June 18, 2024 • 34 mins
What if there was a way to communicate your organization's vision so effectively that it transformed the way your team sees and achieves its goals? Join us as Stephen Smith, founder and lead strategist at Aerable, shares his innovative seven-ingredient process for strategic communication. Stephen uses a unique agricultural analogy to explain how cultivating ideas in a fertile environment can yield remarkable results. You'll learn how foundational faith and a clear, purposeful vision can set the stage for achieving the grand design of your organization.
Explore the concepts of seasonality and poise as Stephen reveals the importance of timing and emotional intelligence in leadership. Discover how aligning tasks with the appropriate season can maximize effectiveness, much like planting crops at the right time yields a bountiful harvest. Equally important is maintaining poise—Stephen describes this as having the self-control and emotional intelligence to navigate both the highs and lows of business, ensuring that your communication remains clear and consistent.
Effective leadership requires a delicate balance of poise, diplomacy, and creativity. Stephen discusses the critical role of understanding and valuing others' perspectives in enhancing strategic communication and organizational resilience. By fostering an environment ripe for innovation, leaders can respond to market demands and stakeholder needs more effectively. Wrap up with insights on connecting with Stephen and Aerable for more on their communication strategies, and hear our heartfelt gratitude for the collaboration and support from the Leadwell community. This episode is a treasure trove of actionable insights for any leader looking to elevate their communication game.
Connect with Stephen:
Stephen Smith | LinkedIn
Stephen Smith | Email
Aerable | Website
Aerable | Instagram
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Send your Leadership and Business questions to Jon at podcast@leadwell.com.
For more information visit https://leadwell.com
The Leadwell Podcast gives mission-driven leaders principled and practical advice to do just that, lead well.
In each episode, your host Jon Kidwell, interviews leaders with great stories, to share strategies that help leaders navigate complex, confusing, and often down-right challenging leadership, personal growth, business, and workplace culture situations.
Jon is a nonprofit executive turned coach, speaker, author, and CEO of a leadership development company. In working with nonprofits and businesses, big and small, he realized the unique challenges leaders face when they are committed to keeping the mission and people the top priority. Those leaders’ commitment to their principles and the people they lead, plus seeing the need for more leaders who strive to do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons, is what inspired Jon to start a leadership development company dedicated to the success of mission-driven leaders and their organiza...
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Episode Transcript
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Jon Kidwell (00:00):
When's the last time you tried to communicate
out a big idea to anyone outsideof you, to a team, to your
organization?
Maybe it was in a strategicplan.
Maybe it was in anorganizational change management
and we had to pivot real fast.
Was it all X's and O's?
Was it just?
Here's where we're going, whatwe're going to do and how we're
going to get it done.
(00:20):
If you did, and if that didn'tgo how you thought it might,
today's conversation is for you.
We are talking with StephenSmith, founder and lead
strategist at Aerable.
They are a marketing andstrategy comms organization that
help organizations clarify andcultivate the environment that
(00:41):
is needed to be able to driveimpactful results, and we're
going to walk through theirseven ingredient process for
strategic communication.
Let's dive right in.
Stephen Smith, thank you somuch for joining us on the
(01:01):
podcast today.
I am so excited that you arehere.
Stephen Smith (01:05):
Glad to be here.
This is just a privilege to beon the John Kidwell show.
I mean, this is just amazing.
Jon Kidwell (01:12):
No, they told me I'm not allowed to use that name
.
Stephen Smith (01:14):
No, they totally spoke with the Leadwell podcast,
but you might yeah, right,right, I know, I know what
you're supposed to call it.
This is what I call it.
Jon Kidwell (01:23):
Oh okay, all right, great.
Now I know you as a fantasticcommunicator.
I know you first as seeing youon stage communicating, leading
an entire group through worship,through music, through also
communicating on behalf of anorganization, and I also know
(01:43):
you as one that comes alongsideorganizations and doing that.
So just give everybody else alittle bit of that context.
What do you do as you'reworking and walking every single
day?
Stephen Smith (01:54):
Yeah, my story basically is one of creative
(02:18):
communication and it changesmodes.
So there's a ministry mode,there's a business mode.
There's is we are helping, justas you said, leaders kind of
land vision, plant some seed forgrowth in their initiatives and
then help communicate that outto their stakeholders.
(02:39):
So basically, there's a storythat they're telling and their
stakeholders start with theirteam and then it moves out, and
then it moves out to theirclient customer base.
There's a story that they'retelling and their stakeholders
start with their team and thenthat moves out, and then it
moves out to their clientcustomer base, then to the
general public.
So those are kind of the.
That's the road that we're onwith Aerable right now.
We do a lot of differentprojects, but they all have this
(03:00):
common denominator, this commonsoil of communication, cause we
think I mean a plan is great, Avision is great, a, a, uh, uh,
you know, a strategic planyou've got in your hand in a
binder is great, but if youdon't know how to convey that to
your people, uh, to those thoseincredible resources that are
(03:24):
around you, it's just it's goingto fall flat.
So we want to be about goodcommunication.
Jon Kidwell (03:29):
I love it.
You don't want all of ourdreams, our aspirations, the big
old, ideal, desired future thatwe see to be the thing that is
only seen in our own mind.
You help us get it all outthere, and so we're diving in
today to strategic communicationbecause you and I, we're
communicating right now.
And so we're diving in today tostrategic communication because
you and I, we're communicatingright now and, let's be real,
we're being strategic about thiswith the podcast, but also
(03:51):
we're probably not going to layout any old, big, old vision.
But you have seven things.
So I want to lay these out forfolks.
You dive into them.
So absolutely Seven things thatwe can keep in mind for
strategic communication faith,vision, clarity, seasonality,
poise.
I'm intrigued about that one,as well as this next one
(04:14):
diplomacy and creativity.
So you have the seven words inthis framework for strategic
communication.
Start where we're supposed tostart and start unpacking the
forest?
Stephen Smith (04:26):
Absolutely so.
First of all, we don't think ofit as a framework.
What we're really trying to dowith Aerable is take building
language, industrial language,mechanical language, and return
that to organic, agriculturallanguage.
What we want to be able to dois take the leader out of the
factory and put that leader inthe farm.
(04:47):
We feel like in the field or inthe land.
That is an incredible analogyfor productivity.
That's an incredible analogyfor project timing, for
strategic planning and alsocultivating your ideas.
So we're really trying, as bestwe can, to emphasize our
cultural language in what we do.
(05:08):
So, instead of a framework,what we're really trying to do
is call this the soil.
This is the soil that leadersoperate out of, so the soil that
you plant your initiatives andyour ideas in.
So there are seven keyingredients in our mind that
we've come to that are that arethat are integral for strategic
(05:32):
communication.
The first one is faith.
As a leader, it is imperativethat you are are communicating
more than just your ideas andand we're a we're a faith
forward organization, and sowe're going to always coach
toward faith uh, uh, wiringfaith, outcomes, those kinds of
(05:52):
things.
So in our, in our mind, what Iwant to do is point past myself
as a leader.
