The Blog

On The Bookshelf #14

Jacquie Molloy — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 23:00:58 +0000

Tom Peters has a selection of recommended titles about the skill of listening in his fantastic book (that I have mentioned here before): The Little BIG Things – 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence.

Here are four of them:

Listening Leaders: The Ten Golden Rules to Listen, Lead & Succeed by Lyman Steil and Richard Bommelje

The Zen of Listening by Rebecca Shafir

Leading with Questions: How Leaders Find the Right Solutions by Knowing What to Ask by Michael Marquardt

Listening: the Forgotten Skill by Madelyn Burley-Allen

On The Bookshelf #13

Jacquie Molloy — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:00:34 +0000

Moonwalking with Einstein: the Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer

— ‘I learned something remarkable: that there's far more potential in our minds than we often give them credit for. I'm not just talking about the fact that it's possible to memorize lots of information using memory techniques. I'm talking about a lesson that is more general, and in a way much bigger: that it's possible, with training and hard work, to teach oneself to do something that might seem really difficult.’ Foer

This is a new release that has my attention and is on my list. I particularly like his inclusion of dealing with what he calls the ‘OK Plateau’:

‘The OK Plateau is that place we all get to where we just stop getting better at something. Take typing, for example. You might type and type and type all day long, but once you reach a certain level, you just never get appreciably faster at it. That's because it's become automatic. You've moved it to the back of your mind's filing cabinet. If you want to become a faster typer, it's possible, of course. But you've got to bring the task back under your conscious control. You've got to push yourself past where you're comfortable. You have to watch yourself fail and learn from your mistakes. That's the way to get better at anything. And it's how I improved my memory.’

On The Bookshelf #12

Jacquie Molloy — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:00:55 +0000

Bendable Learnings – by Don Watson

‘ The disease may not yet have run its course, but Watson’s acerbic wit restores hope in the power of well-chosen words to entertain and to inspire.’

This is Don Watson’s third book on the subject of tortured language after Death Sentence and Weasel Words – and now just go buy it.

Watson advises to read this one aloud and do the exercises. For example, first this quote from Professor Jeanette Ward, former area director, NSW Health:

‘I can’t even begin to tell you how empowered I am now after our coaching. I’m spending two-thirds of my week building relationships.’

And then the exercise:

What is Professor Ward actually doing?

;-)

On The Bookshelf #11

Jacquie Molloy — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 23:00:05 +0000

The Kings’ Speech

You just knew I was going to love the film, right? It is deeply moving and very real. And that’s because this story of two ordinary and yet extraordinary men speaks to all of us in that quiet place, the place where we fear we don't have the right to be heard and the place where we have a deep desire to be acknowledged.

The book, same name, is written by Lionel Logue’s son and based on Logue’s recently discovered diaries from the time.

To be honest, if I start talking about this in much detail, I probably couldn’t stop. There is so much that is relevant to our work. And so much that resonates with me as someone who works closely with people in positions of influence to be better writers and speakers.

[The work I do with individuals around improving how they speak, present and lead meetings is intimate and powerful and can have enormous benefits for how they ‘show up’ in all parts of their lives — at work and at home.]

So let me say this: if you enjoyed the film, read the book. Give yourself permission to write in it as if you were having a conversation and underline the bits that jump off the page when you’re reading and really take the story to heart.

Because the messages that are at its heart are worth embedding in our brains over and over.

We are all flawed. We are all great.
Faith, trust, ongoing support and connection are key.

On the Bookshelf #10

Jacquie Molloy — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 23:00:49 +0000

1. The Same River Twice – Honouring the Difficult by Alice Walker

‘ . . . offers a rich opportunity to understand how an artist may operate in and engage the popular culture, and a candid look at some of the pleasures and the costs.’

— The full title of this book adds: A Meditation of Life, Spirit, Art, and the Making of the Film The Colour Purple Ten Years Later. The actual title is veiled in irony. It echoes Heraclitus’ time-honoured observation that you cannot step into the same river twice. Think about it. It’s a beautiful analogy. This book is now 14 years old and my copy is a first edition hardback that I probably pick up every three or four years and re-read. So the state the title evokes also works for the reader. It is always fascinating (for the ‘magic’ of the filming process with Spielberg & Quincy Jones); always personal (her candid notes from her on-set diary); always illuminating (her original screenplay for the film that was never used); always surprising (how the writer of such a deeply moving Pulitzer prize-winning novel can also have been so vilified by many in the African-American community). Yet I understand more with each read and learn something new about myself and where I am in my own life at the time.

