One of our favorite clients in the financial services industry has a crazy big dream to make EVERYONE in their firm a “Master Connector”. We just started practice last Friday (see Chet’s blog called We practiced… from January 30) and began the journey together.
To drive this deep into the core of their DNA, they asked our help to answer the question “what are the attributes of a Master Connector” so they could integrate these into their firm-wide performance goals & evaluation process. What a cool idea.
You can find these described in greater detail in the 12 Essentials of Personal Excellence under the 11th, which is BUILD YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS.
Anyway, here’s a summary — enjoy!
Master Connectors:
1. Have a strong core (they know who they are, their purpose & passion – they have found their “voice”)
2. Believe in their message & speak from their heart (with “shoot in their eyes” that pierces the hearts of those who hear).
3. Ask the best, insatiably curious questions leading to another feeling deeply understood (with empathy in their hearts, not rushing to judgment- rarely telling something they can ASK instead)
4. Listen carefully like an animal being stalked (with full eye contact & every fiber of all 5 senses — translating all types of signals to cut through noise & find the true melody line)
5. Are masters of their subject (like sponges, they are lifelong learners with a deep reservoir of knowledge that comes from 10,000 hours)
6. Write with uncommon clarity (they have become disciplined through mastering the art of “rinse + repeat”, re-writing as needed for squeaky clean clarity)
7. Tell others exactly what they want — being clear, concise & direct with respect (having learned to “hit + hug” as a truth-teller, inspiring others to do the same — “mining for healthy conflict” instead of burying it so as to achieve real harmony)
8. Align body language with their message (by cultivating emotional intelligence to remove subtle non-verbal signals of criticism, defensiveness, stonewalling & especially contempt)
9. Tell good stories that are memorable and inspire action (“sticky” = S.U.C.C.E.S.S Simple Unexpectedness Concrete Credible Emotional Stories)
10. Attack the curse of knowledge (by frequently re-calibrating with the listener to establish proper context, test assumptions, and play back what’s been heard through reflective questions)
BUILT TO LEAD 
After the first practice where a team member stood up feeling like it was in front of a firing squad, this team is now ON fire, and firing ON all cylinders. In our last practice, the team banded together to identify 3 top priorities that would help the whole system leap forward from Current State toward Dream State, and WHY.
Before practice ended, the heads of the system entrusted the reigns to the team to form a Productive Action Group (PAG) to “tell us more” before our next month’s practice. Yesterday they did, reporting the CLARITY they’ve built together over just 3 working lunches regarding WHO they serve by client segment, WHY each client segment buys, the firm’s unique value propositions, and PRODUCTIVE ACTIONS for improving how the team can eliminate bottlenecks to improve productivity of all staff. They’ve identified their Current State, Dream State, AND Productive Actions. Freakin’ MAGIC.
It was NO April Fool’s. It WAS a little Goofy, a little Moo’ing at the Car Wash, a little Thunder, a little Katey Bird singing the song inside her, and a lot of Mona Lisa smiling. In front of a little Mayhem and Coo and JaLo and Zamboni, this team is running like mustangs!
They are becoming ONE. They are becoming Master Connectors…of Your Investments to Your Dreams. With you. For you. For life.
What’s the greatest gift the heads of a system can give their team? It’s the gift of these four words from Blaise Pascal — “I BELIEVE IN YOU.”
On a Columbus OH April 1 day of record highs, grooving to the melody line of the 70s “Car Wash” tune, it just doesn’t get much better than that.