Achieve Results with Electric Impulse Communications
Training and coaching are only as effective as the results they produce. Electric Impulse Communications has a history of collectively setting measurable goals with each individual client and benchmarking success against the expected results.
As with anything worthwhile, superior results require a passion for change and a desire to make a difference. Electric Impulse provides the catalyst for the change necessary to achieve the desired results.
Client Results Impact Case Study #1: A Tale of Two Presidents: And Then There Was One
Situation: The owner of the company thought it was a good plan to name co-presidents. It was never a sustainable idea; it had an expiration date from its inception. The only question was how long would it last. One co-president was a client and one was not.
Intervention: My “co” was really good at his job and less effective at executive presence. The other “co” was really good at the shallow aspects of communication and less effective at the nuts and bolts of his half of the company.
Resolution: For two years we worked on improving my “co’s” presence, strategic perspective and clarity. One morning at 7am I got the call. My “co” had been made the only president. The other “co” received a severance package.
Client Results Impact Case Study #2: Your Job is to Be Ready for That Next Opportunity
Situation: You think you will never have an opportunity to be on TV. You really think you will never have the opportunity to be on national TV. And then the opportunity presents itself in some unexpected way from an unexpected place. This opportunity was an interview as one of two experts on national TV.
Intervention: My role was to help my client be more prepared and prepared in ways that she thought she did not need and was told she did not need. My goal was to have her so prepared that even a seasoned host would think she had experience in front of the camera. The result of this work would be a high level of comfort and demonstration of expertise in a national studio in front of cameras and pro’s. I took her to a local studio, we practiced, watched on screen, practiced, tried many different ensembles, jewelry and shoes.
Resolution: The flight taken, dress and shoes selected, and the make-up mastered, my client arrived at the national studio. She felt well prepared and looked as though she had done TV a hundred times. She looked so prepared she was told she was ready to go straight to the set. Mark Cuban’s gig on Shark Tank began with one scheduled appearance. Now he is more known for Shark Tank than the Mavericks. Who knows what will transpire from this opportunity?
Client Results Impact Case Study #3: A President’s Proper Care and Handling of His CEO
Situation: Everyone has a boss. A CEO has a Board. A president has a CEO. And it goes on and on. POTUS has Congress and the Supreme Court. My client was a president who struggled when he disagreed with his CEO. He struggled with how to tell him he was wrong, and still be respectful.
Intervention: Communication seems like it is all tactical: do I say this or this? Effective communication is first strategic. This president needs to see his value differently, from a more strategic perspective. He provides more value when he shares his expertise than when he does not, when he questions the CEO than when he does not. First he lacked a will to disagree and then he lacked a way to disagree.
Resolution: This president needed to learn to adapt a different mindset and then to give that mindset a voice. The inverted NO is one technique that will help him. Rather than saying NO to the CEO, and becoming the person of NO, he learned to say YES and then explain how the CEO’s idea would not work. The company will benefit when he communicates his alternate perspective to the CEO rather than keep it hidden.
Client Results Impact Study #4: CEO Uses Visibility to Convey Viability
When we can help: CEO/President giving state of the company speech at a time of uncertainty within the company and industry. How well the CEO presented the necessary internal changes, and how they responded to external changes, would affect how partners and associates would perceive their future.
How we work: We sat down with the CEO for a few hours and questioned, cajoled, and encouraged information from him of both personal and professional nature. At the time, we had no way of knowing what information would actually be used and what information would be helpful simply as background noise.
We wrote the 30 minute speech and coached him on delivery.
Results we achieve: The speech included a favorite quote, a Biblical reference, profession statistics, internal changes, and the firm’s and CEO’s signature vision.
The speech and the delivery of the speech positioned the CEO as the person to boldly lead the firm through these changes into the 21st century. The speech was able to gain buy-in from both decision makers and followers.
Client Results Impact Study #5: CFO Behaving Badly
When we can help: CFO behaving badly. CFO with great financial skills and poor communication and leadership skills was a detriment to her department and becoming a detriment to her company. This combination of poor skills led to poor executive decisions and low morale. CFO was in danger of losing her job.
How we work: We entered into a year long contract to adjust how the CFO looked at the role of communication. For her to be successful three things had to happen: 1. understand the role of communication for a 21st century executive 2. have the mindset and desire to create buy-in from both below and above rather than dictatorship 3. learn the language to communicate her new mindset
Results we achieve: CFO with the skills to be able to lead her department through the internal changes necessary in a growing company.
Client Results Impact Study #6: To Promote or Not to Promote
When we can help: Vice President of Operations identified as possible successor to COO. Company’s Board of Directors and executive team observed his poor communication choices and incorrect grammar which negatively impacted his perceived leadership capability. They believed these poorly executed skills would interfere with his ability to advance within this growing and international company.
How we work: We worked for six months concentrating on the specifics of effective communication: clarity, conviction, and confidence. We also concentrated on grammar, flooding him with grammar exercises to first identify his personal challenges and then to overcome them. His informal, meandering presentation style had to be made concise and tangent-free.
Results we achieve: A Board meeting was recently held. The Board told the CEO that they were very pleased with the Vice President’s presentation: grammar was much improved and he spoke with great confidence and clarity. Whether or not he ascends to the role of COO, he is and will continue to be a more effective executive.
Client Results Impact Study #7: The Best Football Player for the Job
When we can help: Former NFL player retired and wanted to break into college football color commentary. He was a former Notre Dame stand out, VIP of the National Championship game, and played nine professional seasons. He knew the game, not the media, and not how to use his knowledge for the mass audience.
How we work: The first challenge was for client to see his own value differently. It was no longer about how fast he could run or how hard he hit. His value was in bringing “color”, bringing inside the locker room to the person watching the game who most likely never experienced the college game from the field. The second challenge was for him to have the confidence in what he had to say that he could fight for on-air time with the play-by-play commentators, who don’t give up time willingly, even if you are 6’4″!
Results we achieve: He is currently employed as a college color commentator and has opportunities to continue to move up the college media ladder.
Client Results Impact Study #8: President Leveraged the Spotlight
When we can help: Large association has a well attended annual signature event. For the past ten years the president did not speak at this event. This president saw the opportunity to speak as an opportunity to enhance both his leadership and the organization. He did not like to speak.
How we work: President contacted me two weeks prior to the event. We met for a few hours. He was sure he had not told me enough for me to write a speech. I was pretty sure I had enough material once I developed the theme. One week prior to the event we had a speech that sounded as though he had written it himself. Now we had one week to practice, polish, and perfect the speech.
Results we achieve: President was able to leverage this once a year opportunity with the highest attendance of members and spouses. Speech positioned president as capable, visionary, and able to speak from the heart. Speech credited the association as the premier group that it is which will help retain and grow its numbers.
