Managing Stakeholder Expectations in Negotiation

After one too many dating disasters, I did what any clinical ops nerd would do: I built a protocol—and met the love of my life. Yes, I’m completely serious. Because for a long time, I was operating without a plan. No protocol. No endpoints. No system for evaluating fit. Talk about a CSR that looked like 50 shades of beige. I saw the early flags — and kept going. Confused compatibility with charisma. Treated dysfunction like something I could fix with enough effort. Dating felt like a part-time job — with the emotional ROI of a dumpster fire. I wasn’t evaluating — I was managing. Trying to operationalize instability instead of admitting it was never built to last. Eventually, I hit a breaking point — and responded the only way I knew how: With a spreadsheet. Because if a trial keeps breaking down, it’s not an enrollment issue — it’s a design flaw. So I created a protocol. Here’s what it looked like: 🔹 Inclusion Criteria: Emotionally available. Self-aware. Curious. Willing to communicate, even when it’s uncomfortable. 🔹 Exclusion Criteria: Chronic indecision. Passive communication. Lack of respect for boundaries. 🔹 Endpoints: Emotional safety. Shared values. Mutual curiosity. Humor that actually lands. Consistent effort. A shared understanding of rest and ambition. Schedule of Assessments: 🔹 Screening Visit → First Date Confirm eligibility. Emotional availability, communication style, and intentions. It’s not about perfection — just alignment. Is this a qualified yes or a polite maybe? 🔹 Early Visits → Building Trust Assess safety and consistency. Do words and actions match? How do they respond under light pressure? 🔹 Post Randomization → Real Life Life happens — stress, travel, family stuff. Observe flexibility, response patterns, and whether the connection holds. 🔹 Long-Term Extension → Partnership in Motion Can you adapt together? Stay steady? Support each other through shifting phases? This is where the real data shows up. No more enrolling “potential.” No more mistaking intensity for intimacy. No more protocol amendments because I ignored early signs. When the right person showed up? I was clear enough to recognize it. Consented. Enrolled. No deviations. Now we’re years in — steady, supportive, still surprising each other. The protocol held. The outcomes exceeded expectations. Turns out, the same principles that make a clinical trial successful — clarity, intentionality, aligned endpoints — work in real life too. 💬 Ever built a system in your personal life that actually worked? 📩 I help biotech teams create strategy and structure that leads to real results — and every once in a while, something a little more personal too. #ClinicalTrials #ProtocolDesign #FromPipelineToPartner

Evaluating LLMs is hard. Evaluating agents is even harder. This is one of the most common challenges I see when teams move from using LLMs in isolation to deploying agents that act over time, use tools, interact with APIs, and coordinate across roles. These systems make a series of decisions, not just a single prediction. As a result, success or failure depends on more than whether the final answer is correct. Despite this, many teams still rely on basic task success metrics or manual reviews. Some build internal evaluation dashboards, but most of these efforts are narrowly scoped and miss the bigger picture. Observability tools exist, but they are not enough on their own. Google’s ADK telemetry provides traces of tool use and reasoning chains. LangSmith gives structured logging for LangChain-based workflows. Frameworks like CrewAI, AutoGen, and OpenAgents expose role-specific actions and memory updates. These are helpful for debugging, but they do not tell you how well the agent performed across dimensions like coordination, learning, or adaptability. Two recent research directions offer much-needed structure. One proposes breaking down agent evaluation into behavioral components like plan quality, adaptability, and inter-agent coordination. Another argues for longitudinal tracking, focusing on how agents evolve over time, whether they drift or stabilize, and whether they generalize or forget. If you are evaluating agents today, here are the most important criteria to measure: • 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: Did the agent complete the task, and was the outcome verifiable? • 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Was the initial strategy reasonable and efficient? • 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Did the agent handle tool failures, retry intelligently, or escalate when needed? • 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲: Was memory referenced meaningfully, or ignored? • 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀): Did agents delegate, share information, and avoid redundancy? • 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲: Did behavior remain consistent across runs or drift unpredictably? For adaptive agents or those in production, this becomes even more critical. Evaluation systems should be time-aware, tracking changes in behavior, error rates, and success patterns over time. Static accuracy alone will not explain why an agent performs well one day and fails the next. Structured evaluation is not just about dashboards. It is the foundation for improving agent design. Without clear signals, you cannot diagnose whether failure came from the LLM, the plan, the tool, or the orchestration logic. If your agents are planning, adapting, or coordinating across steps or roles, now is the time to move past simple correctness checks and build a robust, multi-dimensional evaluation framework. It is the only way to scale intelligent behavior with confidence.