I want to be able toacknowledge that there's a grand
design that we are are, uh,tapping into that we've that, we
are tapping into that we see inour mind and that, honestly,
the Lord has control of, and Iwant to lead our team into that
(06:13):
grand design.
So there's a place that we'repointing to.
It's a place that'spre-designed, optimized for us
and for success.
So, first of all, when wecommunicate, we want to
communicate with faith.
We're going somewhere andthere's a purpose and a design
to that.
Secondly, we want to be able tocommunicate with vision.
(06:36):
It's not enough just to saywe're headed and I'm going to
use an analogy it's not justsaying we're all headed to North
America.
You know, the vision would bewhat city are we going to,
what's it look like, what's itsmell like?
The second is vision.
So there's faith.
We're going this direction.
(06:56):
There's a grand design.
Vision would be really beingable to see a destination for
the leader.
Being able to see a destinationfor the leader, being able to
see this, see around the cornerSome people talk about, like
that, see this preferable future, as it's referred to, being
(07:23):
able to look in detail and walkaround in that vision of a
preferable future is key.
Getting vision and the processof seeing in detail and all that
stuff is tiresome.
It's tiresome.
Jon Kidwell (07:39):
I'm sitting here thinking.
You know I am often one thatcan dream, to look out into the
future.
I am a futuristic if we go onStrengthsFinders right and so I
often have the ability to seesome of those things.
I struggle with connecting thedots, and so we use the analogy.
I've used this where it's likeI'm on the other side of the fog
(08:01):
, I can see this big, old,bright, beautiful future.
I have faith that we're going toget there and that this is a
good and right and life-givingthing.
And as I look back through thefog where others might be, I
struggle connecting those dots.
I'm guessing I'm probably notalone.
All take this very kind of bigpicture high feel, high vision,
(08:27):
not so concrete and help leaderswalk backward through some of
that.
Stephen Smith (08:31):
Yeah, I think one of the things that we're most
excited about is the concept ofslow productivity.
I don't know if you've readthis Cal Newport book that just
came out.
This year.
Jon Kidwell (08:42):
I haven't read the new one, I'm only on deep work.
Stephen Smith (08:44):
but I've heard good things it's rocking our
world.
I mean it, it is.
It is about, uh, slowing downenough, decelerating enough to
be able to begin to connect thedots and a lot of times are you
telling me that I'm moving toofast?
Oh of course not I I'm tellingsome other people, but sometimes
(09:10):
the dot connection and speedare incongruent.
In other words, it takes amoment, as we are looking out in
faith, as we are trusting.
Then, as we kind of see thisvision begin to take place, we
can almost be like we're driving60 miles an hour and we only
get pieces of it, almost be likewe're driving, we're driving 60
miles an hour and we only getpieces of it, you know.
But what we're excited about isslowing the leader down enough
(09:31):
to be able to really live inthat space.
So like calling things aren'tas though they are like
literally walking through theproject in your mind, walking
through what it looks like,feels like, tastes, like, sounds
, like all those things to getready for the next step.
And that is connecting the dotsin clarity.
(09:51):
That is being able toarticulate the vision.
You know, just as you referredto a second ago, vision is
nothing without, without beingable to move it out of your
heart and mind and into thehearts and minds of other people
.
So strategic communication isabout getting that vision
(10:12):
brought down into some clear,concrete goals, clear, concrete
descriptors, clear can that canreally amplify and honestly
describe in detail.
This is what I'm going atDescribe in detail what that
(10:32):
vision is.
Nobody should know that or beable to describe it better than
you.
You need to put the work in.
I need to put the work in umbeing able to speak and
articulate it clearly, Um, I'mI'm often the person that, uh,
you know, I'm often the personthat will say why don't you
(10:54):
understand this?
Jon Kidwell (10:55):
It's so clear to me you know, nobody else says that
, it's totally just a you thing.
And uh, all of the other, youknow 8.1 billion people or so
that are out there thing and allof the other, you know, 8.1
billion people or so that areout there.
Stephen Smith (11:12):
Yeah, exactly.
And so what we, what we try todo, is an exercise, that, that,
a mental exercise that helpseverybody understand that we are
all seeing in different futures.
And the way we do that is we sayimagine you are in the desert
with a telescope and you're ableto see just an amazing view of
a star field.
You're able to see amazingconstellation or Saturn, even
like we do in my backyard withmy kids.
You're able to see that.
(11:33):
And then you're able to pointto somebody who goes come here,
look through this so that youcan see Saturn.
What we do most of the times iswe don't invite people to come
see through what we see.
Everybody has their owntelescope.
And what are we doing?
We are seeing different partsof the night sky.
There's a word for that.
(11:54):
It's called myopathy or myopic.
It means I'm seeing my thing.
So we like to call it you're'rein, you're in a complete me see
mode, in other words, me dash, s, e, e, not me see like other
thing, but you're totally me seemode.
So what we try to do is takethe team and say look, team, you
(12:16):
are you in me see mode or areyou in this other word, when
you're able to all gather aroundthe telescope and look through
one lens at the night sky, thatis it's.
It's a synoptic.
It means together see or we see.
So we want to move from me see,which is my version of the
(12:40):
future, to a synoptic we mode,and that's going to help with
clarity immensely, becauseyou're able to say guys, this is
do we all see what's out thereand you've helped, as a leader,
to articulate it, you've helpedthe leader to dial it in and
then, once we all are seeing thesame future, man, we're going
(13:01):
to get there.
It's awesome.
Jon Kidwell (13:02):
And as I'm thinking about other strategic planning
or just strategic communicationin general, this is where it
feels like a lot of it stops,except for the part where we
kind of okay, turn it around,use the megaphone and start to
share it.
Right, because we believe in it.
We know that this is the waythat we are supposed to go in
(13:23):
our heart and mind, all of thesenses that you walked us
through to get us to really feeland experience and see that
vision come to life, and thenthe clarity and the way that we
can bring people into a synopticview of it.
That was so cool.
But this is where a lot ofplaces stop and we're not even
(13:44):
half of the way through thissoil that you all have created.
So, seasonality, poise,diplomacy and creativity my
brain is immediately going backto the night sky analogy of
seasonality.
Depending on when I look atthis, I may or may not see
Saturn.
That may or may not be youranalogy, but what does
seasonality mean in strategiccommunication?
Stephen Smith (14:07):
Yeah, once you are able to get to we see and
you're moving away from me, seeand you're into we see, then you
are able to say, okay, let's,now that we see this preferable
future, now that we see thisoutcome, let's then um, let's
then plant the seeds to makethis idea, this initiative, grow
(14:31):
.
The idea is when do we want thefruit to happen, when do we
want the outcome to happen?
Well, we've got to back up fromthat outcome and understand
that there are um days, weeksand months where that idea has
(14:51):
got to germinate, where thatidea has got to lay under the
ground, where that idea has tosprout, where that idea has to
sink down roots, where that ideamatures, to the day when you're
able to say, okay, we see fruitfalling all around us, we see
that because we planted in theright season, not to take the
(15:13):
analogy too far.
