provider’s boilerplate. (1 point)
Our benefits packages and how to use them are clearly spelled out internally, exploiting the same personality and voice we use to communicate externally. (2 points)
Are your legal letters friendly in tone?
Writing legal letters (regarding trademark violations, human resources terminations, etc.) is a necessary part of business. But that doesn’t mean yours have to sound like a mean-spirited robot wrote them. You’ll always get better results when you communicate with human empathy.
We use standard boilerplate legal text, written only to extract results for our organization. (0 points)
We try to use less “legalese” in our letters though we’re more comfortable keeping everything in a standard legal form. (1 point)
We always try first to resolve legal issues informally — with a friendly phone call and follow-up email when appropriate. (2 points)
Are your news releases devoid of jargon and over-excited announcements?
Review your last four news releases. If any contain an executive quote about how “excited” you are to be “announcing” something, you’re failing to communicate in a human manner. Too many news releases read more like long ads than media missives. How well do you fare?
Our news releases follow a standard form that hasn’t changed much in years. (0 points)
We try to avoid jargon and awkwardly inserted expressions of executive excitement but still distribute news releases through traditional channels. (1 point)
We write different versions of our news for different platforms — a short version for employees to post on social channels, longer explainers for the media, and so on. (2 points)
Humanity
To what extent do you permit your employees to factor their gut feelings into your RFP evaluations?
Vendor responses to RFPs are usually evaluated based on price, ability to do the work, and reputation in the market. Sadly, many organizations don’t have a way to factor a “gut feel” into the evaluator’s final decision. Did they get a bad vibe from the vendor’s account manager? Often, that’s as important as the numbers.
There’s no mechanism for considering intuition in our vendor review process. (0 points)
Our staff consider their intuition informally. (1 point)
Intuition is a part of our review process; our team members are encouraged to factor their gut feel into decision making. (2 points)
Does your marketing team have a clear personality profile of each audience segment?
It’s hard to identify with humans as customers if you’re viewing them only as companies you serve. Companies don’t make purchase decisions — people do. How well does your staff know the type of person likely to be a customer?
We think in terms of selling to companies, not to humans. (0 points)
Our team has the mindset that people, not companies, buy what we sell. (1 point)
We have distinct personality profiles of the customers we are trying to attract and understand those customers beyond their professional life. (2 points)
Is the language you use in your written communications the same as you might hear in a conversation?
Too much business communication uses an outdated formality that removes the humanity from the text. How well do you use human language?
We write in a purely formal business fashion (i.e., long sentences, no contractions, etc.). (0 points)
We try to write less formally, though we do so in an inconsistent manner. (1 point)
Our writing uses human language, short sentences, and contractions across all our materials, both external and internal. (2 points)
TOUCH Assessment Scorecard
0 to 8.5
Your business is operating in very dangerous territory. Your organizational humanity is barely registering with your stakeholders and you could be losing many customers and employees without even realizing it. You need to make building TOUCH into your business a top priority.
9 to 15
You’re good in some areas and lacking in others. It’s very likely your customers are frustrated at certain points dealing with your organization. Initiating a review of all places where you deal with stakeholders, and gauging the level of humanity would be a worthwhile exercise.
15.5 to 22.5
The people who deal with your organization may feel like your organization has a split-personality. In some areas, you’re exceptional — dealing with people as people and keeping a high TOUCH relationship. In others, your stakeholders are feeling like you’re dropping the ball and they’re not valued. You need to shore up those areas where you’re failing and further invest in those where you’re doing well.
23 to 26.5
You’re in a strong human position though a few gaps exist in your organization’s humanity. It’s worth doing a quick check into each aspect of your business and asking your stakeholders how you can do even better. While not an urgent priority, this work will serve your organization very well in the long-term.
27 to 30
You’re part of a very human organization — kudos! Look for opportunities to further establish TOUCH inside your organization and in the public eye. You can be a trend-setter.
Chapter 4
Leadership
Used with permission © Rob Cottingham, Noise to Signal. http://www.robcottingham.ca/cartoons/
Humanity is a Leadership Asset
I define a leader as anyone who holds him- or herself responsible or accountable for finding potential in people or processes.[5]
— BRENÉ BROWN, RESEARCHER AND AUTHOR OF DARING GREATLY
Few things have put pressure on organizational leaders as profoundly as digital communication, particularly social media. The evolution of digital culture, with real-time scrutiny and in-the-moment humanism, has demanded leaders of all shapes and sizes of organizations embrace a new era of open, honest, and real interactions, whether in person or online.
Yes. Both are possible. Both are happening. Dismiss them at your own peril. There are already community leaders, political leaders, and business leaders who have successfully applied their innate interpersonal skills from in-person interactions to their interactions over email, blog posts, text messages, photographs, Facebook updates, LinkedIn posts, tweets, audio podcasts, videos, and more. It’s