My team and I once tried to hand-wave our way past Jeff Bezos with a large headcount request. He asked one question, was disappointed by the answer, and dug deeper. After a weak answer to question two, it was game over. Jeff declared that he trusted NONE of our proposal and sent us back, telling us, "Break down your requests to no more than 2 or 3 heads, tops, per line item. Then explain exactly what these small buckets will do." Once we did this, he went through the request line by line, telling us what we could and could not have. Overall, it was probably the most brutal experience I had with him in my 15 years at Amazon. While some people will read this and feel it was micromanagement, he was entirely right. We thought we had a blank check, so we made a big, broad funding request. We learned very quickly that while Jeff supported our mission, he expected us to spend "his" money carefully. Most people think executive influence happens in the room, by talking slick or having the right alliances. While communication and connections are hugely important, most of your influence is built before the meeting starts. Getting executive buy-in comes from understanding your executives, anticipating their concerns, and structuring your message around what they value. Here are two quick specifics: 1. Preparation If you walk into a key stakeholder meeting without preparing, like I did, you’ve already lost. The first step in preparation is clarity: What are you trying to achieve, by when, and why now? Then, define exactly what you’re asking for: a decision, resources, or permission to move forward. Finally, decode the humans. What does each stakeholder care about? What do they fear? How do they make decisions? Build your case in their language and plan your approach with intention. 2. Focus on Facts Executives are moved by accurate, outcome-driven facts. Shortly after this disastrous headcount audit, I was asked to lead the global expansion of the Kindle Appstore. This required taking 55 engineers away from other executive leaders to staff our rush effort. Our team won support by anchoring on three facts: (1) Kindle’s success in the U.S. was undeniable (2) The holiday deadline couldn’t move (3) Leadership had already approved a one-year draft to make it happen. Those facts aligned perfectly with what executives valued most: growth, timing, and company priority. If you master these skills, you’ll earn trust and support from senior leaders. In large organizations, this translates to success in your projects and success in your career. I've written a much more in depth Newsletter that covers these skills and more: https://lnkd.in/geEBPazP When have you either fallen into hand-waving or had to call your team on it?

I was Wrong about Influence. Early in my career, I believed influence in a decision-making meeting was the direct outcome of a strong artifact presented and the ensuing discussion. However, with more leadership experience, I have come to realize that while these are important, there is something far more important at play. Influence, for a given decision, largely happens outside of and before decision-making meetings. Here's my 3 step approach you can follow to maximize your influence: (#3 is often missed yet most important) 1. Obsess over Knowing your Audience Why: Understanding your audience in-depth allows you to tailor your communication, approach and positioning. How: ↳ Research their backgrounds, how they think, what their goals are etc. ↳ Attend other meetings where they are present to learn about their priorities, how they think and what questions they ask. Take note of the topics that energize them or cause concern. ↳ Engage with others who frequently interact with them to gain additional insights. Ask about their preferences, hot buttons, and any subtle cues that could be useful in understanding their perspective. 2. Tailor your Communication Why: This ensures that your message is not just heard but also understood and valued. How: ↳ Seek inspiration from existing artifacts and pickup queues on terminologies, context and background on the give topic. ↳ Reflect on their goals and priorities, and integrate these elements into your communication. For instance, if they prioritize efficiency, highlight how your proposal enhances productivity. ↳Ask yourself "So what?" or "Why should they care" as a litmus test for relatability of your proposal. 3. Pre-socialize for support Why: It allows you to refine your approach, address potential objections, and build a coalition of support (ahead of and during the meeting). How: ↳ Schedule informal discussions or small group meetings with key stakeholders or their team members to discuss your idea(s). A casual coffee or a brief virtual call can be effective. Lead with curiosity vs. an intent to respond. ↳ Ask targeted questions to gather feedback and gauge reactions to your ideas. Examples: What are your initial thoughts on this draft proposal? What challenges do you foresee with this approach? How does this align with our current priorities? ↳ Acknowledge, incorporate and highlight the insights from these pre-meetings into the main meeting, treating them as an integral part of the decision-making process. What would you add? PS: BONUS - Following these steps also expands your understanding of the business and your internal network - both of which make you more effective. --- Follow me, tap the (🔔) Omar Halabieh for daily Leadership and Career posts.

