Beat the Drum (opens in new tab)

There are so many articles talking about CEOs and other "business leaders" communicating effectively, but they never seem to point out the obvious: all these business leaders have fuck all to say. The emails that the C-suite sends out are not important vision-aligning leadership communication, they're vapid, self-congratulatory, barely coherent platitudes. These morons are the most worthless people in the organization; why would anyone listen to them? Beat the drum all you want, it doesn't mean you have anything useful to say. Just shut your office door, collect your twenty million dollars, stop pretending your job is anything more than cancerous parasitism, and leave us all alone to make you more money.

The last part about Empathy is the most important one.

I've always refused to be a manager, but I had little time for anyone that used me as a tool. We're working together, not under. Good managers a good communicator first. Communication flows better if you're on the same level, that works best one on one and not through memos.

Approach your people and hear them first. Help them understand why we're going in this direction and if they can see it from your point of view, everyone will fall in line in one direction. Listening first will give you ideas on how best you can deliver your message and if you solve their problems, they'll follow you to hell and back.

The more stand-off-ish and cold you are, the least they'll be invested in you back.

> In the past, some militaries used drums as a form of communication. The drums kept armies aligned on messages as simple as “advance” and “retreat.”

This is similarly used in games like Patapon!

I love this.

Was just talking with a friend how marketing/sales/life itself is just doing the same thing over and over again and how much that can annoy me.

But the metaphor of beating a drum, playing a rhythm to sync everyone, really lands with me, almost makes me want to do it now, and I may use the metaphor for a very long time. Thank you.