The Power of Communication: Skills to Build Trust, Inspire Loyalty, and Lead Effectively [Kindle Edition]

Helio Fred Garcia (Author)

Book Description

Communication is the absolutely indispensable leadership discipline. But, too often, leaders and professional communicators get mired in tactics, and fail to influence public attitudes in the ways that would help them the most. The Power of Communication builds on the U.S. Marine Corps' legendary publication Warfighting, showing how to apply the Corps' proven leadership and strategy doctrine to all forms of public communication — and achieve truly extraordinary results. World-renowned leadership communications expert, consultant, and speaker Helio Fred Garcia reveals how to orient on audiences, recognizing their centers of gravity and most critical concerns. You'll learn how to integrate and succeed with all three levels of communication: strategic, operational, and tactical. Garcia shows how to take the initiative and control the agenda… respond to events with speed and focus… use the power of maneuver… prepare and plan… and put it all together, becoming a "habitually strategic" communicator.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

“Helio Fred Garcia coached me a decade ago on the fundamentals of effective communication. I probably wasn’t his best student, but I count what I learned from him as one of the most important contributions to my personal growth as an executive. The Power of Communication should be on the must-read list of any person who aspires to lead by capturing the hearts and minds of his or her stakeholders.”

--Jeffrey Bleustein, Retired Chairman and CEO, Harley-Davidson, Inc.

 

“The Power of Communication is an absolutely terrific book on how to communicate and lead in complex and shifting situations. Helio Fred Garcia has compiled a wealth of compelling examples to illustrate and support a cogent and immensely practical set of principles for leadership communication. The result is a compelling guide for leaders in business and government settings alike.”

--Amy C. Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, Harvard Business School, and author of Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate, and Compete in the Knowledge Economy

 

“Helio Fred Garcia is known as one of the most engaging and effective professors at NYU. Readers of this book will learn why. Only Fred could weave together tales about Abbott and Costello, the Marine Corps, and Cicero into a must-read for anyone who hopes to connect with the American public.”

--Louis Capozzi, Chairman, MSL Group (retired), and Adjunct Professor, New York University

 

“Professor Garcia’s book is great news for decision-makers, leaders, and professionals in the U.S. and any country in the world. The Power of Communication contains some very important global wisdom to save you in crisis in an omni-media age. The pity is that he can visit China only once a year, but that gives us all the more reason to celebrate the publication of this book, a very clear, concise, interesting, and powerful masterpiece.”

--Professor Steven Guanpeng Dong, Ph.D., Chair and Director, Institute of Public Relations and Strategic Communications, Tsinghua University, Beijing; Vice President, China Public Relations Association; former Shorenstein Fellow on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

 

“The Power of Communication is story after story, insight after insight, lesson after lesson, inspiration after inspiration. Just when you think it’s impossible to find another important illustration of a crucial communication or leadership principle, Fred gives you another chapter of powerful, sensible, often surprising and charming stories and lessons. Believe me, he is a persuasive orator in person and, as you’ll read, on paper. Looking to build your powers of communication, to inspire trust and confidence, and to lead effectively? You hold in your hand the key ingredient to a happier, more successful, and influential professional life. Start reading.”

--James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, President, The Lukaszewski Group Division, Risdall Public Relations

 

Communication is the absolutely indispensable leadership discipline. But too often leaders and professional communicators get mired in tactics and fail to influence public attitudes in the ways that would help them most. The Power of Communication is the solution. World-renowned leadership communication expert Helio Fred Garcia builds on the U.S. Marine Corps’ legendary publication Warfighting, showing how to apply the Corps’ proven leadership and strategy doctrine in all forms of public communication--and achieve truly extraordinary results.

 

Garcia demonstrates how to orient on audiences, recognize their most critical concerns, and successfully communicate on three levels: strategic, operational, and tactical. You’ll learn how to take the initiative and control the agenda...respond to events with speed and focus...use the power of maneuver...prepare and plan...and put it all together, becoming a “habitually strategic” communicator.

