As leaders and managers we are often thrown into situations that require us to think on our feet and make quick off-the-cuff decision. Often times these moments require a decision that can be driven from a negative emotion. Decisions that are emotionally based, rather than logically based, often end in poorer results, and ineffective leadership (I know, not always). I thought of this idea of scripting, when I was thinking about my Personal Success Plan for 2012.  I was originally thinking of a health goal related to food intake, since I travel a lot. It is not always easy to make the best decisions when eating out. I thought about printing a small card and keeping it in my wallet with answers to food related decisions. Had I done it it would have looked something like this:

• Corn Tortillas, Not Flour Tortillas
• Grilled Chicken, Not Fried Chicken
• Water, Not Soda
• Brown Rice, Not White Rice
• Wheat, Not White
• Granola Bar, Not a Candy Bar
• Dessert, NO!

The idea with this was that by reading this often, I would make a decision in my head logically, before I needed to make it emotionally. Later, when required to make the emotional decision; such when I was tired, stressed, and hungry, the decision would be made for me because I had already decided what I truly wanted and needed to eat.

Effective Leadership Through Scripting

With any type of training, you practice, practice, and practice, until the desired action and decisions are second nature. This technique is also common in conditioning a sales person to be able to counter resistance. So with that logic, I wondered how I could apply this concept to create effective leadership. Several days later, after a “situation”… I found myself sitting down and thinking, “What just happened?” Well, I had made an emotional decision, contrary to what I knew I should have done.

Since it was emotional, I knew I could have scripted the decision beforehand, then when I found myself in the heat of the moment, I would already know what to say. Here are some thoughts of scripting in leadership and management situations.

• “I would like to think this over for a little bit,” instead of, “We need to have a meeting right now to discuss this.”
• “I have some time at _____,” instead of, letting someone interrupt a project or task you are working on.
• “Our low cash-flow and company policy do not permit us to give employee loans at this time, but if you like I can give you the contact information to a financial advisor,” instead of, “Well, I guess this time we could make an exception and loan you $500 for ________.”
• “Our company policy does not allow me to give you a raise, but our performance based compensation plans will allow you to earn more money by ________________, let’s talk about how you can do that,” instead of, “No.”

Getting Started With Scripting Your Way To Effective Leadership

Schedule an hour now to think about the poor or emotional decisions that have compromised your effective leadership or management decisions. Write down what you should say and what you should not say for various scenarios that you find yourself in. Refer to that document occasionally, and add to it as needed. Later, subtract the decisions that become second nature, or in other words, that you master.

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So, now that you’ve read this article, how are you going to use this information to bring effective leadership to your life or your organization? What scripting ideas do you have to create effective leadership?

Please take a moment and share your ideas in the comments section below, share this with your social media friends, and subscribe to receive A Slice of Leadership notices, as well as occasional leadership advice, articles, tips and freebies.
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