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WHAT IS LEADERSHIP?
I define a leader as a
person with a compelling vision; the passion to pursue
it despite obstacles; and the ability to share that vision
in a way that inspires others to join in. It’s no accident
that the very words we use when talking about big
juicy audacious goals and those who pursue them
– visionary, “picture this,” “I see what you mean” –
evoke our most dominant sense, sight.
80% of our brain’s sensory processing power is
devoted to vision. Images, colors, patterns, and the
kinesthetic experience of moving a pen across paper
activate the right side of our brain. Connecting this
with words and text generated by our left brain gives
us fuller access to our creativity.
Visual practices improve the way we communicate
our ideas, enhance the written record of our meetings
and decisions, and spark creativity and collaboration
as we solve problems and plan strategies.
COMMUNICATE —
We’re all familiar with the adage
“a picture is worth a thousand words,” and most of
us try to incorporate images into our presentations.
Why then, do so many dread the dimming of the lights
and the loading of the PowerPoint deck? Marketing
guru, Garr Reynolds, author of the blog and book
Presentation Zen
, says that we try to use PowerPoint
and other presentation software to do three things
when it is really optimized for only one. These
products are best used to project images to illustrate
the concepts that we are talking about. Instead, we
also rely upon the slides to act as a prompt for our
key talking points, and too often end up reading the
bulleted lists to our increasingly bored audience.
We then print out the slides as a handout. Better,
Reynolds advises, to project simple images and use
other products for these other two purposes.
Consultant and best-selling author, Dan Roam,
encourages us to forget stock photos and clip art,
and pick up the pencil ourselves. Using simple
stick figures, circles, and arrows, we can walk our
listeners through our thinking process in a manner
that is more captivating and engaging and leads
to greater understanding. The person who is best
able to describe and explain a problem simply
and succinctly is most likely to receive the funding
to solve it. If you can communicate your analysis
quickly with a five-minute back-of-the-napkin sketch
while your competitor is still loading PowerPoint, you
are ahead of the game!
RECORD —
We all attend a lot of meetings,
documented in pages and pages of minutes.
Honestly, how frequently do you read and refer to
these documents? Most of them are filed away,
never to be seen again. But what if your minutes
looked like the minutes in the corner above?
There is a growing profession of graphic recorders,
consultants who capture meetings and conversations
visually using words, color, and images. The
resulting charts can be posted on a wall to keep
the energy going – this is particularly effective with
strategic plans or vision statements. They can also
be scanned or photographed and the digital images
included in reports or distributed as minutes.
CREATE & COLLABORATE —
There is a variety of
simple visual tools that groups can use to spur creativity
and generate new ideas. Drawing skill is not necessary!
Plans and processes can be mapped using squares,
circles, arrows, stick figures, and text labels. Sticky
notes have the advantage of being movable; individual
actions and events can be written on separate notes
and moved around until the proper sequence is
achieved. Ideas can be clustered by theme.
HOW TO GET STARTED —
To get started as an
individual, get an inexpensive unlined sketchbook
and a pen or pencil that you like. Doodle while you’re
thinking or listening – research indicates that doodlers
actually retain more information than non-doodlers
listening to the same presentation! Try your hand at
mind mapping – turn the page into landscape mode,
and start in the middle rather than the upper left corner.
(This breaks the pattern to which our left brains are
accustomed.) Write your initial question, title, or idea in
the center. As you ponder the subject, add your new
ideas with lines branching off from the starting place,
and continue to add branches as new ideas connect
to existing themes. Add doodles, color code sections
if you like – this is drawing FOR YOU, as a thinking aid,
not as a work of art to display! Graphic facilitator and
author Brandy Agerbeck differentiates between drawing
for internal purposes – for individual thinking and group
communication – versus drawing for external viewing,
the realm of fine art and graphic design.
Make visual tools and toys available in your office.
Get more whiteboards, and stock up on sticky notes.
Browse through books like
Rapid Problem Solving
with Post-It Notes
or
Gamestorming
for ideas to use
in your next staff meeting. Try some warm-up doodles
on index cards – the small size can be reassuring,
reminding participants that this is a process and not a
product! Ask everyone to draw a simple self-portrait,
a diagram explaining how to make toast, or a map
of how they get from their home to the office. Leave
materials out so folks can play on their own. Make
3-D models of your vision with Play-doh. Energy is
more important than artistic quality!
Hire a graphic recorder or facilitator for one of your
meetings or conferences. Trust me, once folks
see this in action they will want more! Then send
an enthusiastic staffer or two to a visual practice
training, or purchase some of the Grove’s do-it-
yourself Graphic Guides Templates.
However you begin, adding visual tools to your practice
will strengthen your leadership skills and increase your
team’s creativity, engagement, and cohesion.
HR
Eris Weaver is a graphic facilitator, consultant, and
trainer based in the North Bay. Past clients include
Google, Stanford University, Enphase Energy, Moss
Adams LLP, Making It Big, Alvarado Street Bakery,
and the California State Bar. Possessing zero
tolerance for boring meetings or wasted time, her
motto is “Don’t work at it, play with it!” She can
be reached at
All photos &
illustrations by Eris Weaver. An earlier version of this
article appeared in CalSAE Executive in 2012.
Leadership
“I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN!”
By Eris Weaver, HR West Presenter: Session 806