Communication has power, but, as with any powerful tool, it needs to be used effectively or it can cause significant self-inflicted harm. You’ll learn specific, indispensable lessons of leaders communicating effectively, including Apple’s Steve Jobs and the McDonald’s board, as well as from catastrophic mistakes of business and political leaders who got it wrong, from BP’s Tony Hayward to the HP board to FEMA.

 

If you need to win hearts and minds, you need The Power of Communication--and you need it now.

 

• Words matter: taking language seriously as a leadership discipline
  Adapt language to changing circumstances and to the reactions they generate
• Words aren’t enough
  Learn how what a leader says sets expectations, but what a leader does determines whether trust rises or falls
• Take your audience seriously
  Connect with your audiences as living, breathing entities
• Speed, focus, and capturing the first mover advantage
  Define your situation, motives, and actions--before someone else does
• Saying it isn’t enough
  Master the bearing, physicality, and stagecraft of successful public leadership
• Audiences, attention, and retention
  Learn how hearts and minds work--and get them to work together for you

 

 

 

About the Author

For more than 30 years Helio Fred Garcia has helped leaders build trust, inspire loyalty, and lead effectively. He is a coach, counselor, teacher, writer, and speaker whose clients include some of the largest and best-known companies and organizations in the world.

Fred is President of the crisis management firm Logos Consulting Group and Executive Director of the Logos Institute for Crisis Management & Executive Leadership. He is based in New York and has worked with clients in dozens of countries on six continents.

Fred has been on the New York University faculty since 1988 and has received his school’s awards for teaching excellence and for outstanding service. He is an adjunct professor of management in NYU’s Stern School of Business Executive MBA program and an adjunct associate professor of management and communication in NYU’s Master’s in PR/Corporate Communication program. Fred is also on the adjunct faculty of the Starr King School for the Ministry-Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, where he teaches a seminar on religious leadership for social change. And he is on the leadership faculty of the Center for Security Studies of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, where he teaches in the Master’s in Advanced Studies in Crisis Management and Security Policy. He is a frequent guest lecturer at the Wharton School/University of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College and Officer Candidate School, the Brookings Institution, Tsinghua University in Beijing, and other institutions.

Fred is coauthor (with John Doorley) of Reputation Management: The Key to Successful Public Relations and Corporate Communication (second edition 2011; first edition 2007), by Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. His two-volume book Crisis Communications was published by AAAA Publications in 1999. He blogs at www.logosinstitute.net/blog; he tweets at twitter.com/garciahf.

Product Details

• File Size: 728 KB
• Print Length: 336 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Up to 5 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits
• Publisher: FT Press; 1 edition (April 23, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007VONQYK
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,014 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent If You're In a Corporate Setting July 26, 2012

By Jinger Jarrett VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

When I requested this book, I was looking for a way to communicate better with those around me, as well as with my customers and readers. I wanted to build a stronger following for my business. This really doesn't have anything to do with that. If you're looking for a book like that, then I would highly recommend you read How To Win Friends and Influence People.

Instead, this is a book about how leaders can develop the skills they need to communicate with their audiences. It's based on a document produced by the Marine Corps called Warfighting. Much of what he says about the Marine Corps is also true of the Army, so his introduction can be taken with a grain of salt. (I remember being told every day that I was an 11B too.)

The book is divided into three sections. The first section, which is half the book, shows leaders how to connect with audiences. The next section, which is one chapter long, discusses planning and implementation. The final section, which also includes a chapter that sums everything up very nicely, shows leaders how to build their skills.

Although I believe this book will definitely be relevant to those who run larger corporations, I also believe that it's a little too academic for my taste. It does contain exercises at the end of each chapter to help with understanding the material, and Chapter 10 is top notch because it does sum everything up very nicely. If you run a business with a lot of employees, or you do a lot of public speaking, then this book would definitely be a good choice for you.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brillant and Entertaining: Must Read for Leaders who want to Improve Communication July 25, 2012

By S. Dargin VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

"If you can't communicate effectively, you will not lead", Marine Lieutenant Colonel Rob Riggle says in the forward. To be a great leader you must be an excellent communicator. The paradox is that we have been communicating our whole lives and are frequently unaware of the impact of our communication skills. It requires work and practice and learning to improve.

