Communicating with Executives: Point First, Explanation Later

At one point in my career, I started giving presentations to senior management - GMs, SVPs, and occasionally our Chief Product Officer. 

When I first started giving those presentations, I would present my data, decision-making process, and the whole story before getting to the potential options for how we could move forward. These were usually strategy presentations and I thought the leaders needed to know basically everything I knew before they could help make an informed decision. 

WRONG.

After a few months of this - and a few frustrated executives, some meetings that ended poorly, and complete confusion on my part - my boss took me aside and explained that executives think a little differently than someone on the ground. 

You see, they do a lot of homework - usually. They’re caught up on the high points of the strategy. They know or don’t need to know all the details. They can ask if they want to know the details, so let’s just get to the point first. 

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Transcript

[Applause] [Music] don't be a waste of an executive's time they know more than you think that they know they read they prepare they're usually dreading coming to these meetings because people like to talk and have air time in front of the executives don't be that person set the stage and then get to the point first welcome to management material my name is Catherine vanderlaan I started my career at the bottom as an assistant and worked my way up to become the boss's boss in eight years and oh man I love management if there's anything I've learned it's that what got you to where you are now won't get you to where you want to be welcome to management material episode 47. welcome back guys it's been a little bit it's been a minute at the end of February I released episode 46 but now it is September where in September I took a a pretty large break first I will say the break was planned but it was planned for only a month and it's been a little bit longer than that I planned a break because I was so focused on one thing for saver Street creating that course get out of debt for good and it's finished it was finished by about mid-june but by the end of April my family and I realized that we were going to be moving our little family from Boston Massachusetts to Southern California we took a big change a big trip to get to Southern California and we're there now we've settled in so thank you for your patience thank you for sticking with us sometimes life throws us curveballs and we just have to run with it that is another management technique but that's not what we're talking about today to that'll be a future episode of running with it when life gets tough maybe another one about prioritization anyway today we are talking about communicating with Executives Point first explanation later this is something that I've been talking to with one of my career coaching clients how to communicate with Executives I'm really excited to talk about communicating with Executives today because learning how to communicate in a different way with senior leaders changed my entire career my entire career when senior leaders like talking to you it gives you a giant hand up to management and Beyond don't don't give me a bad look guys don't give me that look that's just how the world works that it's true if senior leaders cannot understand what you're saying they're not going to want to talk to you so let's talk about this let's talk about communicating with Executives so if you've been listening to this podcast for a while you know that presentation and relationship building is half the battle toward a management career anyway let's get to it at one point in my career I started giving presentations to Senior Management GMS general managers svps senior vice presidents and occasionally our chief product officer I was in a position to be in the same room with people who are making decisions that I hoped to make one day and while it was a little intimidating when I first started giving those with those presentations I would present my data my decision making process the whole story before getting to the the options or the potential options for how we could move forward I thought okay this is this is how I made the decision This Is How They want to hear my presentation This Is How They want to make the decision and well that wasn't true these just so you you get the full context these were usually strategy presentations and I thought the leaders needed to know basically everything I knew before they could help make and informed decision well I was wrong and I'm happy to tell you that I was wrong and when I became a manager I saw this happening over and over I sat in dozens if not more strategy presentations and I saw almost everyone presenting in this way to senior leaders and then I would stay back and I'd hear the senior leaders talk about it and they were so annoyed they were so annoyed that they put on training sessions on on how to present your strategy they they picked people out just to do communication training they were so annoyed and so mad that their time was being wasted so but okay back up after a few months of me doing this falling into this same trap and a few it was actually very frustrated Executives some some of these meetings ended so poorly that I I kind of I locked myself in the bathroom and cried because I was so confused I didn't understand why it didn't go well anyway my boss took me aside and he explained that Executives think a little differently than than someone on the ground so I was on the ground I was meeting with customers I was gathering the data and and really really really into it okay I was into my job I was into the data the details and the larger picture executives are are a little bit of a different I won't say a different breed because they can be you and me just with a little bit of training but they see things differently they do a lot of homework usually usually they will do their homework uh and and so they're already caught up on the high points of the strategy they know or they don't need to know all of the details if they want to know they can ask so they they think let's just get to the point first my boss was describing what I now call Point first presentations I had been giving explanation first presentations because that's how I think that's how I think and how most people think but my senior leaders wanted Point first presentations you see if you think about it from their perspective senior leaders only have so much time and they have a massive amount of data that