

      BERTIE: It’s always been that way.

      LIONEL: I doubt that.

      BERTIE: Don’t tell me! It’s my defect.

      LIONEL: It’s my field. I assure you, no infant starts to speak with a stammer.

      After setting out his stall – he is the expert – he goes on to provoke Bertie, because it breaks down barriers and is part of the solution; Bertie doesn’t stammer when he’s angry. It’s hardly likely to be part of a B2B Client engagement strategy, but it’s a memorable reinforcement of the need to be brave in the face of defensive aggression.

      3. “Illustrate, don’t tell.”

      After provoking his potential Client, Lionel sets him an exercise to record his voice (if you haven’t seen the film, I’ll spare you the details). The session ends frostily, with Bertie saying that the treatment is not for him.

      However, in a scene shortly after, Bertie listens to the recording, and realises that Lionel’s methods – or at least his approach – can yield results.

      No one has told him this, it’s not on a testimonial. He has first hand, personal evidence of success.

      4. “Earn the right to offer advice”

      When Bertie returns to trial Lionel’s methods, the Royal couple set out their terms:

      BERTIE: Strictly business. No personal nonsense.

      ELIZABETH: I thought I’d made that very clear in our interview?

      Lionel points out that the couple’s request will result in dealing with the issue at surface level, and is told that it will suffice. So rather than be precious, he agrees to focus on breathing techniques, physical exercise and tongue twisters. We know that it won’t address the core problem, but this is Lionel’s first steps in forming the relationship. He is earning the right to go further.

      5. “Focus on the client as an individual, not as someone who is filling a role.”

      Halfway through the film, Bertie’s father (King George V) dies. When Client and Adviser meet soon after, the conversation extends beyond the prescribed boundaries. As is his duty, Bertie has been presenting a formal face to the world, so he treats the meeting with Lionel as a form of release. Lionel learns much about his background, his upbringing, his relationship with his parents and his siblings – much of it the root causes of his impediment.

      BERTIE: You know, Lionel, you’re the first ordinary Englishman…

      LIONEL: Australian.

      BERTIE: I’ve ever really spoken to.

      Of course, the subtext is that Lionel is the first person that Bertie has spoken to about these issues. Lionel has now reached the status of Trusted Adviser.

      6 “BE SURE YOUR ADVICE IS BEING SOUGHT.”

      The next time Bertie and Lionel meet, the prince is very angry with his elder brother. David is intent of marrying Mrs Simpson, a divorcee, so putting heart before duty. If it happens, Bertie will become King.

      BERTIE: I am not an alternative to my brother.

      LIONEL: If you had to, you could outshine David…

      Lionel reaches out and gives Bertie a pat of comfort on the shoulder. Bertie pulls back in offended shock.

      BERTIE: Don’t take liberties! That’s bordering on treason.

      LIONEL: I’m just saying you could be King. You could do it!

      BERTIE: That is treason.

      They face each other, as though in combat.

      LIONEL: I’m trying to get you to realise you need not be governed by fear.

      BERTIE: I’ve had enough of this.

      LIONEL: What are you afraid of?

      BERTIE: Your poisonous words.

      Bertie strides away, leaving Lionel to realise that he is no longer adviser to the man who is likely to be King.

      It’s a brilliant scene, both dramatically and as illustration of a key point in Client intimacy. No matter how close the relationship becomes, there will always be areas that are off limits. Here, advice should only be given when invited.

       

      7. “When you need help, ask for it.”

      Events turn in the drama, leading to a reconciliation between Bertie and Lionel. This happens at Lionel’s home, where he is visited by the royal couple while his wife is out playing bridge. Which is just as well, as Lionel has not told her of his ‘star’ Client.

      Unfortunately, she returns home early, and finds Elizabeth in the dinning room. Bertie and Lionel are in the parlour, in a scene that reveals the latter’s vulnerability:

      BERTIE: Logue, we can’t stay here all day.

      LIONEL: Yes we can.

      BERTIE: Logue…

      LIONEL: Look, I need to wait for the opportune moment.

      BERTIE: (realising) You’re being a coward!

      LIONEL: You’re damn right.

      Decisive, Bertie stands and throws open the door.

      BERTIE: Get out there, man!

      And so the adviser is advised.

      8. “Just because the client asks a question, doesn’t mean it’s the right question to answer.”

      Bertie’s coronation is the first major test of Lionel’s methods. He attends the preparations at Westminster Abbey, and gets a very cold reception from the Archbishop of Canterbury, who takes an exception to this antipodean outsider. In the following scene, it’s obvious that ‘the establishment’ has done some digging into Lionel’s past, which they have fed to Bertie.

      BERTIE: True, you never called yourself ‘Doctor’. I did that for you. No diploma, no qualifications. Just a great deal of nerve.

      How does Lionel respond? By pointing out that when he was developing his methods (to help shell-shocked soldiers returning from the Great War) there was no training. He admits that he has no piece of paper, but asks Bertie to focus on his track record of results, and what they have achieved together.

      *****

      I’ll stop at this point rather than spoil the end for those who haven’t yet seen The King’s Speech. I hope this post encourages you to do so, both as an emotionally charged historical biopic and as an object lesson in building Client relationships.

      Maister et al say of the trusted advisor role: “… virtually all issues, personal and professional are open to discussion and exploration. The trusted advisor is the person the Client turns to when an issue first arises, often in times of great urgency: a crisis, a change, a triumph, or a defeat.”

      For any of us hoping to build such a relationship, there’s plenty to learn from Lionel Logue.