For my preliminary analysis, my goal was to uncover the specific ways that CEOs within an organization can effectively communicate with their staff/employees specifically through genres such as memos, letters, emails, etc. The following interview was conducted with a Roger Williams professor who specializes in leadership personalities in order to obtain a more thorough analysis on the ways CEO's think, react and communicate.
1. Speech acts (verbally expressing an expectation) are common within the discourse of scientific rhetoric. How can a leader express his speech acts (goals) within an activity system?
The goal for a leader is to give his employees a reason to abandon their self-interests gather together to form a team. Together, the team wins and loses together, but possessing a true collective identity is the goal for success.
2. How can we measure the effectiveness of employees in an organization?
One way we can measure the effectiveness of employees within an organization is to go to our peers and co-workers for advice. One feedback method that many companies use today is called 360 Degree feedback in which a CEO goes gets feedback from all employees about a certain someone so that you have a better chance of hearing “the good and the bad”. With this technique, we get a sense of how an individual is performing overall, and most importantly, the impact they are creating on the organization whether it is positive or negative.
3. We use cannons (invention, arrangement, style, memory and delivery) within scientific discourse to amplify our message. How could a CEO efficiently incorporate these canons into an important speech?
The biggest determinate behind an effective speech or not is the persuasiveness the deliverer uses. Practice makes perfect when delivering speeches, but it is crucial that you connect with your audience and appeal at their level. Also with your employees (audience), you must understand them and realize what tone to use and the drive you want to put behind you message; the more you connect the more they will understand and be motivated. Finally, discussing shared expectations and ideas is critical and could be used as a base point for a speech, as this is a topic that can be easily discussed from top to bottom within a company.
4. Can you think of any examples of cannons, speech acts, or social facts from a corrupt leader that led to a company’s downfall?
2001, Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay of Enron Corporation, the biggest downfall of a corporation. Enron was on top of the world but the atmosphere that was created by the CEO and the disaster of his financial methods and ranking techniques were setting them up for failure.
The goal for a leader is to give his employees a reason to abandon their self-interests gather together to form a team. Together, the team wins and loses together, but possessing a true collective identity is the goal for success.
2. How can we measure the effectiveness of employees in an organization?
One way we can measure the effectiveness of employees within an organization is to go to our peers and co-workers for advice. One feedback method that many companies use today is called 360 Degree feedback in which a CEO goes gets feedback from all employees about a certain someone so that you have a better chance of hearing “the good and the bad”. With this technique, we get a sense of how an individual is performing overall, and most importantly, the impact they are creating on the organization whether it is positive or negative.
3. We use cannons (invention, arrangement, style, memory and delivery) within scientific discourse to amplify our message. How could a CEO efficiently incorporate these canons into an important speech?
The biggest determinate behind an effective speech or not is the persuasiveness the deliverer uses. Practice makes perfect when delivering speeches, but it is crucial that you connect with your audience and appeal at their level. Also with your employees (audience), you must understand them and realize what tone to use and the drive you want to put behind you message; the more you connect the more they will understand and be motivated. Finally, discussing shared expectations and ideas is critical and could be used as a base point for a speech, as this is a topic that can be easily discussed from top to bottom within a company.
4. Can you think of any examples of cannons, speech acts, or social facts from a corrupt leader that led to a company’s downfall?
2001, Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay of Enron Corporation, the biggest downfall of a corporation. Enron was on top of the world but the atmosphere that was created by the CEO and the disaster of his financial methods and ranking techniques were setting them up for failure.