You know that sinking feeling… Someone interrupts your carefully prepared presentation with “But what about...?” and raises a point you never considered. Everyone is looking at you, and you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders. In that moment, the idea or solution you’ve been presenting weighs in the balance. Address the resistance well, and your idea will likely be adopted with even more optimism than before. Address it poorly, and your idea is as good as gone. Here’s a quick overview of my “RAP” formula that you can use in these moments to turn blindside objections into “aha” moments. 1. R: Recognize the type of resistance you’re facing: - Logical resistance (conflicting data or reasoning) - Emotional resistance (values or identity challenges) - Practical resistance (implementation concerns) 2. A: Address it proactively in your presentation: - For logical resistance: Acknowledge competing viewpoints before they’re raised. "Some might point to last quarter’s numbers as evidence against this approach. Here’s why that perspective is incomplete..." - For emotional resistance: Connect your idea to their existing values. "This initiative actually strengthens our commitment to customer-first thinking by..." - For practical resistance: Demonstrate you’ve considered the real-world constraints. "I know this requires significant change. Here’s our phased implementation plan that accounts for..." 3. P: Provide a path forward that transforms resistance into alignment: - Give them space to voice concerns (but in a structured way) - Incorporate their perspective into the solution - Show how addressing their resistance actually strengthens the outcome The most powerful thing you can say in a presentation isn’t "trust me", it’s "I understand your concerns." When you genuinely see resistance as valuable feedback rather than an obstacle, you’ll find your ideas gaining traction where they previously stalled. #CommunicationSkills #BusinessCommunication #PresentationSkills

Don’t just say yes to reviewing a contract I’d do this instead... ➟ Pause to get the full context on the spend ➟ Check the stakeholder has actually reviewed it ➟ Clarify the procurement role as distinct from that of legal In this post 👇 1. Why procurement managers get this wrong (the subservience trap) 2. How to reframe this positively for stakeholders 3. Defining the legal & procurement roles 4. The process enablers Let's start with the subservience trap: 1️⃣ Why procurement managers get this wrong. We're so conditioned to help and so focused on risk mitigation we jump straight in and often miss ↳ The full context for the contract ↳ An opportunity to explain procurement's role ↳ That we're not legally trained and should be open about this Example: This stakeholder has contacted us for the first time and we want to jump in and prove how helpful we are. We're so happy to be involved we give a comprehensive review on the whole document, distracting from how we add the best value. 2️⃣ How to reframe this positively with stakeholders ↳ Say 'yes' to the things you can review (commercials, SLAs, key risks) ↳ Explain the contract review process with a simple RACI ↳ Outline the standard timescale for review ↳ Loop in legal straight away 3️⃣ Defininig the procurement and legal roles Clarify with the stakeholder legal's responsibilities: ↳ Reviewing contract terms for legal risk, enforceability, and regulatory compliance ↳ Ensuring data privacy, IP, and confidentiality protections ↳ Drafting or approving clauses around liability, indemnity, and termination ↳ Negotiating on complex or non-standard terms Do the same for procuremnent's responsibilities: ↳ Commercial terms review: pricing, scope of work, SLAs ↳ Operational & practival review: governance structures, shedules, compliance with procurement policies ↳ Commercial risk & business exposure: e.g. any restrictive obligations, termination clause feasibility 4️⃣ The process enablers Because contract reviews can be onerous ↳ Develop a set of standard T's & C's for your business with legal ↳ Provide one pagers or FAQs covering: (i) when legal review is needed (ii) common red-flag clauses to watch for (iii) Definitions of tricky legal terms in contracts (iv) Contact points for legal support ↳ Provide simple process maps or RACI charts ↳ Host short training or awareness sessions with stakeholder groups Finally, some pro tips: ➟ Don't assume the typical stakeholder understands the difference between legal role and that of procurement ➟ Communicate regularly with stakeholders and be realistic with timescales ➟ Get in writing your business stakeholder has also reviewed and understood the contract. ➟ Don't try to cover the gaps in your legal team resource by stepping outside what you're trained to review. _________ Follow this & you'll provide 10x more value than just saying 'yes' & overstepping your role I promise! Repost ♻️ if this helped.

