Ron Crossland is Vice Chair of Bluepoint Leadership Development. He has worked
with talent from the boiler room to the boardroom, a range of experience that
has taught him that regardless of position, individuals' work matters. He has
helped individuals, teams and organizations develop better leaders, create more
innovation, forge better internal and external relationships and inspire
greater performance.
Ron's interest in human behavior began while earning a Bachelor's degree in
Electronics Engineering Technology. He learned in the high-tech lab that
innovation and results came from teamwork as much as individual intellect. This
propelled him to earn his MBA, majoring in organizational behavior and
development. He has applied his lessons in the business world, both as a
four-time entrepreneur and while holding management positions at AT&T.
He has been an organizational consultant for over 15 years. He is a poet and
writer, an intuitionist, a factoid junkie, a research synthesizer, an amateur
etymologist and a dispeller of darkness. Ron also is a speaker for company
meetings, industry association events and other related venues. Ron received
his BS in Electronic Engineering Technology (1975) and his MBA (1977) from
Oklahoma State University.
Ron and the CEO of Bluepoint, Boyd Clarke, have co-authored The Leader's Voice:
How Your Communication Can Inspire Action And Get Results!, published in July
2002 by SelectBooks.
The Leader's Voice:
"The leader speaks. Followers applaud on command. There is an illusion that
communication took place, but it didn't. Unfortunately, this communication
failure breeds additional communication static. Over time, leaders resort to
commands rather than communication. This leads to breaking talent, not starting
it. The Leader's Voice is the language of your associates and your
constituents. They listen in facts, emotions and symbols."
Through engaging stories and detailed research stretching over more than 10
years, Ron Crossland reveals that effective leaders communicate in three
channels: Facts, Emotions, Symbols.
While every leader, every human being, communicates in these three channels,
most have an over-reliance on just one. It's the MBA religiously devoted to the
facts of business or the creative vice president speaking with pure emotion.
With the brain hard-wired to listen and think in facts, emotions and symbols,
there is often a disconnect. In fact, what often happens in leadership
communication is what the authors call "The Four Fatal Assumptions". Leaders
speak and then assume that their constituents:
1.Understand
2.Agree
3.Care
4.Act Accordingly.
Business leaders who often speak on just the factual channel and then don't
understand why their messages didn't resonate must understand that constituents
will always put the message through their own emotional and symbolic filters.
By focusing on the principles of communication, leaders can conquer the four
fatal assumptions by inspiring their constituents to align and unite toward a
professional vision. Speaking in The Leader's Voice will help companies achieve
greater results, including:
Better alignment around key strategic initiatives;
Improved productivity spurred by higher levels of trust among employees;
Greater leadership credibility;
Higher morale;
Increased efficiency through crystal clear clarity;
Better communication among all employees.