But you, you, ideas andoutcomes aren't always in a one
week, one month cycle.
Yeah, it takes somepre-planning.
So seasonality is all aboutdesigning a plan that allows
(15:36):
your tasks to line up in such away where the outcome happens at
just the right time.
The prep work is there, thecultivation has been there.
You just don't plant in winter,you don't harvest in spring.
These are just some differentthings, and so spring of the
year could be.
(15:56):
Let's say there are specificoutcomes that happen in the
spring of any business cycleyear, any nonprofit year, and
then the things that happen inthe winter and the summer.
You just got to know when toplant and when to see that thing
bear fruit.
You don't want to run a capitalcampaign in the middle of the
(16:19):
summertime Nobody's there.
Jon Kidwell (16:23):
Everybody's on vacation.
Stephen Smith (16:24):
So you're planting seed in summer to be
able to then say well, in thespring of next year we'll then
be able to see this generosityinitiative really bear fruit.
So it's knowing when.
If I could just say like that Ahundred percent.
Jon Kidwell (16:40):
You and I were talking before about something
that we are getting ready tocommunicate out.
It's a tech product, anengagement tool for
organizations, for managers, andI've been doing this on paper
for 10 years with teams that Ilead, and I've wanted this ever
since we started saying we knowwe need a platform.
It's part of the vision that wehave and still, honestly, we
(17:03):
fall started on differentcomponents over the last couple
of years and now, all of asudden, this one because of a
couple of key things from acouple of key clients that were
looking for something that we'vebeen doing and just thinking
this helps us right Over thelast couple of years.
All of a sudden, we packaged itand we put it together and we
built it for them, and they saythis is great Seasonality.
(17:27):
I'm also just thinking here, notjust the like when do I run a
capital campaign?
This could be in the life cycleof an organization too.
Of it wasn't time yet, right.
Like it's this extend out evenfurther?
Of we want a new building, wewant to be able to be to a
hundred team members, we want tobe able to do this, and it's
like all all good, great thingsand you know not yet this season
(17:49):
Does it apply like that too?
Stephen Smith (17:51):
And then I think it applies, it scales up like
you're talking about, but thenit also scales back to you as
your leader and where you are inyour life cycle, where you are
in your professional life andwhere you are.
My son is 20 and he wants thebenefit of being a retiree, like
right now.
(18:11):
You know he wants to watchfirst and then you know what I
mean.
So it's just, it's funny, it'sa process, and so that's what
seasonality is all about.
It's knowing where you are,knowing where your company is in
space and time and then knowingwhere you want to be.
So that's seasonality.
I think the seasonality in thenext one, poise, really tied
(18:33):
together.
Poise is there's a.
I'll tell you the history ofthis word.
For me specifically, there wasa speech I had to write in high
school and it was three keys ofleadership and poise was one of
those three keys of leadership.
So that's, this poise word hasalways stuck with me.
Poise is, is, is a really richword for self-control or being
(18:58):
able to moderate, modulate,excuse me your feelings or your
emotions.
Um, a great leader said it'snever as good as it is and it's
never as bad as it is Itsability to stay here in this
middle ground of appreciatingthe highs and appreciating the
lows.
That's where we get this ideaof poise.
(19:19):
Really, it's a self-control.
Don't hear me say this isrooted in stoicism, or you know,
this is not just a stoic idea.
What I'm trying to say, whereyou don't feel anything or like
you're, like you're Spock, youknow this is not, this is not
what I mean on poise.
(19:40):
But I mean it's a self-controlto be able to say, on the bad
days and on the good days I'mable to have faith.
On the bad days.
On the good days I'm able tomaintain vision On the bad days.
On the good days I'm able tomaintain vision.
On the bad days and the gooddays I'm able to trust the
seasonality.
On the bad days and the gooddays I'm able to clearly
(20:04):
articulate my feelings in amodulated way to the people that
are around me.
So poise is just a really,really great word on that.
Jon Kidwell (20:08):
Yeah, a lot of us would describe that, as you know
, emotional intelligence oremotional maturity, where
actually the the mostinteresting thing that you know
you're describing is not justthe like live long and prosper
Spock-esque, where I just shutit all off and create this
really narrow spectrum.
You actually have to feel andexperience the low lows and the
(20:31):
high highs and then justregulate right, modulate, to be
able to look at it and saywhat's required of me right now,
given what goals I have, how Iwant to show up the character
that I have A, b, c, d.
Is that right?
That's right.
Stephen Smith (20:48):
And so when it gets to strategic comms,
especially for an organization,that's like the leader version.
The organizational versionwould be you know, if you're
getting bad press, bad PR, justhold on, it's going to be okay.
You know, slow down, it's goingto be okay.
You might not need to respondto the bad immediately.
(21:09):
You might need to let it rest.
You might not need to respondto the bad immediately, you
might need to let it rest.
You might not need to maximizethe good, just let it rest.
There's a poise no matter whatseason we're in, the highs are
low, what it says on the chartsand the spreadsheets.
There's a poise that says weare going to be this type of
group.
We're going to maintain ourvision and our values through
the highs and the lows.
Jon Kidwell (21:31):
It's a a great it's a great word, so good, and you
connected it to seasonality andI see that now, right, Like
we're, we're going through,we're riding this.
My brain initially connected itwith diplomacy of like you got
to have some poise to bediplomatic.
So I may have made thatconnection right, wrong or
indifferent, but how does it?
Obviously in my mind it helpswith diplomacy.
(21:52):
Walk us into?
What does that strategic commslook like in a diplomatic way?
Stephen Smith (21:58):
Yeah, so fortunately, these are, all you
know, ingredients in the soilthat are very closely matched
and what we're trying to do iswe're trying to extract each of
them and looking at them andthen also how they interrelate.
To extract each of them andlooking at them and then also
how they interrelate.
So, for me, diplomacy is keywhen leading interpersonally.
(22:25):
This is assuming the best ofthe person across the table from
me.
This is showing interest, thisis showing care, this is showing
concern for their opinion.
I have not always been adiplomatic communicator.
I have been the opposite ofdiplomatic, which is direct.
A direct communicator, it meanshere's the solution, here's
(22:46):
what I need you to do and tellme when it's done.
You know, and that type ofleadership, um, uh, liz Codd,
liz Collins talked about it inher book uh, multipliers you got
a multiplier or diminisher?
You know, multipliers are ableto unlock the genius and people
across the table.
Diminisher is the ones that, uh, cap and force themselves and
(23:09):
are the center of the world, thepeople.
So those are the direct leaders, and what we like to do is we
try to get our people that wetalk to really on a scale
between direct and diplomatic,and just do a self-assessment.
Are you more often diplomatic,where you're asking first to
(23:30):
understand, as steven coveytalks about, you're really able
to get to the root of thecommunication and the nugget of
their, of their need, or are you, uh, do you have your interest
in mind?
Do you need to make the point?
Do you need to have the finalsay?
Do you you need to flex on thisperson?
