Leading Out Loud

A Guide for Engaging Others in Creating the Future

Now, more than ever, the development of a leader's message is as crucial to success as the delivery of that message. This new updated edition of 'Leading Out Loud' provides a guide on how to align your personal values and your organisation’s values with a communication plan that resonates with people. The book is divided into two main parts:

1. The Internal Development of a Leader

Pearce makes several useful distinctions here which can be thought about under the headings of Operations vs Leadership:

Motivate vs Inspire (get people to do things vs get people to believe in things)
Instruct vs Connect (tell people what to do vs truly engage with people)
Change vs Progress (people dislike change but love to progress, move forward)
Compliance vs Commitment (obeying authority vs contributing from the heart)

In order to develop these abilities to inspire and connect, generating progress and commitment, a leader has to develop their ability to:

1. discover what matters and communicate through the prism of their core values
2. deepen emotional awareness through responding with empathy
3. connect with others through stories and metaphors
4. apply discipline to authenticity in their written communication so that it is accurate and well structured as well as having a genuine ring of truth

2. Personal Leadership Communication

Pearce then goes on to look at the practical day to day ways in which effective leaders communicate. He identifies several core elements of this:

• establishing competence and building trust through consistency and honesty
• shared context - building a common understanding
• declaring and describing the future - making it real and compelling for people
• committing to action - identifying clear personal and organisational steps, along with specific requests for action from individuals and teams

"All you have to do is write one true sentence.
Write the truest sentence you know."