This book takes an interesting and methodical look at nine principles of effective communication for leaders. The nine principles are adapted from the book, Warfighting: U.S. Marine Corps Doctrinal Principle Publication No. 1, which is required reading for every Marine. The use of this surprised me, yet it works really well. There is a chapter dedicated to each principle. It explains the principle and shows how it works or not. The stories of the principles in action make this book a fascinating read. The analysis of historical and contemporary events through the leadership communication lens, such as Katrina, Netflix, BP oil spill, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs are helpful and insightful. He also uses scientific research in many places to back up the principles. He turns the whole concept of using logic to lead on its head. First connect with the person, he writes, "We are feeling machines who also think."

I teach a course for Project Managers and have adapted several of the concepts. Start a communication by "Framing" what you are going to say. The example given in the book is, "I am not a crook" - of course the first thing you think of is crook! Adapting it to project managers, might go something like this, "The project is late", creates a different frame from, "The project is 97% done and will be complete in 2 days after initially scheduled".

This is a must read for any leader who is serious about improving their leadership and communication skills.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars MCDP 1 Warfighting as PR Handbook August 28, 2012

By C. Warren Hughes

Format:Hardcover

As a career Marine, I was rather surprised to find our own Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication 1, Warfighting, repackaged into a PR manual. I did not believe that Fred Garcia was going to be able to pull this off. I first began reading "The Power of Communication" to pick it apart. A couple of chapters into it, I was most pleasantly surprised. I very much enjoyed it and have purchased additional copies for friends and collegues. Fred takes our battle proven thought processes and applies them to business communication. He makes obvious, often over-looked, strategic observations and recommendations on how and why to communicate. He reminds leaders that the technical skills that enabled them to climb their corporate ladders are no longer what is most valued. Communication skills supplant tactical, "widget maker" skills, but often go unrehearsed or refined. Garcia's examples are exceptional. If you are a leader, if people look to you for guidance and decisions, buy this book, read it, highlight pages, tab examples and fold-over key corners and sections. "Laminate this book and take it to the field." It's that good.

More About the Author

For more than 30 years Helio Fred Garcia has helped leaders build trust, inspire loyalty, and lead effectively. He is a coach, counselor, teacher, writer, and speaker whose clients include some of the largest and best-known companies and organizations in the world.

His most recent book, The Power of Communication: Skills to Build Trust, Inspire Loyalty, and Lead Effectively, has been named to the United States Marine Corps Commandant's Professional Reading List. It will be translated into Chinese in 2014.

Fred is president of the crisis management firm Logos Consulting Group and executive director of the LOGOS INSTITUTE for Crisis Management & Executive Leadership. He is based in New York and has worked with clients in dozens of countries on six continents.

Fred has been on the New York University faculty since 1988, and has received his school's awards for teaching excellence and for outstanding service. He is an adjunct professor of management in NYU's Stern School of Business Executive MBA program and an adjunct associate professor of management and communication in NYU's Master's in Corporate Communication program. Fred is also on the adjunct faculty of the Starr King School for the Ministry - Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, where he teaches a seminar on religious leadership for social change. And he is on the leadership faculty of the Center for Security Studies of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, where he teaches in the Master's in Advanced Studies in Crisis Management and Security Policy. He is a frequent guest lecturer at the Wharton School/University of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College and Officer Candidate School, the Brookings Institution, Tsinghua University in Beijing, and other institutions.

Fred is co-author (with John Doorley) of Reputation Management: The Key to Successful Public Relations and Corporate Communication, third edition pending, 2014; second edition 2011; first edition 2007 by Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. His two-volume book Crisis Communications was published by AAAA Publications in 1999. He blogs at www.logosinstitute.net/blog; he tweets at twitter.com/garciahf.