In this heartfelt episode, Dr. Michael Gerharz, Founder of Dr. Gerharz, shares how he helps leaders and their teams not only craft brilliant strategies but also communicate them effectively.

You will discover:

– Why the key to your success may be in stepping OFF your hero’s pedestal

– Exactly why your team hasn’t embraced your ideas.

– Why you need to stop over-relying on SMART goals

Episode Transcript

Scott Ritzheimer

Hello, hello and welcome. Welcome, once again to the secrets of the high demand coach. And with me here today is the one, the only Dr. Michael Gerharz who believes that great ideas deserve to make an impact. However, many of them fall and fail due to poor communication. His journey began when he worked on his PhD during the mobile phone revolution, a time filled with groundbreaking ideas. Some of those ideas changed the world rapidly and profoundly, but at the same time, many brilliant ideas had to be abandoned altogether because no one cared about finding better words to communicate them. He’s the author of the AHA Effect Leaders light the path. And his latest book, The path to strategic impact. What great leaders understand about strategy communication and others don’t today, Dr gerhardtz helps leaders across the globe communicate with clarity so that their ideas can make the impact they deserve. And he’s here with us today. Well, Michael, as I was reading through the book, I mean, it was instant and obvious that the wording in your title was was very carefully selected. And because this isn’t a book on strategy, there’s, there’s 1000s of those, it’s really a book on communicating strategy. I’m curious to know, how did you ultimately because it’s one thing to know that it’s one thing to teach that it’s another to write a book on the topic. Right? What was that thing that compelled you to say, hey, now is the time I’ve got to write this book on communicating strategy?

Dr. Michael Gerharz

Yeah, well, actually, I’m doing consulting and coaching on these things for like, more than a decade now, right? So, and what got me started, as you pointed out in the introduction, is the sheer frustration with all the great ideas that I had been that I had seen being thrown into a trash bin because no one cared for finding better words to communicate them, and strategy really is one of the areas where that happens so frequently. I mean, you’re working with a lot of successful businesses, but even those, even the most successful businesses, have those experiences where they go on that strategy retreat, they dream up the future, they come back with that brilliant plan, totally pumped full of enthusiasm, and like three or four weeks In, everything’s back to normal. Nothing’s left of the enthusiasm the day to day has creeped in. The team hasn’t really embraced it, and so we’re just catching up with the daily business, and all the big dreams have crumbled. And I thought that that was a pity, and not because people wouldn’t know how to craft better strategies. There have been libraries filled with books about that, but the thing that I have been that I’ve seen missing in so many places, is a profound understanding of what makes a great strategy that people know how to put into action, because that’s the ultimate test of a strategy, right? That the team knows what it means for their everyday actions.

Scott Ritzheimer

Yeah, it’s so true. So kind of diving into what that actually looks like, and just to set context for our listeners, we’re assuming that you’ve done some work to get some at least good strategies in place. We’re going to show you through the context of this conversation, not only how to make those better, but really how to communicate them in effective ways. So Michael, The first kind of part of your book, you lay out this acronym, path, P, A, T, H, and and how we can use it more effectively to communicate our strategy. Could you quickly walk us through what the path stands for and and how we can start to implement that today?

Dr. Michael Gerharz

Yeah, I mean, if, first of all, it’s a great metaphor, right? Because, I mean, when we’re on a journey to realizing our vision, we’re on the path to making that happen. We are on a mission to making that happen, but it happens that we can when you can use a double meaning of that that word in an acronym sense and paths actually stands for four basic principles, that if you get those right, it means that your strategy has a much better chance of resonating with your team, and it stands for P plain and simple. Can you find words that your team can understand everyone on your team knows what it means. A actionable can you? Can you craft words that so that they know what it means for their actions? T transformative. Do you encourage them to make bold moves, not just the not just the boring, everyday stuff that everyone does and age, is it heartfelt? Does the does the team really believe in what we do on the path that we’re on and embrace it wholeheartedly? And if you cross those four boxes, plain and simple, actionable, transformative and heartfelt, you’re you have a much better chance of resonating with the people that matter.

