In business – as in other aspects of life – there are all sorts of tough situations where inspired preparation can make a massive difference to your results.
A shining example of this time-honoured truth has been demonstrated by the newly-elected prime minister of a large country who has just visited an important neighbouring land to its south.
This neighbouring land is ruled by a self-absorbed egotistical man known for being belligerent, greedy and erratic.
Navigating diplomatically though the dangerous waters of this historic trip was a testing prime ministerial challenge – with metaphorical sharks, explosives and traps lurking in all directions.
To make it even harder, the neighbouring leader has a habit of discussing the most sensitive of matters with international visitors in front of the world’s TV cameras.
Nonetheless this daunting situation was one for which the visiting prime minister made sure he was fully prepared.
Here are some of the highlights of the masterly planning that the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, put into action during his televised exchanges with U.S. President Donald Trump and the news media:
+ The prime minister trod a delicately planned pathway between keeping the president onside while simultaneously making it clear that his country was not open to the Donald Trump nightmare vision of it becoming the 51st U.S. state.
+ In doing so Mark Carney managed to say things that seemed to generally land well with TV audiences in both Canada and the United States and, as far as one can tell, even with the president himself
+ Mr Carney deployed a highly effective pre-prepared analogy, designed to appeal to the President Trump’s background as a real estate developer
+ This analogy involved referencing places that are regarded as being never for sale – such as the White House in which they were both sitting and another landmark which the two men have visited: London’s Buckingham Palace.
+ The prime minister managed to get the president to acknowledge the truth of what he was saying about these not-for-sale places – even succeeding in getting the president to nod along in agreement
+ Then he used his cunning sacred property analogy as a springboard to dive into his headline message that his country is also a place that will never be up for sale
+ Mr Carney backed up his message by referencing the many interactions he’d had with those he called “the owners” of Canada during the country’s recent election campaign
+ While the president espoused various dubious things – such as his unlikely claim to be “a very artistic person” – before outlining what he regards as various benefits to Canada in becoming the 51st state, the prime minister largely restrained himself from interrupting the president’s self-serving monologues
+ But when President Trump finally declared that the annexation of Canada was something about which one should “never say never”, Mr Carney emphatically mouthed the word “Never” – while remaining politely calm in the process.
You can watch key segments of Mark Carney’s magnificent performance here:
A highly insightful analysis of Mark Carney’s Oval Office encounter – covering his words, his body language, his demeanour and more – has been put together by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
It contains some additional footage of the Carney-Trump interactions.
The video even includes Mr Carney’s own assessment of his performance when questioned about it by reporters afterwards.
However important you become in the business world, it’s perhaps unlikely that you will end up discussing your plans with Donald Trump in the White House before the world’s media.
But you can still be inspired by the meticulous way that Mr Carney ensured that when he stepped into the Oval Office, he seemed to be ready for anything.
In this last video you may have noticed a reference which Donald Trump makes to a previous interaction in Washington with a visiting world leader that did not go smoothly.
This was the infamous one with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky which outrageously saw Mr Trump accuse him of gambling with World War Three.
Given the widely-recognised heroic efforts President Zelensky has made in defending his own country – and the wider West – amidst Russian aggression, he can be more than forgiven for not being prepared for the Trump craziness inflicted upon him on that occasion.
Nonetheless before the Carney-Trump encounter, Canadian journalists were speculating about the prospects of their prime minister being what they called “Zelenskyed” in the Oval Office.
Mark Carney ensured that he was neither “Zelenskyed” or “Trumped”.
Through clever planning, preparation and delivery he earned the happy outcome he achieved.
Planning and preparation ahead of potentially tough situations is something that’s conducted in communication-boosting sessions to get you mentally and verbally match fit for all kinds of tough business scenarios for which you may need to ready.
Details about the sessions to help ensure that you and your team are ready for any potential blowtorch-on-the-belly encounters are set out here:
https://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/give-great-answers-to-tough-questions/
When you’re thoroughly prepared, practised and tested, you don’t need to rely on luck to get you winning through during the toughest of challenges.