(23:52):
So, in the middle of theinterpersonal part, you know
it's about using diplomacy,because diplomacy is
understanding and care.
Direct is is very top down incorporate leadership and really
the model of a differentgeneration.
Yes, somebody's got to cut theknot.
Yes, somebody's got to cut theknot.
(24:13):
Yes, somebody's got to make thefinal word.
But I'm saying, on a day-to-daybasis, can we practice more of
this diplomacy?
We think that that is going tobe the key to a leader's success
.
Now, that's also assuming thebest of your audience.
In the organizational side ofthings it's, you know there are
(24:34):
marketing campaigns and thereare lines and different things.
That said, we know the truthand here's this and here's that,
and we want to be able toexpress an opinion.
Some of the healthiestcorporations are the ones that
have amazing responsiveness totheir markets, to their people,
(24:54):
to the people who inquire aboutwhy do we do what?
This and that's like instead ofit's a closed door all the time
.
So really think about diplomacyas we, as we talk about
strategic communication.
So it's good.
And then our last is creativitycommunication.
Jon Kidwell (25:11):
So it's good.
And then our last is creativity.
And this is really which is nottypical of a strategic
communication.
Right, yours very much takesthe form of an hourglass in my
brain of we're kind of wide andwe do narrow in and get clear,
and then it comes back out wherea more traditional framework,
as you said yours is.
Ingredients looks a lot morelike a V to where then it is a
(25:32):
little bit more directive ofhere go do this and you open it
back up at the bottom of sayingI've told you all these things
I'm assuming positive intent,that we're synoptic, and now you
release it.
Tell me about this creativityand just what comes and how that
looks inside of this.
Stephen Smith (25:49):
So this is our passion.
This, this is our passion.
Creativity does not make itonto the list of leadership
qualities.
You know, top five, top 10,maybe top 20, you know it's in
there.
We've, we've, we're convincedthat creativity, faith, vision,
(26:11):
clarity, those are all a part ofthis idea of creativity.
Seasonality, poise, diplomacy,we can do all of these things in
a creative way, and so the bigword is generative.
Right now, everybody's talkingabout AI, this and that.
So generative ideas or gener,that's a generative uh uh ideas,
(26:32):
or generative images orgenerative content.
And so, in a way, thiscreativity word, um, is about
the generative side of yourcommunications.
It's about re?
Uh.
It's about me figure out how tosay it.
It's, it's about cause it's sohuge and so large.
(26:55):
It's about a, a renewal in yourmessaging.
It's about saying the samething, the ability to say the
same thing in 10 different ways.
Yeah, it's about creating thesame thing in 10 different ways.
Yeah, it's about creating,iterating a new solution for a
(27:15):
problem.
It's about understanding withthese other components.
It's about understanding how todream in color and, most people
, leadership.
I would say if you ask a leaderto describe themselves,
creativity might not be, youknow, on their list, as we
(27:39):
talked about a second ago.
But deep down, they arecreatives.
Yeah, deep.
Jon Kidwell (27:45):
Well, I mean, if they if they have the faith and
the vision and they're seeing it, it's, it's already there,
right?
That's that's where theystarted and vision, and they're
seeing it's.
It's already there, right,that's that's where they've
started.
And like a tree, like I'm justI'm you got me on the cycle
thing so I'm envisioning likethis this thing comes up, it
produces as it is supposed to,and then in a specific season,
uh, there's stuff that's fallenoff that tree.
(28:06):
All the time I have raked myyard, I have pulled little itty
bitty oak trees out of my yard,I have done all of those.
And then there are those thatgot big enough that my
father-in-law was like aresaying I see a field and I am
going to go over to that fieldand I'm going to plant these
(28:40):
ideas in this field to yield anoutcome.
Stephen Smith (28:43):
We feel like this field over here of people or a
group, or whatever our ideaswould meet the needs of this
particular group.
We can cultivate some resultsinside this field.
And so there's the creativepart of that.
I also think that creativity isnot limited, and hear me say
this loud and clear Creativityis not limited to the creative
department, it's not limited toyour brand guide, it's not
(29:05):
limited to an artist.
I think creativity can also befound in amazingly fluent and
elegant spreadsheets, amazinglyelegant and fluent business
(29:26):
processes.
Excellence is that form andfunction.
Where those two meet together,that is creativity personified.
And so for a, for anorganization, on the creativity
side, it's about instillingcreativity in your team, saying
we are better together as agroup.
(29:48):
We've got to talk aboutcreativity.
Creativity sometimes is realprivate.
It's about saying in ourcommunication to our team we
want your ideas, we need yourideas.
And then on the on the largerorganizational side, it's it's
about, um, showing your vision,showing, uh, your preferred
future to your customers,clients, uh, showing this image
(30:11):
in clarity Not only have youdone it to your team creatively,
you're also going to usecreativity to be even more clear
to the people that are outthere.
You want to inspire that, youwant to move to point A to point
B.
So, strategically in our mind,what these seven things do?
They create a soil that you cancultivate as an individual and
(30:35):
you can cultivate as a personthat is a leader of people in
your organization and, up to say, my communication is going to
be fertile soil for clear,fruitful ideas to come out.
(31:01):
So that's our heartbeat onstrategic comms.
This is kind of where we liveright now with our teams and the
people that we are coaching.
It's an interesting, you knowseven words to kind of kick
around.
Jon Kidwell (31:16):
So it's so good and it's so rich, just like the
soil that you are creating, andthere's so much that we could go
.
We use an analogy similar interms of personal growth, in
that that there has to be kindof these nutrients, honestly,
that go in to be able to bringthese about.
And you've done it in a way andin a place that a lot of us
(31:38):
don't think about that.
We think about X's and O's and,you know, execution, that's
what we really call it Right,and so thank you for bringing
that to us.
We ask everybody this questionand I want to ask you, before we
get ready to sign off, stephen,what does it mean to you to
lead?
Stephen Smith (31:57):
Well, it's a leading Well is slowing down
enough to hear the directivesand again, this is faithful word
here the directives see thevision in our mind and then be
unable to articulate that topeople around you.
Literally, we are funneling inwhat we're hearing or able to
articulate that to people aroundyou.
Literally, we are funneling inwhat we're hearing or funneling
that vision down to other people.
(32:17):
Again, this is creativecommunication.
It's about then expressing itin such a way that it enlivens
their heart and excites theirmind toward this future that
we're leading into.
So that would be what I wouldsay.
I love it.
On the Leadwell podcast.
Jon Kidwell (32:34):
There we go See not the John Kidwell podcast and
people need to know where toconnect with you, to connect
with Aerable, so that you allcan help them cultivate these
practices and these disciplinesand just be able to bring the
fruit of some of their amazingvision and the work that they're
doing.
Where can people connect withyou?
Where can they learn more aboutAer arable?
(32:56):
Give us all the places we needto connect with you.
Stephen Smith (33:00):
Absolutely so.
We have a funny spelling forour name it's A-E-R-A-B-L-E.
A-e-r-a-b-l-e is the phoneticspelling of the word Aer arable,
which means good soil.
