Making your ideas "sticky" can help you in many forums, whether it is communicating more effectively with your team, other managers or with prospective business partners. Here is a primer for ensuring that your own messages resonate: 

 

What is the core message? Look at what you are trying to convey to your subordinates or colleagues. It probably includes more than one statement, and has many parts to the concept or arguments. Boil your message down to its essence. Force yourself to prioritize the most critical piece of information that you want your listeners to take away with them.

 

How can you throw a hook into it? You need to get attention. Are your employees' eyes glazing over when you attempt to rally enthusiasm after a tough 18 months of downward sales? Throw in something that grabs their attention and creates curiosity. Begin your meeting with a statement that won't fully be addressed until you are about to wrap up the meeting.

 

Paint a mental picture. No matter what situation you are in, use language that paints a mental picture. Remember the Velcro theory of memory--try to hook into multiple types of memory. (Velcro was intended to paint an apt picture in your mind. Did it work?)

 

Use authorities or details. What makes people believe ideas? We often believe something simply because trusted friends, family or close colleagues believe something. If you are trying to persuade a skeptical audience and you are not a member of one of the three groups just mentioned, you have an uphill battle. Don't overlook the importance of mentioning an authority or a solid detail that will clinch the believability factor of what you are trying to convey.

 

Who is getting emotional? You, that's who. If you want your listeners to grasp, remember, believe or otherwise buy in to your message, that is. Thinking exclusively about statistics puts people into an analytical frame of mind. Give them an example and you will have a compelling message.

 

The story clenches the communication. You need a story to exemplify your point. Why did Subway’s sales increase by 18% after the company introduced the Jared campaign? Because the story of Jared, and the weight he lost by going to Subway each day "stuck."

 

Mentoring is the most effective and least costly alternative for fostering young or inexperienced talent. Developing a mentoring culture in your organization gives you the opportunity to augment learning and better utilize your resources. The benefits of relationship skills learned (by both sides) will spread through the whole organization. As the relationships deepen, people feel more connected to the organization.

 

Ultimately, the learning that results creates value for the entire organization. An excellent mentoring program is fostered by creating readiness for mentoring, facilitating opportunities and building in support mechanisms to ensure success. Here are some of the hallmarks of a strong mentoring culture.

 

1. Hold everyone accountable. Accountability measures such as setting goals, clarifying expectations, monitoring results and formulating action goals, will enhances performance and produce long-lasting results. Shared intention, responsibility and ownership go a long way toward a successful mentoring relationship.

 

2. Share your stories. Share personal mentoring stories with your colleagues. Make yourself one of the leaders who spreads the “value proposition” offered by mentoring by letting your peers know what you have found out regarding best practices, the life cycle and success of your own mentoring experiences.

 

3. Increase opportunities. Help your organization develop a multi-pronged approach to mentoring; there is no single method for successful mentoring. For example, many organizations couple group mentoring with one-on-one mentoring; the learning from one reinforces the other.

 

4. Provide training. Ensure that your organization is teaching its leaders to foster a mentoring culture. Encourage the organization to provide overall training, both for the mentor and mentee roles. This will get the ball rolling on fostering mentoring within your organization.

 

The Assessment of Organizational Readiness for Mentoring contains twelve inventories designed to assist coordinators in determining the overall status of preparation and receptivity before launching a mentoring program. Collectively, the inventories highlight and record the essential decisions that must be made in the formative stages of planning.

 

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