The Leader's Two-Minute Speech
Learn to tell the team briefly about a goal or a change so that it is clear why it is needed and what matters from each person.
Why this exercise
Motivation helps people take on a task; inspiration answers the question of why we are doing all this. A leader's inspiring speech is not grand words or slogans but four simple things: where we are now, where we are going, why we need it and what matters from each person. Two minutes in your own words at the table with your team is enough. The idea of "starting with why" is described in detail in S. Sinek's book "Start with Why".
How to run it
- Show the formula: where we are (honestly, with the facts and the difficulties) → where we are going (a specific picture of the future) → why (who will be better off) → what I need from you. And three rules: brief, specific, honest.
- Everyone chooses a real change or goal in their team: an office move, a new system, the plan for the quarter.
- 10 minutes: write the speech using the formula.
- Groups of three, 8 minutes each: a participant gives the speech, the other two listen as "the team" and give feedback using the checklist — is the picture of the future clear, is the "why" clear, do you want to take part, what should be cut.
- 2–3 volunteers speak to the whole group.
Debrief questions
- Which step of the formula was hardest to write? Usually the "why".
- What in a colleague's speech really caught you?
- How can you make the speech work for different people: some care about the result, some about a vivid image, some about what will stay stable, some about facts and a plan?
- If someone says "I'm not a public speaker", answer: what is needed is not oratory but clarity.
- If a participant cannot find the "why", help with questions: "Who will be better off if this works? What happens if it isn't done?" Sometimes the "why" is worth checking with their own manager — that is a conclusion too.
- Pomposity is cured by examples: "What exactly will the customer see? What will change on Monday?"
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