Mind Tricks for Remembering

Leaders can use a technique that great teachers use: mnemonics, or memory devices. These mind tricks help people learn critical information and communicate it in an accessible way for others to remember. I can still remember my piano scale from decades ago: "Every Good Boy Does Fine" (EGBDF). Proof of the power of novel ways to impact memory function! Two pertinent examples for today's leaders follow: learning the nine protected classes and the five components that define culture.

Knowing the classes of people who are protected by law is essential for leaders to avoid lawsuits and to show respect for all people within an organization. "Get NASCAR-REV-D" is a simple way to remember National origin, Age of 40 and over, Sex meaning gender and not orientation, Color, And (a reminder there five are more), Race, Religion, Ethnicity, Veterans, and Disabled. Consider the image of this explanation: Both genders of many national origins and ethnic groups drive brightly colored cars in a race for the finish line where the disabled vehicles and aged veterans are celebrated like a religion on a holy day. "Get NASCAR-REV-D" helps interviewers and reviewers stay out of trouble!

When developing a national or regional culture or a corporate or nonprofit culture, five components require attention: Values, Appearance, Unique food, Language, and Traditions. Use the VAULT acrostic to remember that the people in your organization that you treasure are kept safe in your VAULT. Finding ways to differentiate your organization is a serious branding and marketing objective. Core values help leaders formulate mission and vision statements that keep everyone within the organization focused on common goals and clarify the purpose of the organization to customers and competitors.

One's skin color, hair color and texture, physique, and facial characteristics have been noted as differentiators for family, national, racial, and ethnic units for centuries. The resemblance is noted easily. Likewise costumes of heritage and wealth are easy to recognize as differentiators: kilts, Plains Indian headdress, cowboy hat and boots, denim jeans, Prada accessories,and any brand name garment. Appearance helps leaders develop a sense of belongingness to the organizational family with uniforms (Southwest Airlines), logos (branding such as golden double arches for McDonald's), identifying colors (brown for UPS), volumpuous female physique (Hooters), and any other attribute for bodies and clothing.

Unique food is obvious for a national or regional culture; for example, just think of Americans and hamburgers come to mind, Germans remind us of beer and brats, and Mexicans remind us of salsa and tortillas. Perhaps an on-site cafeteria or vending machines define your organization's "unique food." Maybe it's a 15-minute bag lunch at your desk or group jaunts to a local restaurant.

The language will address the jargon of your industry and the regionalisms of your geographical environment. Grammar becomes a part of this language component as well. You may also have special terms for products and services, some of which may be registered trademarks, copyrights, or pattens. In our global market, many telemarketers have accents from around the world and organizations are owned by managements located in other countries. These language differentiators become part of the organization's identity.

Finally, traditions may include award ceremonies, annual picnics, promotion from within, an organization song or cheer, innovative or conservative perspectives, quarterly performance appraisals, management by objectives, safety audits, regulatory compliance, Six Sigma, and/or official and unofficial codes of conduct. A treasured culture is kept in a VAULT!

Simple mind tricks can empower leaders, employees, and students with the knowledge they need to perform successfully. It's worth a few minutes to create a mnemonic for fast, complete retrieval of essential information. Afterall, "every good boy [and girl] does fine!"

Choose Words Strategically

In How to Say It at Work (pages 16-17), Jack Griffin says to avoid these 53 words:
I, me, you, yours, afraid, bad luck, blame, cannot, cheated, circumstances, cornered, crisis, delay, delinquent, demand, disaster, excuse, experiment, fail, fault, fear, final, forgot, frustrating, guess, hopeless, impossible, impractical, inadequate, insist, loser, loss, lost, make do, must, nervous, no, non-negotiable, one-time offer, overlooked, panic, relax, slipped, sorry, stupid, tired, unaware, unfair, unreasonable, wasted.
The author calls this “vocabulary of limitation,” and I believe he’s on to something. Researchers in psycholinguistics would agree. Note that “avoid” from the opening sentence is not the same as eliminate. We should become aware of where, when, and how we express any of those words in Griffin's list because the word content (meaning)and context can override our intent. Words have a huge impact on behavior and outcome. Good leaders recognize this impact.
Vince Lombardi, the great football coach, was asked in an interview once about how he talked to his team to motivate them. His answer centered on pronouns: I, you, and we. His advice follows. Use "I" to limit bad news: "Our loss today means I failed to coach the team well this week." Use "you" to deliver good news: "You won!" Use "we" to frame neutral, legal, company, or collaborative news: "We have a moral and ethical obligation to our fans to do our best"; "We can do this together if we each commit to do what it takes to achieve our part."
To influence others' behavior and outcomes, be careful of language that limits and use pronouns strategically.

Giving Feedback

Five simple questions can help you decide what to say and how to phrase your message, comment, or feedback:
1. Is it timely?
Determine if now is the appropriate time and place. Praise can be public, yet criticism should be private. If you say a negative and follow it minutes later with a positive, it stands to reason the receiver will probably be confused and distrustful because of the mixed message. Therefore, your transitions and explanations of the shift in focus become essential. Example: “Your behavior is unacceptable. I cannot allow it to continue….. You are a highly skilled technician whose work we value.” Turn this around: “You are a highly skilled technician whose work we value. So, let’s talk about what just happened. Tell me what caused that behavior.”
2. Is it truthful?
Use gentle honesty rather than cruel honesty. Use questions to get at painful reality. Example: “How might that behavior affect the team’s morale?” rather than “You have a negative impact on the team’s morale.” We all tend to believe what we say, so asking a question to encourage someone to say the truth is more effective than telling that person what you perceive the truth to be. Besides, you will also get information regarding that person’s interpretation of reality by listening to the answer.
3. Is it wanted?
Remember to get permission before delivering feedback or instruction. Example: “Would you like to know an easier or faster way of doing that task?” This gets buy-in that can lead to a committed change in behavior or perspective.
4. Is it helpful?
Some people flourish on negative attention, so they may want what is not helpful. Strange but true! Determine if someone can grow or be productive as a result of this message. Complaining and criticizing is not helpful without coaching. Telling someone what not to do is a waste of time if you cannot share with them what to do.
5. Is it respectful?
Check the wording and tone of the message to save face and protect dignity. Avoid limiting language, inflammatory wording, and biased perspectives.
When you have five affirmative answers to those questions, you have a successful communication. If any one of those answers is no, you will want to think about your message; content, context, and intent some more.