So if you just Google the wordA-E-R-A-B-L-E, Aerable Co will
be there.
Our website is aerable.
(33:20):
co is and Social media is,arableco.
You can find us there as well,but we'd love to be able to
connect with anybody who'slistening and have an even
longer conversation aboutcommunication when they're ready
.
Awesome.
Jon Kidwell (33:38):
We will put it in the show notes, a direct link,
so that you all can connect withStephen, with his team at
Aerable and all that they'reworking on, so that they can
help you communicate andcultivate some amazing work and
results where you are, S tephenthank you and cultivate some
amazing work and results whereyou are, S stephen.
Stephen Smith (33:54):
Thank you so much .
Oh my gosh.
I say, Jon, thank you.
I wanted to say this Thank youfor being a part of my life and
your leadership is amazing, andwhat Leadwell is doing is just
blowing everybody's minds.
And with the book, with all ofthe things, the resources that
you're putting in people's hands, we're blessed by your
leadership in this space.
(34:16):
So, thanks so much, thank you.
Jon Kidwell (34:20):
I really appreciate that.
I will also pay you as soon aswe sign off Venmo direct to
Stephen Smith and to all thatare listening.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Be well, lead on, and God bless.
When's the last time you tried to communicate
out a big idea to anyone outsideof you, to a team, to your
organization?
Maybe it was in a strategicplan.
Maybe it was in anorganizational change management
and we had to pivot real fast.
Was it all X's and O's?
Was it just?
Here's where we're going, whatwe're going to do and how we're
going to get it done.
(00:20):
If you did, and if that didn'tgo how you thought it might,
today's conversation is for you.
We are talking with StephenSmith, founder and lead
strategist at Aerable.
They are a marketing andstrategy comms organization that
help organizations clarify andcultivate the environment that
(00:41):
is needed to be able to driveimpactful results, and we're
going to walk through theirseven ingredient process for
strategic communication.
Let's dive right in.
Stephen Smith, thank you somuch for joining us on the
(01:01):
podcast today.
I am so excited that you arehere.
Stephen Smith (01:05):
Glad to be here.
This is just a privilege to beon the John Kidwell show.
I mean, this is just amazing.
Jon Kidwell (01:12):
No, they told me I'm not allowed to use that name
.
Stephen Smith (01:14):
No, they totally spoke with the Leadwell podcast,
but you might yeah, right,right, I know, I know what
you're supposed to call it.
This is what I call it.
Jon Kidwell (01:23):
Oh okay, all right, great.
Now I know you as a fantasticcommunicator.
I know you first as seeing youon stage communicating, leading
an entire group through worship,through music, through also
communicating on behalf of anorganization, and I also know
(01:43):
you as one that comes alongsideorganizations and doing that.
So just give everybody else alittle bit of that context.
What do you do as you'reworking and walking every single
day?
Stephen Smith (01:54):
Yeah, my story basically is one of creative
(02:18):
communication and it changesmodes.
So there's a ministry mode,there's a business mode.
There's is we are helping, justas you said, leaders kind of
land vision, plant some seed forgrowth in their initiatives and
then help communicate that outto their stakeholders.
(02:39):
So basically, there's a storythat they're telling and their
stakeholders start with theirteam and then it moves out, and
then it moves out to theirclient customer base.
There's a story that they'retelling and their stakeholders
start with their team and thenthat moves out, and then it
moves out to their clientcustomer base, then to the
general public.
So those are kind of the.
That's the road that we're onwith Aerable right now.
We do a lot of differentprojects, but they all have this
(03:00):
common denominator, this commonsoil of communication, cause we
think I mean a plan is great, Avision is great, a, a, uh, uh,
you know, a strategic planyou've got in your hand in a
binder is great, but if youdon't know how to convey that to
your people, uh, to those thoseincredible resources that are
(03:24):
around you, it's just it's goingto fall flat.
So we want to be about goodcommunication.
Jon Kidwell (03:29):
I love it.
You don't want all of ourdreams, our aspirations, the big
old, ideal, desired future thatwe see to be the thing that is
only seen in our own mind.
You help us get it all outthere, and so we're diving in
today to strategic communicationbecause you and I, we're
communicating right now.
And so we're diving in today tostrategic communication because
you and I, we're communicatingright now and, let's be real,
we're being strategic about thiswith the podcast, but also
(03:51):
we're probably not going to layout any old, big, old vision.
But you have seven things.
So I want to lay these out forfolks.
You dive into them.
So absolutely Seven things thatwe can keep in mind for
strategic communication faith,vision, clarity, seasonality,
poise.
I'm intrigued about that one,as well as this next one
(04:14):
diplomacy and creativity.
So you have the seven words inthis framework for strategic
communication.
Start where we're supposed tostart and start unpacking the
forest?
Stephen Smith (04:26):
Absolutely so.
First of all, we don't think ofit as a framework.
What we're really trying to dowith Aerable is take building
language, industrial language,mechanical language, and return
that to organic, agriculturallanguage.
What we want to be able to dois take the leader out of the
factory and put that leader inthe farm.
(04:47):
We feel like in the field or inthe land.
That is an incredible analogyfor productivity.
That's an incredible analogyfor project timing, for
strategic planning and alsocultivating your ideas.
So we're really trying, as bestwe can, to emphasize our
cultural language in what we do.
(05:08):
So, instead of a framework,what we're really trying to do
is call this the soil.
This is the soil that leadersoperate out of, so the soil that
you plant your initiatives andyour ideas in.
So there are seven keyingredients in our mind that
we've come to that are that arethat are integral for strategic
(05:32):
communication.
The first one is faith.
As a leader, it is imperativethat you are are communicating
more than just your ideas andand we're a we're a faith
forward organization, and sowe're going to always coach
toward faith uh, uh, wiringfaith, outcomes, those kinds of
(05:52):
things.
So in our, in our mind, what Iwant to do is point past myself
as a leader.
I want to be able toacknowledge that there's a grand
design that we are are, uh,tapping into that we've that, we
are tapping into that we see inour mind and that, honestly,
the Lord has control of, and Iwant to lead our team into that
(06:13):
grand design.
So there's a place that we'repointing to.
It's a place that'spre-designed, optimized for us
and for success.
So, first of all, when wecommunicate, we want to
communicate with faith.
We're going somewhere andthere's a purpose and a design
to that.
Secondly, we want to be able tocommunicate with vision.
(06:36):
It's not enough just to saywe're headed and I'm going to
use an analogy it's not justsaying we're all headed to North
America.
You know, the vision would bewhat city are we going to,
what's it look like, what's itsmell like?
The second is vision.
So there's faith.
We're going this direction.
(06:56):
There's a grand design.
Vision would be really beingable to see a destination for
the leader.
Being able to see a destinationfor the leader, being able to
see this, see around the cornerSome people talk about, like
that, see this preferable future, as it's referred to, being
(07:23):
able to look in detail and walkaround in that vision of a
preferable future is key.
Getting vision and the processof seeing in detail and all that
stuff is tiresome.
It's tiresome.