Scott Ritzheimer

So let’s say folks. Have this you’ve worked with them, they’re implementing which of the four seems to be the hardest to really grab on to?

Dr. Michael Gerharz

I’d say it depends. There. There might be two separate kinds of businesses, right? One is that that is the one that’s coming from, a more business oriented, bottom line oriented perspective, they are certainly the ones who struggle the most with heartfelt, with passion, with emotions. But then there’s the other then there’s the other group of businesses, kind of the more visionary, often like, for example, in the sustainability, environmental or societal realms that have very strong vision where people join the business precisely because that vision, they might be very strong on the on that passionate part, on the heartfelt part, but struggle to find words that that make it actionable, that help the team to really understand so what does that mean for the business actions we need to take to make that vision a reality?

Scott Ritzheimer

So true? Yeah, so true. So there’s another acronym that’s kind of become the king of strategic planning, to an extent it’s smart, right? And I’m sure you’ve bumped into it a lot. Where does smart let us down in this process?

Dr. Michael Gerharz

Well, I think first of all that, well, it’s famous for a reason, right? Because it has helped so many projects and to do’s actually become a reality. But one of the things that I see happening with that acronym is that it tends to be more on the rational side, that it tends to also sometimes be like an exercise that’s made for the sake of it, where we don’t really pay attention to why we set out to fill in that box in the first place. And that’s why it’s so important to not only have a SMART goal, but one that’s communicated plain and simply so that that we can kind of strip the bullshit away from from what sounds smart or sounds clever but actually has the chance of making an impact, because we know what it actually means.

Scott Ritzheimer

Yeah. I’m glad you said that, because I think one of the criticisms, particularly for some of the bottom liners, and we’ll get to the the visionary types here in a second. But one of the criticisms of anything around kind of the transformational or heartfelt could be that it’s it, it’s lip service, right? I think we have the same threat, even with something that that’s as great as path of doing the same thing, doing the steps for the steps sake, instead of really tapping into the power of those. So how do you keep the bullshit out of particularly those last two being transformative, like genuinely being transformative, or transformational and and being genuinely heartfelt?

Dr. Michael Gerharz

Well, that’s actually a great point. And I think in the book, I’ve chosen an example where you can see where that goes off, like where, for example, JCPenney, like a couple of years ago, completely turned their whole business around and kind of strip everything that their customers love with Something that felt so transformative, and that on paper made total sense, where, where a strategic heart opened up and you, you, I bet that there were rooms full of strategic consultants with a big smile on their face just seeing the brilliance of that strategy, only that they failed to do it with the team. They did it then, and also they failed to do it with the customer. They did it both to the team and to the customer. They made every choice in the boardroom without thinking about how that would resonate with the team and the customers. And I think that’s an important realization, that a strategy is not anymore, and probably never really was about that brilliant solitary strategist sitting alone in his office thinking up a brilliant strategy, but it’s about putting up the boundaries and the guidelines that enables and empowers your team, every, basically, everyone on the team to make the choices that need to be made, so that the whole company, the whole organization, gets on the right path.

Scott Ritzheimer

Right, right. So good. So I want to read a little bit from your book for folks who haven’t had the opportunity to to read it yet and hopefully inspire. Some of you get a copy of the book. We’ll show you how at the end of the episode, but I want to read it to you, and then I’ve got a couple questions around this little passage. So in it, it’s just the discovery of your path. Might be a pivotal moment for you and your leadership team, but the true test of how eager your team will be to join you, that the true test is how eager your team will be to join you. After all, the journey to strategic impact is not a solitary trek, but a shared expedition to make it work. It’s not just enough that you believe and see the path. Your team must see the path and believe in it just as passionately as you do. And then this is the part that really stood out to me. Can you transcend the role of planner and strategic thinker to become the beacon that lights the path for your whole team, using words that compel your team to walk with you. And I was thinking back through a number of my clients, CEOs, executives that I’ve worked with, and I would say many of them would be proud to be considered the planner or that brilliant strategic thinker. Why do you think being a beacon is the higher calling?

