The Illumify Game Changer - Minisode 1:41 – “When you speak, you must be able to address and resolve their concerns in real time.” – The Leader Speaks To Their Concerns

Minisode 1:41 – “When you speak, you must be able to address and resolve their concerns in real time.” – The Leader Speaks To Their Concerns

02/13/25 • 3 min

Even the most positive change provokes concerns. As this minisode of The Illumify Game Changer reveals, when leaders share their vision of meaningful change, they must be able to anticipate and resolve the concerns of those who could help them realize it. Otherwise even the most meaningful change will die on the vine.

Previous Episode

SUMMARY of Episode 1:41: The leader speaks to their concerns.

Expressing your vision as a leader is a little like flying an airplane. You have to stay at the optimal altitude – not too high and not too low – and be able to manage any and all turbulence.

The turbulence for a leader is the concerns others have about your vision. Whether vocal or silent, those concerns prevent them from listening and acting on your vision. So you need to be able to say whatever it is that resolves them.

In this conversation, Jonathan saw that he can’t just express his vision as a list. It’s actually a “sphere” in which different ideas exist in tension with each other: It’s about home but not refuge. There’s diversity among us and within us but it’s understandable to be wary of strangers. We need the financial means to live but we wake up first and foremost as humans, not job seekers. And the need for truth is ever-present. Right down to the need to tell the truth about our past.

Jonathan saw how to anticipate and respond to a number of concerns his vision may evoke. But he also sees he will have to address other concerns that surface in real-time conversations.

There is a lot of truth though in his declaration that, “We are all united in our need for home.” That may be enough for some to be open to listening to his vision of a shared home.

The leader’s journey continues. Stay tuned.

Next Episode

Season 1:42 –- Will others get the leader’s vision of change?

One of the leader’s biggest challenges is to be able to express their vision of change in the way that other people “get it” enough to begin to see its significance for them. If not, they simply won’t act, and the leader’s vison of change won’t be realized. Jonathan already knows how important language is. In answering this next Amplify question, he sees that the words he would use could actually turn others off, and discovers how to prevent that. We’re joined in this conversation by Britanny, another member of my team.

Show Notes

0:01:18 Amplify Question 35: What don’t they get about this?

0:06:40 Language, like “Truth” and “Sacred Dignity” may distract them because it’s over moralistic and may sound like preaching.

0:09:45 From the broad sphere of your vision, what don’t they get about it?

0:12:10 It’s not about being pious. We are at our best when we together pursue the truth.

0:16:40 Journalists are not saints.

0:19:40 The gatekeepers determine the news that could unify us.

0:21:35 “Getting it” has a different level of complexity and precision than before.

0:26:30 A story of Watergate’s impact on journalism.

0:30:40 You have to give them permission to fail.

0:33:20 The danger of sounding intractable because of your language and tone of voice.

0:36:00 The importance of the word “we” as a call to come together.