Jon Kidwell (07:39):
I'm sitting here thinking.
You know I am often one thatcan dream, to look out into the
future.
I am a futuristic if we go onStrengthsFinders right and so I
often have the ability to seesome of those things.
I struggle with connecting thedots, and so we use the analogy.
I've used this where it's likeI'm on the other side of the fog
(08:01):
, I can see this big, old,bright, beautiful future.
I have faith that we're going toget there and that this is a
good and right and life-givingthing.
And as I look back through thefog where others might be, I
struggle connecting those dots.
I'm guessing I'm probably notalone.
All take this very kind of bigpicture high feel, high vision,
(08:27):
not so concrete and help leaderswalk backward through some of
that.
Stephen Smith (08:31):
Yeah, I think one of the things that we're most
excited about is the concept ofslow productivity.
I don't know if you've readthis Cal Newport book that just
came out.
This year.
Jon Kidwell (08:42):
I haven't read the new one, I'm only on deep work.
Stephen Smith (08:44):
but I've heard good things it's rocking our
world.
I mean it, it is.
It is about, uh, slowing downenough, decelerating enough to
be able to begin to connect thedots and a lot of times are you
telling me that I'm moving toofast?
Oh of course not I I'm tellingsome other people, but sometimes
(09:10):
the dot connection and speedare incongruent.
In other words, it takes amoment, as we are looking out in
faith, as we are trusting.
Then, as we kind of see thisvision begin to take place, we
can almost be like we're driving60 miles an hour and we only
get pieces of it, almost be likewe're driving, we're driving 60
miles an hour and we only getpieces of it, you know.
But what we're excited about isslowing the leader down enough
(09:31):
to be able to really live inthat space.
So like calling things aren'tas though they are like
literally walking through theproject in your mind, walking
through what it looks like,feels like, tastes, like, sounds
, like all those things to getready for the next step.
And that is connecting the dotsin clarity.
(09:51):
That is being able toarticulate the vision.
You know, just as you referredto a second ago, vision is
nothing without, without beingable to move it out of your
heart and mind and into thehearts and minds of other people
.
So strategic communication isabout getting that vision
(10:12):
brought down into some clear,concrete goals, clear, concrete
descriptors, clear can that canreally amplify and honestly
describe in detail.
This is what I'm going atDescribe in detail what that
(10:32):
vision is.
Nobody should know that or beable to describe it better than
you.
You need to put the work in.
I need to put the work in umbeing able to speak and
articulate it clearly, Um, I'mI'm often the person that, uh,
you know, I'm often the personthat will say why don't you
(10:54):
understand this?
Jon Kidwell (10:55):
It's so clear to me you know, nobody else says that
, it's totally just a you thing.
And uh, all of the other, youknow 8.1 billion people or so
that are out there thing and allof the other, you know, 8.1
billion people or so that areout there.
Stephen Smith (11:12):
Yeah, exactly.
And so what we, what we try todo, is an exercise, that, that,
a mental exercise that helpseverybody understand that we are
all seeing in different futures.
And the way we do that is we sayimagine you are in the desert
with a telescope and you're ableto see just an amazing view of
a star field.
You're able to see amazingconstellation or Saturn, even
like we do in my backyard withmy kids.
You're able to see that.
(11:33):
And then you're able to pointto somebody who goes come here,
look through this so that youcan see Saturn.
What we do most of the times iswe don't invite people to come
see through what we see.
Everybody has their owntelescope.
And what are we doing?
We are seeing different partsof the night sky.
There's a word for that.
(11:54):
It's called myopathy or myopic.
It means I'm seeing my thing.
So we like to call it you're'rein, you're in a complete me see
mode, in other words, me dash, s, e, e, not me see like other
thing, but you're totally me seemode.
So what we try to do is takethe team and say look, team, you
(12:16):
are you in me see mode or areyou in this other word, when
you're able to all gather aroundthe telescope and look through
one lens at the night sky, thatis it's.
It's a synoptic.
It means together see or we see.
So we want to move from me see,which is my version of the
(12:40):
future, to a synoptic we mode,and that's going to help with
clarity immensely, becauseyou're able to say guys, this is
do we all see what's out thereand you've helped, as a leader,
to articulate it, you've helpedthe leader to dial it in and
then, once we all are seeing thesame future, man, we're going
(13:01):
to get there.
It's awesome.
Jon Kidwell (13:02):
And as I'm thinking about other strategic planning
or just strategic communicationin general, this is where it
feels like a lot of it stops,except for the part where we
kind of okay, turn it around,use the megaphone and start to
share it.
Right, because we believe in it.
We know that this is the waythat we are supposed to go in
(13:23):
our heart and mind, all of thesenses that you walked us
through to get us to really feeland experience and see that
vision come to life, and thenthe clarity and the way that we
can bring people into a synopticview of it.
That was so cool.
But this is where a lot ofplaces stop and we're not even
(13:44):
half of the way through thissoil that you all have created.
So, seasonality, poise,diplomacy and creativity my
brain is immediately going backto the night sky analogy of
seasonality.
Depending on when I look atthis, I may or may not see
Saturn.
That may or may not be youranalogy, but what does
seasonality mean in strategiccommunication?
Stephen Smith (14:07):
Yeah, once you are able to get to we see and
you're moving away from me, seeand you're into we see, then you
are able to say, okay, let's,now that we see this preferable
future, now that we see thisoutcome, let's then um, let's
then plant the seeds to makethis idea, this initiative, grow
(14:31):
.
The idea is when do we want thefruit to happen, when do we
want the outcome to happen?
Well, we've got to back up fromthat outcome and understand
that there are um days, weeksand months where that idea has
(14:51):
got to germinate, where thatidea has got to lay under the
ground, where that idea has tosprout, where that idea has to
sink down roots, where that ideamatures, to the day when you're
able to say, okay, we see fruitfalling all around us, we see
that because we planted in theright season, not to take the
(15:13):
analogy too far.
But you, you, ideas andoutcomes aren't always in a one
week, one month cycle.
Yeah, it takes somepre-planning.
So seasonality is all aboutdesigning a plan that allows
(15:36):
your tasks to line up in such away where the outcome happens at
just the right time.
The prep work is there, thecultivation has been there.
You just don't plant in winter,you don't harvest in spring.
These are just some differentthings, and so spring of the
year could be.
(15:56):
Let's say there are specificoutcomes that happen in the
spring of any business cycleyear, any nonprofit year, and
then the things that happen inthe winter and the summer.
You just got to know when toplant and when to see that thing
bear fruit.
You don't want to run a capitalcampaign in the middle of the
(16:19):
summertime Nobody's there.
Jon Kidwell (16:23):
Everybody's on vacation.
Stephen Smith (16:24):
So you're planting seed in summer to be
able to then say well, in thespring of next year we'll then
be able to see this generosityinitiative really bear fruit.
So it's knowing when.
If I could just say like that Ahundred percent.
Jon Kidwell (16:40):
You and I were talking before about something
that we are getting ready tocommunicate out.