2. Seeing Further: the Story of Science & the Royal Society edited by Bill Bryson

‘ An inspiring celebration of Science past, present and future' – Melvyn Bragg.

— This book is FANTASTIC! I picked it up a couple of months ago and ‘had to buy it’. It is full of the most interesting essays (and illustrations from the Royal Society’s archives). I’m reading an essay about once a fortnight, which is enough for me because frankly some of the ideas bend my brain. It also means I can savour this for longer. The essays are written by some well known authors and scientists (Margaret Attwood, Neal Stephenson, Richard Dawkins) and some not. The subjects covered range from the Society itself; the work of individuals such as Darwin and Newton; the notion of mad scientists; splitting atoms; biodiversity — as the book jacket says, it is a lively and learned celebration of Big Ideas.

On the Bookshelf #9

Jacquie Molloy — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 23:00:59 +0000

1. Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini

'With more than one quarter of a million copies sold worldwide, Influence has established itself as the most important book on persuasion ever published.'

— This is a very meaty book – and a very helpful one. It delves deeply into the causes, reactions & responses around saying yes (especially when we mean no), when to say no, what role authority plays in our decision making and behaviours, and how our minds (or the 'hobgoblins of our mind') as much as social constructs create the concept of authority for each of us. Really fascinating and much that is instantly applicable.

2. Good to Great - Why Some Companies Make the Leap . . . and Others Don't by Jim Collins

'Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?'

— This is a terrific book to return to. Wherever you are and whatever conversations you're having in business at the moment, there will be something in this book that will strike you as very relevant and hit you anew. This time around, I am enjoying more deeply the discussion and observations around Level 5 Leaders, the Hedgehog Concept ('transcending the curse of competence') and Culture of Discipline.

On the Bookshelf #8

Jacquie Molloy — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 23:00:46 +0000

This week's selections are from a very special 'communications hero' of mine: Helen Garner. I've picked two but there are many others could have chosen. Helen Garner is a rare writer: she excels at fiction (both in her creative use of language and in her storytelling) and at non-fiction (she can be impassioned in her essays and disarmingly objective in her journalism). Here are two non-fiction titles for your consideration.

1. Joe Cinque's Consolation — Helen Garner

‘A true story of death, grief and the law.’

— Garner followed the trials of Joe Cinque's girlfriend and her best friend for the murder of Joe Cinque, a young law student, in October 1997. In this book she writes about the murder, the trials, the effects on all the individuals and families involved and she explores the ethics and duty of care of our judicial system. Her words: 'How soon the killing of Joe Cinque is swept away into the past! The courts have finished with him — but where does all the woundedness, all the hatred go? Must the load be shouldered only by the people who loved him? Is this what "tragedy" means?'

2. True Stories — Helen Garner

' Garner looks at the world with a curious, shrewd and sympathetic eye.'

— This volume of essays spans 25 years of Garner's work. My all-time favourite piece is 'Aqua Profonda’. I also return again and again to the 'prologue' — an essay entitled, 'The Art of the Dumb Question'. I learned early in my professional career that there was great value in being brave enough to ask the seemingly 'dumb question'. I have learned much from Helen Garner.

On the Bookshelf #7

Jacquie Molloy — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 23:00:46 +0000

1. It Takes a Village - and other lessons children teach us — Hillary Rodham Clinton

‘It is time to acknowledge that we have to make some changes for our children's sake.’

— I'm including this one because it has a nice resonance with the whole corporate social sensibility theme. Published in 1996, it is a work that amplifies the reasons and desires that supported Hillary Clinton's own policy initiatives during the Clinton Administration and that have continued to inform her work as a US Senator and now Secretary of State. I have read it a couple of times and underlined new sections each time. It's not just about children of course. There is much in this small book to inspire change in all of our lives (especially as privileged free-thinking citizens of the world) and, importantly, within our families.

2. Lustrum — Robert Harris

' What is great oratory, after all, except the distillation of emotion into exact words?'

