Stand up, Speak out & Win!
By Ernie Mitchell
HTF Columnist
Shortly after I returned home from Vietnam in 1969 and took my place in the civilian workforce my mother sent me a book titled, “Stand Up Speak Out And Win.” The co-author was a former Vietnam POW she mother had met at a seminar he was presenting on leadership. The lessons I learned from the little book were many.
Because we Americans are not bashful about speaking up when we have something to say we are often considered loud and boisterous by Europeans. Speaking out clearly, with reasonable volume and unflinching voice inflection isn’t considered to be as virtuous in many parts of Europe and Asia as it is in the USA. Even in some circles in Canada you will find a more subdued and muffled form of verbal communicating especially in situations where important business matters are being discussed or negotiated.
Before I moved to the northwoods and literally nailed my wingtip (traveling) shoes to the cabin floor, I worked for an English company that was owned by a large Belgian firm. Although I was no stranger to the ways of conducting international commerce when I signed on with the company I have to admit I was a little taken aback by their demeanor in the boardroom. Instead of speaking clearly and concisely, with ample volume for all to hear and using voice inflection to amplify their depth of conviction for the points they were making, my European colleagues chose to modulate their voice, sometimes almost to a whisper to signify when the conversation was becoming more important.
While I do not approve of using sheer volume to make a point I found the muffled demeanor of the Europeans to be downright annoying. After all, in America we are taught that if something is worth saying it is worth saying clearly, confidently and unwaveringly. Unlike in Europe, when someone in America drops the tenor of their voice and the deliberateness of their voice inflection it doesn’t signify the importance of the message, it signifies that the speaker is either uncertain or untruthful. In short, we associate mumbling with lying. I can still hear my grandfather saying, “Speak up boy! You got a mouth full of marbles? Quit talking like you are ashamed of what you are saying!”
I wrestled with whether I should modify my presentation style when presenting to certain groups in Europe and came to the conclusion that while I should always be careful not to be overly boisterous I should otherwise hold tight to the culture of my roots.
Upon making the decision I found it helped more than harmed my performance. The reason was simple: If you believe in your message, as you should, and your belief is reflected with professionalism and sincere depth of conviction in your voice, it makes no difference whether you’re in London, Tokyo or downtown Buhl; you have no reason to muffle or modulate your message.
My decision to hold tight to my American ways was predicated on memories of an exercise my third grade school teacher used to pull on the members (me included) of her class. She was notorious for forcefully interrupting and challenging us about the correctness of something we had written or were in the process of saying. After being the brunt of her challenges several times I started to realize that she was challenging us to instill confidence in us and to get us to stick to our guns and stand firm when we were right. If we were right and we waffled or became meek in the face of her challenges she would ask us why we were afraid to stand up for ourselves when we were right - reminding us that waffling and muffled meekness has no place when you are right. She also taught about the virtues of humility - a subject for another day.
The lessons in self confidence she taught us were invaluable. Lack of self-confidence to stand up for what we believe in and to trust the forces that created us manifests itself in many ways. It runs deeper than just temporarily abandoning our beliefs when challenged. It affects our ability to sell ourselves on trudging forward during uncertain times and it dilutes the depth of conviction we must convey to sell our ideas and our wares to the world. Our family members and customers see it - it’s not the stuff that leadership and salesmanship is made of.
Ernie Mitchell, Moose Lake Hill, Orr, MN, © All Rights Reserved 2010.
