Today is the big debate between Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and her opponent Republican nominee Donald Trump. This is not a political blog but having done my undergraduate degree in Political Science, I have interest in keeping abreast of what’s happening around the world. Presidential debates are of particular interest to me but not because of the actual policy discussions. I am much more fascinated by how presidential nominees use this platform to communicate and persuade. Master communicators know that what you say is just as important as how you say it.

I think the majority of presidential candidates over the last three elections (when I started to take greater notice) have been great communicators who were able to weave in persuasion tactics with their policies. Going back further than the 2004 election, there is one communicator who trumps (pun intended) them all – Bill Clinton.

Regardless of how you view him either politically or personally, there are some key takeaways from his style of communication that he uses to connect to his audiences to win them over. Exhibit A of Bill Clinton’s masterful comprehension of the art of communication and persuasion was seen during a town hall debate during the 1992 election. Clinton faced off against then president George H.W. Bush and eccentric billionaire tycoon Ross Perot.

In the town hall debate format, questions come from an audience composed of undecided voters. I really like watching these debates because questions from these debates tend to deliver the biggest gaffes from candidates. They also can lend a hand in a candidate soaring to victory. The latter was the case in the 1992 election for Clinton. During the debate, Clinton was asked the following question by a woman in the audience:

“How has the national debt personally affected each of your lives? And if it hasn’t, how can you honestly find a cure for the economic problems of the common people if you have no experience in what’s ailing them?”

Here is Clinton’s masterful response to the question:

There were three things that really stuck out for me in Clinton’s answer:

He actually listened to the question

Clinton was fortunate that his opponent Bush had the opportunity to answer this question first. Bush did not listen to the question in its entirety and thereby lost its context. The woman asked how the national debt impacted the candidates’ lives – not the impact on the general US populous. Bush’s misfire right off the bat caused the moderator to interject to clarify the question. His answer was a lost cause right there as the little momentum he had was snuffed out like a bucket of cold water thrown on a fire. Bush then went on to question if she was implying that because he was wealthy, the national debt did not affect him. The problem with answering with an accusatory question at this level is twofold – you aren’t actually answering the question and you are raising the level of tension in the conversation.

Clinton understands the question immediately. He plays this very well by asking the audience member to tell him again how the national debt/recession affected her. He plays right into the feelings at the heart of the issue. You can feel it by the way Clinton asks her to speak about it –he shows that he sees eye-to-eye with her immediately.

His eye contact

Clinton is renowned for his ability to make someone he is speaking with to feel like they are the only person in the room. One of my business heroes Tim Ferriss (don’t you worry, I’ll be getting to his 4 Hour Work Week book in due time) had a piece on his website that spoke to this. Clinton is pacing towards the woman as he reaffirms how the US economy was impacted her and made her feel. And at the same time, he never unlocks his eyes from hers during the question. You don’t need to be in the room to feel that level of trust he is establishing with the audience member by making that moment about her.

He is relatable

This brings us to our next point – Clinton connects with others because he communicates that he felt their pain. When Bush responds to the woman in the audience with “You ought to be in the White House for a day”, it was a cringe worthy response. Clinton on the other hand shows empathy.

Clinton gets right to it by mentioning that as governor of a small state, he is put under more pressure to do more with less thanks to the federal government. He hits this point out of the park by pointing behind himself to President Bush. This creates the perfect contrast effect between a guy who is in your corner compared to an elite that cannot understand your struggles as demonstrated by the manner in which Bush handled the question only moments prior. Clinton continues his takedown of the question through the power of repetition. He emphasizes that he knew people in his state on a first name basis that were gravely affected by the recession who were like her. He hammers away on how he knew people by giving several examples. By doing that, he implicitly expresses that he understands and is impacted in the same way.

He started a conversation…and so should you!

By understanding the question and making himself relatable, Clinton creates a forum for a conversation. I’ve said before that to succeed at interviews and networking events, you need to make your interactions conversational. This establishes trust and allows for your true self to shine through. When that happens, you are more relatable. And as we talked about previously, the most likable people get the promotions. By exhibiting great non-verbal communication like maintaining eye contact and finding ways to empathize with your colleagues, it will be pretty hard for someone not to like you!

Watch this YouTube video again and again today to pick up all the nuances of Clinton’s masterful communication style. Take some notes and start applying it to your everyday life. Who knows, maybe you will be the next president in 2020!