When you answer the wrong question, you waste time and lose golden opportunities. Fulfilling a stakeholder request at face value usually leads to failure. You risk spending dozens of hours on a masterpiece that no one needs. And delivering a useless answer proves you are disconnected from the business. Stakeholders are rarely trained analysts. Their request is not the problem; it is a low-resolution proxy for a higher-stakes decision. You must find the business challenge hidden beneath the surface. This is your chance to prove you are more than a technician: you are a strategic business partner. Stop providing interesting data. Start delivering clinical evidence that is accurate, actionable, and aligned. To ensure this alignment, use the 5-step Strategic Audit: 1. Schedule a Live Discussion: Decline complex email requests to signal strategic priority. 2. Identify the Catalyst: Require the stakeholder to articulate the specific friction that prompted the request. 3. Quantify the Pain: Determine the immediate risk to the business if the problem remains unsolved. 4. Map the Path: Identify the specific decision or pivot that will occur once the answer is found. 5. Confirm the Mandate: Re-state the strategic objective to secure absolute alignment. Technical proficiency is a commodity. Strategic alignment is the value. Art+Science Analytics Institute | University of Notre Dame | University of Notre Dame - Mendoza College of Business | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | University of Chicago | D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University | ELVTR | Grow with Google - Data Analytics #Analytics #DataStorytelling

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐀𝐫𝐞 Enterprise Architecture abhors a vacuum—it thrives on stakeholder engagement. Often, architects jump into collaboration without first assessing one critical factor: • 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞, 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐄𝐀? Before strategy, frameworks, or roadmaps, 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 and 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. This will shape how you approach, gain buy-in, and drive outcomes. Here are 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 for aligning EA with stakeholders: 𝟏 | 𝐆𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐄𝐀 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 EA means different things to people, how can you align? Approach: * 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞. What do leaders think EA does? What experiences shape their view? * 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐀 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞. If a product saw EA as 'overhead,’ shift the conversation to ‘rapid decision-making.’ * 𝐓𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. Finance, operations, and IT leaders have different concerns. Meet them on their terms. 👉 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞: When you shape EA’s role based on their reality, it becomes relevant, not theoretical. 𝟐 | 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐄𝐀 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 EA isn’t all architecture, it’s solving business problems. Approach: * 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐊𝐏𝐈𝐬. Growth? Efficiency? Risk? Align EA contributions to what leadership interests. * 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭. Show architecture driving go-to-market, savings, or agility—over compliance. * 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐞/𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬. If EA was a bottleneck, demonstrate accelerated decision-making instead. 👉 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞: EA is a strategic enabler, not afterthought. 𝟑 | 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐄𝐀 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 EA works best in collaboration, not isolation. Approach: * 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. Decision-making improves when EA is a proactive presence. * 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 ‘𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐀’ 𝐭𝐨 ‘𝐜𝐨-𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.’ Stakeholders engage when architecture is a tool for their success. * 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐨𝐟𝐟. EA isn’t a pitch—it’s a dialog evolving with business. 👉 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞: EA shaping decisions early rather than reacting later. 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. Before pushing frameworks or models, assess 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐄𝐀 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲—and how to reshape that narrative to unlock its full potential. How do align EA stakeholders? Let’s discuss.👇 --- ➕ 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 Kevin Donovan 🔔    👍 Like | ♻️ Repost | 💬 Comment    🚀 𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬’ 𝐇𝐮𝐛 👉 https://lnkd.in/dgmQqfu2

