Success impulse: What we can learn from the U.S. election
The U.S. election has been decided, and its course has been more exciting than ever. What lessons can we learn from it for our leadership? Some, as our guest author explains in a new Success Impulse.
Now that the reality show of the US election has come to an end (with a satisfactory outcome for most Swiss), it is interesting to look at what we can learn from it for our leadership. And by that I don't mean the actual content of the discussion (which had been pushed into the background anyway), but the circumstances that made the course of events so exciting for many. Because I was not the only one who found it almost pleasant that the topic of Corona was pushed to second place in the news for a few weeks. We can learn a lot from this for our communication and our influence, especially as leaders.
Hardly anyone cared about the US election
Because whether you found all the fuss necessary or annoying, there's hardly anyone who didn't care at all. And that's why the question arises as to what's so fascinating about it. Because the mechanisms that determine your influence hardly have anything to do with the content, but very much with other parameters.
Here's the thing: to achieve any change in your company or team, you depend on the commitment of your people. So what levers can we take from the American campaign into our leadership repertoire?
We can take these levers from the U.S. election campaign
- Target clarity. The goal in the American presidential campaign is very clear: to get the majority of the electorate as the sum of the individual states. It is not important at this point whether the method for doing this is the best, but whether the goal is simple and clear. Here's the question for you: how clear and simple are your goals if you want to achieve change with your team? Most people I know tend to drive in the fog. Instead of one, there are often 27 different goals. That's how you lose your people.
- Emotional connection. Achieving the clear goal in the U.S. election campaign is extremely emotionally charged. Whether we think it's exaggerated or not, it binds people's attention. And that is precisely an important aspect of achieving goals: we need the emotional energy of those involved. Too often, I see far too little passion and thus energy even in the implementation of strategies.
- Will to win. You may think the doggedness of some players in the American election campaign is dangerous (as I do), but I tend to see the opposite in most companies: indifference about the future. "It will work out somehow" is not a conducive thought if you want to achieve great things. People very much like to follow leaders with a clear will to win.
As you can see, there are many things you can learn from controversial events and apply to yourself. Remember this the next time you want to implement strategic initiatives or other change.
To the author:
Volkmar Völzke is a success maximizer. Book author. Consultant. Coach. Speaker. www.volkmarvoelzke.ch
