Five Traits of Difference Makers: Perspectives on Platform

Executive Resource

Difference makers with the trait of Platform contribute to organizations by displaying the ability to lead a discussion, communicate and facilitate solutions.

April 6, 2022

Adam Jones

State Government Practice Leader

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What’s Inside

Every company wants to attract and keep the difference makers, the people who are worth their weight in gold. But how do you identify those you already have and find more of them? This article goes beyond traditional HR approaches to examine five intangible qualities that identify those who can make a difference in your organization.

This article explains how to identify and nurture the trait of Platform: the ability to lead a discussion, communicate the details of a project or process, entertain competing ideas, and facilitate solutions in a collaborative fashion.

Key Points

People who exhibit Platform know how to “read the room.” They anticipate audience make-up, expectations, and mood and adjust their presentation style accordingly, often on the fly.

Platform—the art of effective presentation—requires training, practice, and repetition. Give team members opportunities to present and critique those performances accordingly.

Platform depends on the ability to explain at the level of the audience’s understanding, literally translating the sense of an idea from one language to another, even if both languages are English!

Why it Matters

Difference makers are often missed in standard HR and development processes. Sometimes they hide in plain sight. In a time of high turnover, leaders need to be prepared to attract and retain employees who display Platform.

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In our continuing series on Five Traits of Difference Makers, I would like to explore the tangible aspects of what are sometimes intangible traits. Let’s take a deep dive into the ability to present ideas.

Platform: the ability to effectively communicate as a lead presenter

Platform in Action

Observable skills that contribute to Platform

Active Listening: Engagement is a two-way-street, and the best presenters are often the best listeners. Listening for content, engagement and understanding is a learned skill.
Effective Translation: Platform depends on the ability to explain at the level of the audience’s understanding, literally translating the sense of an idea from one language to another, even if both languages are English! This is particularly important in technical fields like engineering, IT and accounting.
Confidence: Confidence is tangible; it springs from knowing your subject matter (including knowing what you don’t know), understanding your audience, and practice. Practice. Practice.
Writing: Proficient writing directly correlates to strong presenting. Not all good writers have Platform. But almost everyone with Platform writes well. The lack of writing and speaking ability is the most career-limiting factor in advancing to a leadership level in an organization

At 15, my freshman son signed up for the high school speech and debate team. Our conversations in the car took on special importance. I squeezed everything I could out of them before he was issued his driver’s license and ushered in a new era of freedom from his father. We shared an interest in speech and debate; I had also competed in high school.

“You know I was all-state in extemp (extemporaneous speaking) my senior year?”
“Seriously? You never told me that.”

“Sure, I have.”

“No. You haven’t. What you have told me a hundred times is that you were the ninth-best player on your high school basketball team.”

I misplaced my parental priorities. What seems important at one phase of our lives fades with time, or in the case of basketball, with increasingly balky knees. The ability to present ideas endures. People who can do it are highly valuable to any organization.

Platform requires ownership. When given an opportunity to communicate anything of importance, you must own the forum and understand the audience. This is not a “soft skill.” Soft skills contribute to Platform: empathy and interpersonal communication, for example. But Platform—the art of effective presentation—requires training, practice and repetition. Putting Platform in the soft-skill column is like claiming dance is a purely artistic endeavor and not an athletic one. The individuals we identify as “naturals” when it comes to effective public communication have spent hundreds of hours at their craft.

Platform is a quantifiable professional attribute. If you manage in an industry where this trait takes on high value, you can build Platform in your team through formal training opportunities. But more importantly, the trait needs to be valued internally. Give team members opportunities to present and critique those performances accordingly. Some individuals will rise to higher stakes, some will not. But you will eventually tease out the ones you can count on for the multi-million-dollar proposal presentation and who can run the weekly team meeting. Remember that not everyone has every strength.

Platform and the Emotional Intelligence Connection: Situational Awareness

People who exhibit Platform know how to “read the room.” They anticipate audience make-up, expectations and mood, and adjust their presentation style accordingly, often on the fly. Such ability relies on a combination of self-awareness and empathy in Daniel Goleman’s original construction of the EQ concept.

Recently I was at a meeting of a governing body. The agenda was running behind and the day grew late. The chair indicated a need for brevity from a series of presenters delivering informational items that required no action from the board. The next presenter had prepared a 25-minute presentation. She delivered it in…35 minutes. Platform fail. An opportunity to engage and build rapport with a crisp and concise five-minute summary that honored everyone’s time instead became an annoying and self-indulgent exercise that did not reflect well on the presenter. She did not read the room.

Getting Personal

Consider Platform in the context of your own career. The extent to which you have relied on your own ability to effectively present ideas and improve the knowledge and effectiveness of those around you indicates a talent for Platform. Not everyone possesses this trait; but people with Platform tend to know they have it. You may have come to it naturally through a willingness to speak and present, then honed that skill over time through work and repetition. Or, even though you were not a comfortable speaker and presenter, you went to work. Realizing that Platform can be the difference between advancement and stasis leads professionals to pursue improvement through professional development or independent study. Personal engagement, active listening, written communication and public speaking are all teachable aspects – and the best organizations teach them. Maybe you even went to Toastmasters.

Leading Questions

If you had to select a colleague to deliver an important presentation tomorrow, who would you pick and why?
For each member of your team, in what environment are they most comfortable: formal speech? PowerPoint? facilitating discussion? whiteboard exercises? interviewing? How do you put them in positions to succeed?
For individuals in your organization who lack Platform, what training opportunities do you provide them and are they given opportunities to improve?

The Leader’s Checklist: PLATFORM

How often does a member of your team exhibit these attributes?

Team Member: Anonymous Smith	Consistently	Usually	Sometimes	Seldom	Never	Not Applicable
Active listening
Situational awareness
Self-awareness
Conducting effective meetings
Confident oral communication
Clear written communication
Concise explanation of concepts

For other articles in this series:

Adam Jones writes and speaks regularly on management, leadership, and strategic governance. He is the organizational assessment practice leader for Weaver and Tidwell, L.L.P.

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