Every leader has that question. The one you hope doesn’t come up in a media interview, a stakeholder meeting, a board presentation, or even a staff meeting.
You’ve kind of thought about how you might answer it if it ever came up, but you quietly avoid it.
The issue is, those kinds of questions come when you’re least expecting them. You’re presenting to the board about X, and somehow the conversation swings to Y, the very thing you were hoping to avoid.
Most people do one of two things.
They hesitate and look visibly nervous.
Or they go to hesitation’s evil twin, over-explaining.
They tie themselves up in knots trying to answer the icky question. Four minutes of blah blah blah later, they finish with “Does that answer your question?”
No, John. It does not.
Neither approach is great for your credibility or your confidence.
My advice? Rip the Band-Aid off and answer the question on your terms.
It’s far easier to walk into a media interview and say “I know a lot of people are wondering about X, so I’m going to address that briefly before we move on.”
Or walk into a staff meeting and say: “I know some people are confused about why we made this decision, so let me clear that up first, then we can really get into the rest of the meeting.”
That’s much easier than being put on the back foot with an antagonising question and having to defend it. Telling is easier than defending.
When you raise it first, you:
- phrase it the way you want
- say what you want to say
- and prepare for it properly
Then, even if someone asks it again later, you’ve already said it out loud. You look calm, considered, genuine and transparent.
Most of my clients immediately see why this works. But the question I often get next is:
“Why would I bring it up if they haven’t?” “What if they don’t know about it and I’m telling them?”
It’s a fair concern. And every scenario has its nuances. Sometimes preparation and practice, seem more appropriate.
But even then, if it’s the question you’re most worried about, chances are it’s already on their mind. And if it’s not, you may have just stopped it becoming an issue later.
Yes, you risk opening Pandora’s box. But in most cases, it’s better to open it calmly than have it kicked open for you.
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