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Prepare the Boss for Each Event or Activity
You should want a feeling of confidence in whatever you do. You should want to feel competent in whatever way you do it. You should want your boss to feel the same ways about himself or herself.
One way to do that is to support the boss in all that he or she must accomplish. That takes more than mere chance or a bit of luck. It requires preparing the boss in everything he or she does along the way.
It helps to know the boss and his or her likes, dislikes, interests, and expectations. Gain the boss’s confidence in what you can do to achieve those things. Clarify mutual expectations early.
If the boss is new to you or you are new to him or her, have a conversation to get to know the boss better. Put the boss’s needs at the center of your universe.
As in the Boy Scout motto “Be prepared,” get ready to support any event in which the boss agrees to participate. Gather information. Not only the five Ws (who, what, when, where, why) but the how of turning it into a successful venture as well.
Ask a lot of questions and accrue a lot of answers. Put them in writing and stand by for a conversation that will provide more detail as necessary. Anticipate everything.
If it’s a speech, for example, ask not just about the size of audience but about its demographic composition as well. If the requester hasn’t asked for a particular subject for the talk, what might the audience want to know about? What’s the layout of the room? Is there a podium? Does it have a light on it so the boss can see the speech? Does it have a lip and a slant so the boss can read it without holding the text or see it clearly when looking down with glasses on? Who is introducing your boss? What’s the length of time he or she will have? How much time will the boss have for questions?
Perhaps most important of all is the sound. Is it a podium microphone, or is it a lavalier microphone? In either case, remember that the microphone may be live, and if the boss is overheard saying something he or she doesn’t want others to hear, that may cause great embarrassment for the guest of honor.
Overhead lighting is another consideration. Too bright or too hot can be deadly when it is shone on the speaker. Overhead stage lighting can affect the visibility of a PowerPoint presentation by washing it out. Lighting in the room should be high enough for the faces in the audience to be seen by the speaker.
When it comes to technology, there are certain things to know in advance. If a PowerPoint presentation is going to be used, compatibility is critical. If the organization asks for visuals in advance, a determination must be made whether you want to share that intellectual property. If so, ask that it not be shared in advance.
Where is the screen in relationship to the podium? If an assistant will operate the PowerPoint, where will he or she be in relationship to the speaker? In some cases, flash drives are not permitted; if they are not, you may need to use a CD-ROM. It’s always helpful to have a technician standing by should a need occur.
When it comes to video teleconferences and Skyping, both popular and useful for long-distance venues, know how to do it in advance on both ends. Run a pretest far in advance and just before the event as well.
Writing support for a speech the boss will give is an art form. Providing the speechwriter guidance is essential: everything from the purpose to the punch line. Write in the voice of the boss. Think of it as the boss having a conversation with the audience.
What points does the boss want to make, and what does he or she want the audience to remember? That conversation should occur at least one month in advance with the boss if at all possible. When should the boss get the first draft? A good rule of thumb is two weeks in advance. Why? To gain familiarity with it, to grow comfortable with it, to make changes to it, and to rehearse it. A speech may go through as many as six drafts, and changes may be made up until the last minute. Assume there’s no such thing as it being too perfect.
As someone who prides himself on attention to detail, I worked hard helping Colin Powell give one of the most important speeches of his public life until that point in time. Asked to give a keynote address at the 1996 Republican National Convention in San Diego, he worked diligently on the text and the messaging. He war-gamed it with me and made changes right up to the end. The end, I thought was on Saturday, August 11, when he put it to bed and went home.
For me, it was a late night at the office. Putting the words into the right font and setting the width of margins and paginating it so that every page ended with a period were all important details.
Feeling very smug when it was done, I confidently placed it in his speech box, turned off the lights, and headed home about 10:00 p.m. with the box in hand. The next morning I met him at the executive air terminal at Reagan Airport in Washington, D.C. We boarded an executive jet, courtesy of a campaign supporter, and headed for the West Coast.
With a book in hand I settled comfortably in the forward compartment ready to read myself to sleep flying across the country. My boss was in the rear compartment with the plane’s owner, locked in conversation. We had no sooner leveled off when he came forward with speech in hand, sat down next to me, and asked, “Are you ready to go to work?” “I beg your pardon, sir,” I said. He announced, “I want to make some changes to this speech.”
My heart skipped a beat. I had sent the text to a staffer in San Diego the night before so that it could be uploaded into a tele-prompter for a two-hour-long rehearsal session scheduled at the San Diego Convention Center soon after we were to land.
A hostage at 36,000 feet, I knew I had a problem. Whatever changes we made would have to be transferred to the teleprompter script upon landing. That would take some time; we would never be ready for the rehearsal in time. I called ahead and asked for forgiveness and some divine intervention. That came in the form of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison agreeing to trade rehearsal times, she before he.
Upon landing, we headed for the convention center with just enough time to make the changes with the help of the teleprompter technician. When our rehearsal time arrived, we were ready, a bit breathless but prepared for a prime-time rehearsal.
The true prime time came the next night when the general followed former president Gerald Ford and former president George H. W. Bush with his remarks. Former first lady Nancy Reagan followed.
It was a magical moment for the general, and it was a scary moment for me. Had we not asked the teleprompter operator we had for the rehearsal to run it Monday night for us, the timing might not have been as perfect as it was. When it was over, I let out a sigh of relief, like air out of a punctured tire. The audience would never know what had gone into the talk. They loved it.
Anticipation works most of the time. Support must occur all the time. Take responsibility for the good and the bad, for the known and the unknown, for the intended and unintended consequences of everything you do for the boss.
Each situation is going to be different. Keep a notebook of lessons learned. Cross-train the members of your team. Make sure the team learns from these experiences.
Each boss is different. You must come to know your boss’s work style. Aim for early wins in important areas. Gain the boss’s confidence.
The term intervention has many meanings. Generally, it refers to involving oneself in a situation to alter an action or development. It is the involvement, participation, and engagement in the activities of another. It is the act of sharing.
As you provide support to your boss, take care to improve the situation, whatever it may be, for him or her. You’ll be glad you did. The boss will be grateful you did.