informal coalitions

“Talking the walk” as an act of everyday leadership practice

In a recent HBR blog post, entitled The Best Leaders “Talk the Walk”, Fast Company co-founder and author Bill Taylor argues,

“… the more time I spend with game-changing innovators and high-performing companies, the more I appreciate the need for leaders to “talk the walk” — that is, to be able to explain, in language that is unique to their field and compelling to their colleagues and customers, why what they do matters and how they expect to win. The only sustainable form of business leadership is thought leadership. And leaders that think differently about their business invariably talk about it differently as well.”

Taylor rightly acknowledges the importance of language to people’s understanding, motivation, and performance - whether for better or worse!  I wonder, though, if the way that he describes the notion of “talking the walk”, and the example that he uses to explain it, does it full justice. In particular, I think that he fails to highlight how, practised properly, this signals a fundamental shift in the nature of leadership communication. A shift, that is, that privileges joint sense-making and relationship building ahead of the excessive emphasis on 'getting the message across' that continues to dominate current practice.

Politics and muddling through

In recent posts¹, I've suggested that "muddling through" most accurately describes what managers - all managers - do in practice. whether done well or done badly. With this in mind, it was interesting to come across a Financial Times article of 28 February, in which Simon Kuper extends this idea into the political world.

Reflecting on the nature of politics and human fallibility, Kuper concludes,

"... promising the moon no longer persuades anyone. Politicians might try offering muddling through instead."

His observation provides an important health warning ahead of the policies, promises and pledges that will rain down on us from politicians of all parties, as next year's UK General Election gets ever closer.