🤔 When a stakeholder asks for analysis, is your job to answer the question or create the outcome that drives value? In the data, analytics and AI teams I’ve led, this is a mindset I actively build. I saw this play out during a customer churn engagement in one of my teams. One analyst delivered exactly what was asked for. They closed the ticket, met the service KPI and the stakeholder moved on. Nothing really changed. Another analyst approached the same problem differently. Before starting the analysis, they asked two questions... 🔍 Why does this matter? 🧭 What outcome are you trying to drive? That conversation uncovered other drivers of churn and led to recommendations that influenced the retention strategy. Working closely with the stakeholder, the team helped turn around performance. The difference came down to mindset. Many organisations reward people for performing to the brief. In the teams I build, we focus on creating impact. So next time a stakeholder asks for analysis, ask why it matters and what outcome they want to influence. Align your work with the value you want to create. #DataLeadership #AnalyticsLeadership #AILeadership #DataCulture #StakeholderEngagement #BusinessImpact

For 30 years, I've dreaded giving presentations. But I've still given more than I can count... Presenting is something that many leaders struggle with. But unfortunately, it's par for the course of running a business. The good news is, you don't need to be a naturally gifted speaker. I'm certainly not.  You just need to be well-prepared and follow some simple rules. This is what I would share with any leader before their next meeting: 1. The 20-Word Strategy Rule Your strategy must fit 1 sentence and answer three questions: 1. What are you passionate about? (Your purpose) 2. What can you be the best at? (Your USP) 3. How will you make money? (Your economic engine) 2. The Pre-Read Rule Always make sure you have done the reading beforehand.  Leaders should set the agenda and send pre-read material in advance. 3. The Working Together Framework When a new leader joins, share a short two-page Working Together document. It should answer 4 things clearly: 1. What do I expect them to achieve? 2. How can I get the best out of them? 3. How can they get the best out of me? 4. What motivates and demotivates each of us? 4. The Storytelling Rule Start with the broad ambition, then follow with three supporting messages. Keep in mind: - Practise until you can tell it without a laptop or notes. - Keep it simple. Too much information adds clutter and confusion. - Statistics and data will not persuade people. Make it about them, not you. 5. The Back-To-The-Floor Rule Before any major presentation, do this first: 1. Block out a morning to shadow your frontline team. 2. Put the headset on and listen to real customer conversations. 3. Walk the floor and look for what the data is not telling you. 4. Write down the one or two things that surprised you. 5. Build those observations into your presentation. 6. The Communication Rules Think in news headlines. Do not change the message too often.  Do not sugar-coat.  Be honest about bad news.  Bottom-up communication is essential. 7. Before You Walk In - Can I state our strategy in 20 words or fewer? - Have I sent pre-read material in advance? - Am I leading with a story, not a data dump? - Have I been to the shop floor recently enough to speak with authority? - Have I been honest about what is not working? - Does everyone in the room know what I am asking of them? - Could I present this without opening my laptop? Preparation is not glamorous. It's not meant to be. But if you want to earn the trust of a room, it’s absolutely necessary. If you want more lessons like these delivered to your inbox each week, subscribe to my newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/ergDQtiK If you're a leader, comment below if you've ever struggled with presentations. Or share a strategy that has helped you in meetings.