It's a tech product, anengagement tool for
organizations, for managers, andI've been doing this on paper
for 10 years with teams that Ilead, and I've wanted this ever
since we started saying we knowwe need a platform.
It's part of the vision that wehave and still, honestly, we
(17:03):
fall started on differentcomponents over the last couple
of years and now, all of asudden, this one because of a
couple of key things from acouple of key clients that were
looking for something that we'vebeen doing and just thinking
this helps us right Over thelast couple of years.
All of a sudden, we packaged itand we put it together and we
built it for them, and they saythis is great Seasonality.
(17:27):
I'm also just thinking here, notjust the like when do I run a
capital campaign?
This could be in the life cycleof an organization too.
Of it wasn't time yet, right.
Like it's this extend out evenfurther?
Of we want a new building, wewant to be able to be to a
hundred team members, we want tobe able to do this, and it's
like all all good, great thingsand you know not yet this season
(17:49):
Does it apply like that too?
Stephen Smith (17:51):
And then I think it applies, it scales up like
you're talking about, but thenit also scales back to you as
your leader and where you are inyour life cycle, where you are
in your professional life andwhere you are.
My son is 20 and he wants thebenefit of being a retiree, like
right now.
(18:11):
You know he wants to watchfirst and then you know what I
mean.
So it's just, it's funny, it'sa process, and so that's what
seasonality is all about.
It's knowing where you are,knowing where your company is in
space and time and then knowingwhere you want to be.
So that's seasonality.
I think the seasonality in thenext one, poise, really tied
(18:33):
together.
Poise is there's a.
I'll tell you the history ofthis word.
For me specifically, there wasa speech I had to write in high
school and it was three keys ofleadership and poise was one of
those three keys of leadership.
So that's, this poise word hasalways stuck with me.
Poise is, is, is a really richword for self-control or being
(18:58):
able to moderate, modulate,excuse me your feelings or your
emotions.
Um, a great leader said it'snever as good as it is and it's
never as bad as it is Itsability to stay here in this
middle ground of appreciatingthe highs and appreciating the
lows.
That's where we get this ideaof poise.
(19:19):
Really, it's a self-control.
Don't hear me say this isrooted in stoicism, or you know,
this is not just a stoic idea.
What I'm trying to say, whereyou don't feel anything or like
you're, like you're Spock, youknow this is not, this is not
what I mean on poise.
(19:40):
But I mean it's a self-controlto be able to say, on the bad
days and on the good days I'mable to have faith.
On the bad days.
On the good days I'm able tomaintain vision On the bad days.
On the good days I'm able tomaintain vision.
On the bad days and the gooddays I'm able to trust the
seasonality.
On the bad days and the gooddays I'm able to clearly
(20:04):
articulate my feelings in amodulated way to the people that
are around me.
So poise is just a really,really great word on that.
Jon Kidwell (20:08):
Yeah, a lot of us would describe that, as you know
, emotional intelligence oremotional maturity, where
actually the the mostinteresting thing that you know
you're describing is not justthe like live long and prosper
Spock-esque, where I just shutit all off and create this
really narrow spectrum.
You actually have to feel andexperience the low lows and the
(20:31):
high highs and then justregulate right, modulate, to be
able to look at it and saywhat's required of me right now,
given what goals I have, how Iwant to show up the character
that I have A, b, c, d.
Is that right?
That's right.
Stephen Smith (20:48):
And so when it gets to strategic comms,
especially for an organization,that's like the leader version.
The organizational versionwould be you know, if you're
getting bad press, bad PR, justhold on, it's going to be okay.
You know, slow down, it's goingto be okay.
You might not need to respondto the bad immediately.
(21:09):
You might need to let it rest.
You might not need to respondto the bad immediately, you
might need to let it rest.
You might not need to maximizethe good, just let it rest.
There's a poise no matter whatseason we're in, the highs are
low, what it says on the chartsand the spreadsheets.
There's a poise that says weare going to be this type of
group.
We're going to maintain ourvision and our values through
the highs and the lows.
Jon Kidwell (21:31):
It's a a great it's a great word, so good, and you
connected it to seasonality andI see that now, right, Like
we're, we're going through,we're riding this.
My brain initially connected itwith diplomacy of like you got
to have some poise to bediplomatic.
So I may have made thatconnection right, wrong or
indifferent, but how does it?
Obviously in my mind it helpswith diplomacy.
(21:52):
Walk us into?
What does that strategic commslook like in a diplomatic way?
Stephen Smith (21:58):
Yeah, so fortunately, these are, all you
know, ingredients in the soilthat are very closely matched
and what we're trying to do iswe're trying to extract each of
them and looking at them andthen also how they interrelate.
To extract each of them andlooking at them and then also
how they interrelate.
So, for me, diplomacy is keywhen leading interpersonally.
(22:25):
This is assuming the best ofthe person across the table from
me.
This is showing interest, thisis showing care, this is showing
concern for their opinion.
I have not always been adiplomatic communicator.
I have been the opposite ofdiplomatic, which is direct.
A direct communicator, it meanshere's the solution, here's
(22:46):
what I need you to do and tellme when it's done.
You know, and that type ofleadership, um, uh, liz Codd,
liz Collins talked about it inher book uh, multipliers you got
a multiplier or diminisher?
You know, multipliers are ableto unlock the genius and people
across the table.
Diminisher is the ones that, uh, cap and force themselves and
(23:09):
are the center of the world, thepeople.
So those are the direct leaders, and what we like to do is we
try to get our people that wetalk to really on a scale
between direct and diplomatic,and just do a self-assessment.
Are you more often diplomatic,where you're asking first to
(23:30):
understand, as steven coveytalks about, you're really able
to get to the root of thecommunication and the nugget of
their, of their need, or are you, uh, do you have your interest
in mind?
Do you need to make the point?
Do you need to have the finalsay?
Do you you need to flex on thisperson?
(23:52):
So, in the middle of theinterpersonal part, you know
it's about using diplomacy,because diplomacy is
understanding and care.
Direct is is very top down incorporate leadership and really
the model of a differentgeneration.
Yes, somebody's got to cut theknot.
Yes, somebody's got to cut theknot.
(24:13):
Yes, somebody's got to make thefinal word.
But I'm saying, on a day-to-daybasis, can we practice more of
this diplomacy?
We think that that is going tobe the key to a leader's success
.
Now, that's also assuming thebest of your audience.
In the organizational side ofthings it's, you know there are
(24:34):
marketing campaigns and thereare lines and different things.
That said, we know the truthand here's this and here's that,
and we want to be able toexpress an opinion.
Some of the healthiestcorporations are the ones that
have amazing responsiveness totheir markets, to their people,
(24:54):
to the people who inquire aboutwhy do we do what?
This and that's like instead ofit's a closed door all the time
.
So really think about diplomacyas we, as we talk about
strategic communication.
So it's good.
And then our last is creativitycommunication.
Jon Kidwell (25:11):
So it's good.
And then our last is creativity.
And this is really which is nottypical of a strategic
communication.
