In the third edition of Leading Out Loud, Terry Pearce shows business leaders how to communicate their visions and inspire the commitment of those they lead to bring their visions to life. The book details methods for improving communication skills and finding the most authentic voices that help leaders articulate with confidence and clarity. The key to the process is to produce a Personal Leadership Communication Guide (PLCG) that identifies leaders’ values, changes that are needed, and methods to effectively communicate with others and inspire them to join the process.
The Personal Leadership Communication Guide (PLCG) is key to developing strong leadership skills. It is a professional roadmap both theoretical and practical to express a vision and inspire others to join the process of change. Writing a PLCG and then turning concepts into action consists of nine steps:
1. Identify personal values and intentions. Each person’s core values are derived from personal experiences, and identifying them strengthens conviction and communication with others.
2. Develop emotional intelligence. Discovering personal emotions and learning to recognize and respect the emotions of others is essential to establish trust.
3. Connect with others. Through the use of images, symbols, metaphors, and narratives, leaders can create limbic resonance or empathic connections with others.
4. Write. By writing down everything relevant to communicating with others in the PLCG, leaders will reconnect with their authentic voices.
5. Establish competence and confidence. The willingness to discuss and interact with those who disagree demonstrates genuine commitment and builds trust.
6. Create a shared context. Creating a larger context that supersedes self-interest but expresses common values inspires others to participate in change.
7. Describe the future. Developing a vision for a better future and then communicating it to others is the first step towards change.
8. Commit to action. After documenting an action plan in the PLCG, the leader should express it to others and inspire their commitment.
9. Communicate and lead. Presenting the change plan, fostering commitment and proactive communication, and establishing trust are leadership actions based on the PLCG.
Leading Out Loud by Terry Pearce is a dense tutorial for people from all walks of life who have a vision for change. It provides a step-by-step guide to creating a written plan for authentic leadership, and is applicable to both current business leaders and those who want to lead. There are prolific examples throughout the book of what the written plan or Personal Leadership Communication Guide might look like. Each example appears in a boxed area, which makes it easy to locate within the text. There are also numerous anecdotes from the author’s own career and from other prominent leaders. Because the book contains philosophical, psychological and ideological concepts, a deep understanding requires the total commitment of the reader from cover to cover.