Here is an excerpt from an article written by Noah Zandan and Lisa Shalett for Harvard Business Review and the HBR Blog Network. To read the complete article, check out the wealth of free resources, obtain subscription information, and receive HBR email alerts, please click here.
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When leaders commit to building an inclusive organization, they tend to start with the company mission, vision, values, and a promise to ensure everyone in the organization has a voice. But if they don’t change the way they communicate every day with their employees, leaders are missing a crucial piece.
In a recent analysis, our team at Quantified Communications examined how inclusive leaders talk. The findings revealed that, despite the stated emphasis on inclusion, very few leaders have actually developed an inclusive communication style.
The Analysis
The research began by asking a diverse panel of 50 communication experts (who specialize in areas such as speech, rhetoric, social influence, and organizational communication) to watch 30 speakers and evaluate whether they were truly inclusive in key moments. The set of 50 experts, all holding advanced degrees (and more than half, PhDs), was 70% white, Hispanic, or Latinx, 20% Black, 8% Asian, and 2% biracial or multiracial. After observing the speakers, they rated each on a one-to-seven Likert scale.
Next, those same 30 speakers’ communication behaviors were analyzed using Quantified’s proprietary computational linguistics, vocal mapping, and facial micro-expression analysis. What words did they use? What pronouns? What phrases? What did they do with their voices, faces, and body language?
The team then evaluated both sets of results (the analysis of the speakers’ behaviors plus the audience’s impressions) to determine which leadership behaviors drive audiences to perceive leaders as inclusive. Then, they benchmarked the inclusive leaders’ behaviors relative to a large dataset of senior leaders at Fortune 1,000 firms who had been evaluated on the same communication behaviors (word choice, vocal patterns, non-verbal cues). The goal was to ensure the communication behaviors identified as inclusive were unique to the pool of inclusive leaders (and not just behaviors all senior leaders tend to exhibit).
The research was focused on answers to two questions: First, what are the essential behaviors that make an audience feel genuinely included by a leader? And second, how much more frequently do inclusive leaders exhibit these behaviors relative to the average leader in the same position?
The Top Three Communication Behaviors of Inclusive Leaders
[Here is the first.]
Using More Audience-Centered Language
According to the research, inclusive leaders use language that is personalized to their audience 36% more frequently than the average senior leader. In other words, they make an effort to put their audiences first and adapt messages to their needs, values, interests, and demographic makeup of the people who are listening.
To accomplish this, take the time to understand your audience, and adjust your messaging accordingly. What language, anecdotes, references, or examples will they relate to? Think deeply about the underlying themes or values that brought your audience together to identify something they have in common. If they’re employees that are part of an ERG group, present company-wide initiatives with a direct reference to how it impacts the group’s objectives. If the audience is investors, they’ll want to hear about the same initiatives in terms of ROI; if they’re sustainably minded consumers, address the environmental impact of the initiatives.
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Here is a direct link to the complete article.
Noah Zandan is the CEO and Co-Founder of Quantified Communications, a firm that combines data and behavioral analytics to help people measure and strengthen the way they communicate. Quantified Communications works globally with leaders of corporations, government organizations, higher education institutions, sales teams, nonprofits, and hundreds of TED speakers.
Lisa Shalett is a former Goldman Sachs partner who led Goldman’s brand through the financial crisis. She now advises growth companies, including Quantified Communications, and serves on corporate boards. She is the founder of Extraordinary Women on Boards, a community of hundreds of women corporate board directors focused on advancing board excellence, modernizing governance, and increasing board diversity.