— I know this won't come as a big surprise to anyone but I am an AVID reader. I read across all genres. I love it when the book you're reading forces itself into your thoughts during the day - sometimes it's the characters who stay with you, or the plot that makes you turn the page or the sheer power of the storytelling. And you find yourself calculating how long it will be until you can legitimately settle down for the next instalment. Right now, Lustrum is that book for me. It is a fabulous blend of history and fiction. If you are at all interested in Ancient Rome, politics, Cicero or the power of langauge in great oratory, pick it up. You should know that it's a follow-up to Imperium, which is the story of Cicero's beginnings, but the author assures us that they do not need to be read as a series. I'm a Virgo though so I have to read in order :-)

The 5 Unexpected Lessons I’m Learning From Running

Jacquie Molloy — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 04:00:35 +0000

1. Good technique is EVERYTHING. Worth the capitalisation ;) You can't shortcut this (do and you invite an unnatural amount of soreness or worse).

Like all skills and techniques, the ‘right way’ can be learned and requires regular practice for all the actions to fall into place and feel natural.

2. Leaning slightly forwards allows you to run more easily and for longer. It’s called ‘effort-free running’ and it makes a huge difference. You literally fall into your next stride. There are some simple warm-up exercises you can do to re-set your brain to work with your body and allow it to lean.

What are some ways you can prepare for a presentation or town hall meeting or media interview that allow you to ‘lean into’ the actual event with ease?

3. The rate and pace of your stride is determined by how fast you pump your arms. Who knew arms played such an important part in this? I thought it was going to be all about legs. But it makes sense when you compare the physiques of sprinters with long-distance runners.

What are you doing in your role that you think is one kind of skill but draws on another — perhaps unconscious — skill that is just as important? Pay attention to the core skills that can make you perform faster, stronger, better in more areas.

4. There will be chatter and hard work — adjust and keep moving. If you set goals (like running the 5k in the October Melbourne Marathon!) then you need to show up and do the work to make them happen. If you want to keep getting better, then hard work is a given. Hard work and doing new things — let alone whether you succeed or not — creates chatter. In. The. Head. The good news is it goes away when your ego realises you’re going to keep on anyway. Then one day, clarity, silence, freedom to dream and take in the scenery while your run. Oh happy day!

Recognise the pattern is the same for all goals that will stretch you. Move past the noise, into the clarity and enjoy the results!

5. Work with someone who knows what they are talking about and demonstrates passion. I am so lucky to have some incredibly well qualified runners in my world. I’ve also just started doing weekly running drills with Michael, triathlete and coach to triathletes. In our first 30 minutes he (we) shaved 20 seconds off my lap time. Unexpectedly, the next week, we managed to get another 15 seconds off! He observed my performance, suggested some tweaks (and they really were minor adjustments, lap after lap) and gave me practical feedback and actions to take.

If you worked with an expert mentor/coach in an area that was critical to your success in your role, what would be the equivalent of shaving off 20 — or 35 — seconds? What would that be worth to you?

Whether you run or not, I hope you find something in these lessons that is useful.

Please let me know if you do.

Words Still Matter (and so do Communications Heroes)

Jacquie Molloy — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 05:24:38 +0000

A recent article in the Huffington Post addresses the recent poor choices made by President Obama and his speechwriting staff. It's an interesting read because the writer - regular Huff contributor Clarence B Jones - discusses the difference between the words you need to get elected and the words you need to govern.

It echoes the political adage: 'you campaign in poetry, you govern in prose'. (Which was first said by NY Governor Mario Cuomo - that's Cuomo the Elder of course although you might also remember the line spoken more recently by Jed Bartlet's COS Leo McGarry.)

Reading the blog, I am also encouraged that it's not only me banging on about the power and value of looking beyond your workplace and your field for inspiration and guidance. Jones' list for the president includes poets and novelists. I agree. I call them Communications Heroes (and you can read more about them throughout this blog - just check out the tags over on the right.)

Here's the link:

Huff Post - Clarence B. Jones: Presidential Words Still Matter http://ow.ly/643pb

Read it. Check out Jones' list. And think about the message of this article and the sources that you can use for your own communications.

Who are your Communications Heroes?