Right, yours very much takesthe form of an hourglass in my
brain of we're kind of wide andwe do narrow in and get clear,
and then it comes back out wherea more traditional framework,
as you said yours is.
Ingredients looks a lot morelike a V to where then it is a
(25:32):
little bit more directive ofhere go do this and you open it
back up at the bottom of sayingI've told you all these things
I'm assuming positive intent,that we're synoptic, and now you
release it.
Tell me about this creativityand just what comes and how that
looks inside of this.
Stephen Smith (25:49):
So this is our passion.
This, this is our passion.
Creativity does not make itonto the list of leadership
qualities.
You know, top five, top 10,maybe top 20, you know it's in
there.
We've, we've, we're convincedthat creativity, faith, vision,
(26:11):
clarity, those are all a part ofthis idea of creativity.
Seasonality, poise, diplomacy,we can do all of these things in
a creative way, and so the bigword is generative.
Right now, everybody's talkingabout AI, this and that.
So generative ideas or gener,that's a generative uh uh ideas,
(26:32):
or generative images orgenerative content.
And so, in a way, thiscreativity word, um, is about
the generative side of yourcommunications.
It's about re?
Uh.
It's about me figure out how tosay it.
It's, it's about cause it's sohuge and so large.
(26:55):
It's about a, a renewal in yourmessaging.
It's about saying the samething, the ability to say the
same thing in 10 different ways.
Yeah, it's about creating thesame thing in 10 different ways.
Yeah, it's about creating,iterating a new solution for a
(27:15):
problem.
It's about understanding withthese other components.
It's about understanding how todream in color and, most people
, leadership.
I would say if you ask a leaderto describe themselves,
creativity might not be, youknow, on their list, as we
(27:39):
talked about a second ago.
But deep down, they arecreatives.
Yeah, deep.
Jon Kidwell (27:45):
Well, I mean, if they if they have the faith and
the vision and they're seeing it, it's, it's already there,
right?
That's that's where theystarted and vision, and they're
seeing it's.
It's already there, right,that's that's where they've
started.
And like a tree, like I'm justI'm you got me on the cycle
thing so I'm envisioning likethis this thing comes up, it
produces as it is supposed to,and then in a specific season,
uh, there's stuff that's fallenoff that tree.
(28:06):
All the time I have raked myyard, I have pulled little itty
bitty oak trees out of my yard,I have done all of those.
And then there are those thatgot big enough that my
father-in-law was like aresaying I see a field and I am
going to go over to that fieldand I'm going to plant these
(28:40):
ideas in this field to yield anoutcome.
Stephen Smith (28:43):
We feel like this field over here of people or a
group, or whatever our ideaswould meet the needs of this
particular group.
We can cultivate some resultsinside this field.
And so there's the creativepart of that.
I also think that creativity isnot limited, and hear me say
this loud and clear Creativityis not limited to the creative
department, it's not limited toyour brand guide, it's not
(29:05):
limited to an artist.
I think creativity can also befound in amazingly fluent and
elegant spreadsheets, amazinglyelegant and fluent business
(29:26):
processes.
Excellence is that form andfunction.
Where those two meet together,that is creativity personified.
And so for a, for anorganization, on the creativity
side, it's about instillingcreativity in your team, saying
we are better together as agroup.
(29:48):
We've got to talk aboutcreativity.
Creativity sometimes is realprivate.
It's about saying in ourcommunication to our team we
want your ideas, we need yourideas.
And then on the on the largerorganizational side, it's it's
about, um, showing your vision,showing, uh, your preferred
future to your customers,clients, uh, showing this image
(30:11):
in clarity Not only have youdone it to your team creatively,
you're also going to usecreativity to be even more clear
to the people that are outthere.
You want to inspire that, youwant to move to point A to point
B.
So, strategically in our mind,what these seven things do?
They create a soil that you cancultivate as an individual and
(30:35):
you can cultivate as a personthat is a leader of people in
your organization and, up to say, my communication is going to
be fertile soil for clear,fruitful ideas to come out.
(31:01):
So that's our heartbeat onstrategic comms.
This is kind of where we liveright now with our teams and the
people that we are coaching.
It's an interesting, you knowseven words to kind of kick
around.
Jon Kidwell (31:16):
So it's so good and it's so rich, just like the
soil that you are creating, andthere's so much that we could go
.
We use an analogy similar interms of personal growth, in
that that there has to be kindof these nutrients, honestly,
that go in to be able to bringthese about.
And you've done it in a way andin a place that a lot of us
(31:38):
don't think about that.
We think about X's and O's and,you know, execution, that's
what we really call it Right,and so thank you for bringing
that to us.
We ask everybody this questionand I want to ask you, before we
get ready to sign off, stephen,what does it mean to you to
lead?
Stephen Smith (31:57):
Well, it's a leading Well is slowing down
enough to hear the directivesand again, this is faithful word
here the directives see thevision in our mind and then be
unable to articulate that topeople around you.
Literally, we are funneling inwhat we're hearing or able to
articulate that to people aroundyou.
Literally, we are funneling inwhat we're hearing or funneling
that vision down to other people.
(32:17):
Again, this is creativecommunication.
It's about then expressing itin such a way that it enlivens
their heart and excites theirmind toward this future that
we're leading into.
So that would be what I wouldsay.
I love it.
On the Leadwell podcast.
Jon Kidwell (32:34):
There we go See not the John Kidwell podcast and
people need to know where toconnect with you, to connect
with Aerable, so that you allcan help them cultivate these
practices and these disciplinesand just be able to bring the
fruit of some of their amazingvision and the work that they're
doing.
Where can people connect withyou?
Where can they learn more aboutAer arable?
(32:56):
Give us all the places we needto connect with you.
Stephen Smith (33:00):
Absolutely so.
We have a funny spelling forour name it's A-E-R-A-B-L-E.
A-e-r-a-b-l-e is the phoneticspelling of the word Aer arable,
which means good soil.
So if you just Google the wordA-E-R-A-B-L-E, Aerable Co will
be there.
Our website is aerable.
(33:20):
co is and Social media is,arableco.
You can find us there as well,but we'd love to be able to
connect with anybody who'slistening and have an even
longer conversation aboutcommunication when they're ready
.
Awesome.
Jon Kidwell (33:38):
We will put it in the show notes, a direct link,
so that you all can connect withStephen, with his team at
Aerable and all that they'reworking on, so that they can
help you communicate andcultivate some amazing work and
results where you are, S tephenthank you and cultivate some
amazing work and results whereyou are, S stephen.
Stephen Smith (33:54):
Thank you so much .
Oh my gosh.
I say, Jon, thank you.
I wanted to say this Thank youfor being a part of my life and
your leadership is amazing, andwhat Leadwell is doing is just
blowing everybody's minds.
And with the book, with all ofthe things, the resources that
you're putting in people's hands, we're blessed by your
leadership in this space.
(34:16):
So, thanks so much, thank you.
Jon Kidwell (34:20):
I really appreciate that.
I will also pay you as soon aswe sign off Venmo direct to
Stephen Smith and to all thatare listening.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Be well, lead on, and God bless.
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