As a leader, we are constantly asked to present our story, our accomplishments at short notices to many internal stakeholders.  What would you say, if you were to be asked to present yourselves in a 5 min conversation to a new CxO of your org, who wants to get to know the tea, ?

Well this was one of the coaching situations that I had to deal with.

I would invite you to pause for a minute and reflect on the following question, before going to the rest of this blog.

If you were his bouncing board, how would you help the leader prepare?

Here are some pointers which came up in the conversation;

1. What should they leader say about himself in a minute?  Specifically the scripted branding statement about the leader.
2. How many slides to prepare ?  Just 1 with the key messages highlighted in a way to catch attention.
3. What to say when your slide comes up ?  Be clear which specific messages needs to highlighted.  Not necessary to read all bullet points.
4. What additional data to be prepared about ?  Keep all relevant data point print outs in a structured manner to present if needed.
5. What potential questions can come up?  Like a chess game, anticipate potential questions which can come up and what should be answers for them.
6. Towards the end – if the Cx0 asks if the leader has any question- being prepared about what kind of questions to ask.

Well, looks like too much for preparation for a 5 minutes meeting.  Isn’t it. 

Well its just worth it, depending on how you want to approach this 5 min interaction.

• What is the perception that you want to create about yourself.
• How can you differentiate yourselves from your peers.
• How can you convey your strategic thought leadership in the questions that you ask?
• What are something's that you must not do in such meetings?
• How much time do you want to spend in structuring your thoughts ?

As a leader, Clarity of thought, precise-ness of communication are mandatory skills.   And this directly impacts one’s Career path for the future.  Isn’t it?