The 5 traits every great leader needs

Throughout my career, I’ve been lucky to work with great people. This goes from the temporary worker (which I was one for a while myself) to all the way up to C-level management. As no one is a carbon copy of anyone else on this planet, each of them brought their own blend of strengths to work. I always have tried to take note about what they brought to their roles that distinguished them from everyone else. In some cases, they were model employees and shied away from former leadership roles. While others felt most comfortable in their own skin when they were placed in leadership roles. Either way, I found that there was a collection of traits that spanned the vast majority respected and looked at as true leaders within the organization.

I want to share with you today five traits every great leader needs:

They listen

In our information driven and jam-packed calendar world, it can sometimes feel there is more talking than mental processing of information. Leaders differentiate themselves in this way by being good listeners. There is a saying that is often mentioned but rarely adhered to – we were born with two eyes, two ears and only one mouth for a reason. I believe in our society there has been an overemphasis on verbal communication. Listening has been framed as passive, even though this is far from the true.

When you listen, you win. The best ideas do not come from one person (unless your last name is Da Vinci and your first name is Leo) but from a collection of great minds.

I’m going to blow the dust off an old game show to shed some light on this trait. When Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was riding high in its heyday, contestants had three lifelines: 50/50 (removes two wrong options out of a possible four), Phone a Friend or Poll the Audience. There was a lot of chatter about which lifeline was the most effective. I remember a lot of people thought phoning a friend (or even 50/50) was vastly superior to polling the audience. There was a misconception that asking the broader public about a piece of trivia would lead to the wrong answer. Studies have proven otherwise. Polling the audience was found to be correct a whopping 91% of the time compared to 65% of the time when asking a friend.

This applies to brainstorming ideas and coming up with solutions. To bridge ideas and use our collective creativity, knowledge and intelligence, we need to hear what others are bringing to the table. Great leaders I have worked made a point of listening to other stakeholders and using the best of their ideas with their own to come up with the ideal solution or course of action.

They reflect

Great leaders always make a point of reflecting. Reflection included the impact a leader makes, where one has performed well and fallen short as well as looking ahead to the future. This trait is one of the hardest to develop and immeasurably valuable. To reflect effectively, leaders need to have developed a foundation of self-awareness. By being honest with themselves, leaders can go from good to great by pinpointing areas they need to improve or make adjustments and create an action plan to address them.

One of the most effective methods of reflection is through journaling. Reflection, journaling “and all that yoga stuff” isn’t usually spoken in the same breath as leadership. But there are many good reasons why journaling helps shape great leaders. This is something with which I’ve had a spotty track record. I go for a couple weeks consistently journaling every night and then up to a month without touching my journal. I can tell you that I am always happier, more focused and motivated when I journal – and I rarely journal for more than three minutes a night! That’s pretty decent ROI if you ask me.

They Empower

One of the tougher experiences in the modern workplace is working for a manager and not a leader. A manager gets people to work for them, a leader gets people to follow them. There is a huge distinction and it plays out in many ways: motivation, productivity, team synergy and work culture. The way an employee goes from being a manager to a leader is by empowering their employees.

When I was in management, I would leverage the power of delegation. There were many instances when I onboarded an employee that was a superstar – they would eat new work for breakfast and come to me with an empty plate asking for it to be loaded up. They would always be curious and always trying to add value. What I did to keep my superstars motivated was delegate part of my work to them. The effect was twofold. My employees were more satisfied at their jobs from great challenges and delivered amazing results; I created more bandwidth for myself to work on IT transformation initiatives that added huge value to the organization. Win-Win.

They are courageous

Doing the right thing and doing what you are supposed to do should line up neatly. We all know this is not always the case. Many people will fall in line over speaking up when something does not jibe with them be it from an ethical, efficiency or customer satisfaction standpoint. A great leader has the courage to stand up for what they believe in and what they believe is the right thing to do.

They can say ‘I don’t know’

I find many people vastly underestimate the power to say ‘I don’t know’. If you think saying I don’t know makes you look incompetent, think again. You are doing yourself, the people you are working with and the organization a disservice if you fabricate an answer to a question just to look like you have it all together. News flash: no one knows everything.

Those working at C-level management should be able to answer most questions regarding vision or strategy but will likely defer to others when it comes to operational details (unless they are COO – and even then!). A frontline worker can likely walk you through all the intricacies of their system’s user interface but would refer you to their director when it comes to the department’s operations budget or quarterly cost savings.

So there you have it. Work on developing these traits and you will have a following in no time!

What traits do YOU think are critical in leadership?