Angelou: Speaking with hope, humor

Maya Angelou's a staple on the college campus lecture circuit, and in this article she describes how she calibrates her speeches by thinking about the mood of the audience as well as what she can bring that will inspire them, something every thoughtful speaker should do. From the interview:

• "I speak quite a lot on courage, because I think it is the most important of all the virtues...Without courage you can't practice any of the other virtues consistently."
• "[I]f people are too dour, I speak on humor, because I never trust people who don't laugh!"
• "If there has been some unfair play, if someone has been mishandled, and there is some reason for outcry, I try to speak to that."

(Photo of Angelou speaking at Wake Forest University from Flickr by wacko_-)

Poste

Social Media Trumps Old-Line Wealth, Networks

Could Hillary Clinton be President of the United States today if her advisors believed more in social media?  Probably. 

And I just want to get my Toastmasters district to use social media more.

Q. What are the most important leadership lessons you’ve learned?

A. I grew up in the Midwest. My mom died when I was 8, so my grandmother raised my brother and me. She had a great sense of humor, and she never really let things get to her.

My favorite story is when we were on a farm in Wisconsin; I would have probably been 13. There was a snake up in the rafter of the machine shed. And we ran and said, “Grandma, there’s a snake.” And she came out and she knocked it down with a shovel, chopped its head off and said, “You could have done that.” And, you know, that’s the tone she set. Just get it done. Just do it. Pick yourself up. Move on. Laugh.

Q. And how do you give feedback?

A. I have the puppy theory. When the puppy pees on the carpet, you say something right then because you don’t say six months later, “Remember that day, January 12th, when you peed on the carpet?” That doesn’t make any sense. “This is what’s on my mind. This is quick feedback.” And then I’m on to the next thing.

If I had my way I wouldn’t do annual reviews, if I felt that everybody would be more honest about positive and negative feedback along the way. I think the annual review process is so antiquated. I almost would rather ask each employee to tell us if they’ve had a meaningful conversation with their manager this quarter. Yes or no. And if they say no, they ought to have one. I don’t even need to know what it is. But if you viewed it as meaningful, then that’s all that counts.

More wisdom from the Corner Office series in the New York Times. A great lesson and a great piece of applied knowledge. I could never see the point in waiting for an annual review. If people waited all year to tell me how I was doing, they were way behind me.