It’s a difficult conversation in many leadership teams. Everyone is passionately defending their turf and insisting their piece deserves more spotlight. Here’s a tip how to resolve it in a respectful way.

Welcome back to “Irresistible Communication”.

2

Two minutes, one insight

on how to find better

3

words

4

.

Michael: A reader recently wrote in to ask a very good question: “I know my

5

message needs to be simpler, but which

parts do I cut when every stakeholder

6

insists their piece is important?”

7

That's brutal, isn't it?

8

I mean, everyone thinks their piece

is the one that can’t go, right?

9

But here's how I look at it.

10

Think of your message as

the entrance to a building.

11

It's not the whole building.

12

Its job is to make people

want to step inside.

13

So that means you don't need every single

room represented in the entrance hall.

14

You just need enough to make them

curious to step in, to make them feel:

15

yes, this building is worth entering.

16

But if the entrance is cluttered

with everything everyone wants to

17

show, people won't even come in.

18

And, that means no one will ever see

your room no matter how brilliant it

19

is or how important you think it is.

20

So the job of the message is simple.

21

Make the entrance so clear,

22

so inviting that people want

to step inside and then,

23

once they're in, you can show them around.

24

That's when they will be

open to exploring the rest.

25

But again, first they need

to get through the door.

26

So when every stakeholder insists

their piece is important, I tell them:

27

yes, your piece is

important for the building.

28

It just doesn't have to be the entrance.

29

And when they see that,

30

the fight usually stops, because

now it's about creating the

31

clearest, most inviting entrance,

32

not cramming the entire

building into a single doorway.

33

Keep lighting the path.