Dr. Michael Gerharz

I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with being proud about your prowess in strategic thinking. So certainly being good at that and and understanding the strategy and the strategic theory and tools and having read those books is a brilliant starting point, but it’s just not enough. It’s just the starting point. A strategy is worthless if you can get your team to act on the strategy, and that’s what really matters. You need to transcend that role. Be proud of that, be great at that, be the best in the world at that. But if you fail to make your team embrace what you thought up as your strategy, it’s very likely that your competition will run circles around you when they understood how to get their team to act on their maybe less brilliant strategy, but fully embraced and understood?

Scott Ritzheimer

Yeah, that’s so true. So, Michael, there’s this question I like to ask, Oh, my guess, and it is this, what is the biggest secret that you wish wasn’t the secret at all? What’s that one thing you wish everybody watching and listening today knew?

Dr. Michael Gerharz

I love the question, and I don’t get tired of giving, of pointing and pointing people to one of my core values, that that it’s not about being right, and never is about being right, but always about getting it right. No one cares about whose idea it is when it’s all about getting the right idea in front of the right people. So many, so many fights are fought or in struggles are had, and ideas die in meeting rooms because people are so concerned about defending their own take, being right in the moment instead of opening up, listen to what’s going on there, why the other person might have that take embracing the common ground and getting it right together and eventually.

Scott Ritzheimer

Yeah that’s so true. What? What creates the environment to make that leap, right? Because I’ve found it’s not really something that you can do on your or you can you can do it on your own, but it’s far more likely to happen if the whole team can do that together. What’s it take for a team to achieve that together?

Dr. Michael Gerharz

Honesty, generosity and trust? I’d say so, and most of all, probably to stab off the hero’s pedestal. We’re not, if you don’t, if you show up in a meeting, to kind of be the smart guy, to be the one who has the best solution, and always try to impress people, rather than find a solution to the problem, and give that opportunity of shining, of having the great idea to others. I think you’re going to have a tough time in making that principle work, but if you step off the hero’s pedestal, help others surface their brilliance, so that everyone gets a chance to to to have their voice heard, so that we can make more sense about of the problem at hand than anyone, any single person in the room Could on their own, then we’re much better positioned. As Scott Kelly, that the ISS commander put it, he once said that the smartest person in the room is not the one who’s got all the answers, but the one who knows how to tap into the brilliance of everyone in the room. Yeah, and I think that’s a powerful shift in perspective.

Scott Ritzheimer

Yeah. Yeah, so good, Michael. There’s some folks listening to this, and it just light bulb after light bulb for them. Where can they get a copy of the book? Where can they find more out about the work that you do?

Dr. Michael Gerharz

Well, first of all, had just head over to my website https://michaelgerharz.com and you’ll find pointers to everything the book is at slash v minus path. There you’ll find more information and also some free stuff on the book. For example, a quick self test where it can quickly assess how effective your strategy communication is currently. And yeah, then just feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn and or any other social media. I’d love to follow your journey and meet and connect with brilliant people.

Scott Ritzheimer

Amazing. Well, Michael, thanks so much for being on the show. Just an honor and privilege having you here today. Thanks for being here for those of you watching listening, you know your time and attention mean the world to us. Hope you got as much out of this conversation as I know I did, and I cannot wait to see you next time. Take care.

Contact Dr. Michael Gerharz

Dr. Michael Gerharz believes that great ideas deserve to make an impact. However, many of them fail due to poor communication. His journey began when he worked on his Ph.D. during the mobile phone revolution, a time filled with groundbreaking ideas. Some of these ideas changed the world rapidly and profoundly. At the same time, many brilliant ideas had to be abandoned because no one cared about finding better words to communicate them. He’s the author of “The Aha-Effect” and the “Leaders Light the Path” manifesto. Today, Dr. Gerharz helps leaders across the globe communicate with clarity so their ideas can make the impact they deserve.

Want to learn more about Dr. Michael Gerharz’s work at Dr. Gerharz? Check out his website at https://michaelgerharz.com/

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