they store in their brains and in their systems they're looking at your presentation from a whole different perspective a whole different perspective from the holistic view of the company they're looking at everything within their within their section of their the company everything their jobs are all about making the most profitable decisions for the company they might get a little political too so they they might be trying to to strengthen their position within the company but you and I both know from this podcast and and from experience the executives who are political who think about their careers first instead of the company first I don't make the best leaders so let's talk about the senior Executives we're kind of talking about the senior Executives and and how they look at the company not about how you should be looking at the company but how they are okay how they are and and what you want to grow into are two different things anyway a senior executive's role is about making the most profitable decisions for the company that's it full stop so when they're hearing your presentation they might already know a lot of what you're saying or they just don't care the point is they don't have time to waste on listening to information that won't change their decisions from their perspective they want to know your punch line first you know that thesis statement that you write when or you learn to write when you were writing a five paragraph essay they want to know that they want to know your punch line first and then they want to get the opportunity to ask questions they want to know what you think is the best course of action then fill in the details they need to know they got to their position they got to their positions because they're smart and can fill in the details these are smart people they're not stupid I don't know what kind of a rhetoric or or what kind of thing that that you're being told at your company executives are not stupid people they might behave that way every once in a while and and if you think about the executive of Executives like the presidents that we've had we might think that they behave in Stupid Ways every once in a while or or maybe more than that but they're not actually stupid people they didn't get to where they are because they're stupid people they're smart in all different ways they know the executives that that you present to they know the business they know customer behavior that is their job they usually know a good deal of what you're about to present so get to the point first don't waste their time all right back to the story it is back to the story of of me crying in the bathroom right um and and I'm hoping that by listening to this podcast you're not gonna have that happen to you so it it took some time for me to put all of this into practice this point first presentation but I was so so so used to filling in the details first I didn't understand that Executives do read usually and some very very quickly so I knew they knew the pertinent information already if they knew what I was about to present they got the deck beforehand I didn't realize how busy their days were and how important it was to get to the point first but I started anyway because my boss told me to he said look it's not working try this instead so I did it I did it because I'm coachable and I like to not cry I was frustrated with having terrible meetings and they were frustrated because they were wasting their time on me let that sink in the executives were frustrated with my presentations and my strategy meetings because they were wasting time on me you don't want to be a waste of time if you're a waste of an executive's time they're not going to give you that time anymore you want them to want to be with you and if you are here to be a manager or to climb up the career ladder and and be a leader that people want to follow well you want to be a leader that these Executives might want to follow someday so don't be a waste of their time I took my boss's advice and I got to the point first in the next strategy meeting I started off with here's the portfolio I set the stage in about a minute you know let's just remember what we're all here for for and here's what I think we should do does anyone have questions that was it that was basically my whole presentation and smiles lit up the room people people came and said great well we met with you six months ago I don't think much has changed has it uh I read your deck I read the strategy uh I see what you think we should do uh why aren't you going in this direction and so we talked about that we talked about why and I was open transparent honest we tried that for a year it has not been working and here's what we found out so I walked them through what happened and at the end of the presentation they understood all right well I'm going to give you more money than you asked for to to go in the direction that you want to go thank you for not being a waste of our time they didn't say that last bit but thank you for not being a waste of our time but I felt it I felt it and I could see it in their faces okay here's the bottom line don't be a waste of an executive's time they know more than you than you think that they know they read they prepare they're usually dreading coming to these meetings because people like to talk and have air time in front of executives don't be that person set the stage and then get to the point first you have all of your material you know your strategy or or what you're trying to present you know your data points you've done the heavy lifting you've done the the work put it all in your presentation or or your document or however your company does things but then when you're in front of an executive set the stage for a minute just a minute one guys one minute and then say this is where I think we should go do you have any questions or what are your questions I would love to answer them that's it all right guys I am excited to be back I am excited for management material to restart the next episode is going to be about leading a hybrid or remote Team how to become a leader people want to follow when you're part of a hybrid or remote team and specifically about running effective and inclusive meetings okay I will talk to you soon I'm excited to be back I'm excited you're back I'll see you in the next episode [Music] thank you for listening to management material if you like what you're listening to please rate US on iTunes I track those ratings like I tracked my GPA in college and let me know what else you want to hear about I'm an open book I can't wait to see you in the next episode [Music]