Welcome back to the Look and Sound of Leadership, an ongoing series of

executive coaching tips designed to help you be perceived in the workplace the

way you want to be perceived. I'm Tom Henschel, your executive coach, and today

we're talking about speed of thought. Brian called me early one morning as he drove to work. The day before, while he and I were working on a presentation for his company's investors, he'd come up with an analogy for the company that he thought was powerful.

Incorporating it into the presentation would mean tweaking

many slides but he was enthusiastic about it. Now on the phone Brian was

annoyed. James, his CEO, had seemed very cool about the analogy.

Brian quoted James as having said, I guess we could say that.

Exasperated, Brian said to me,

what the hell kind of reaction is that?

Brian, I said, that reaction isn't about whether James thinks the analogy is good or bad.

It's about the fact that the analogy is new.

It's his reaction to change. He just doesn't have his hands around it yet.

Brian paused and then he said, thanks. He paused again, then added, I get it.

Then he took a breath and said, can I ask you about something completely different?

And he took off in a new direction.

Brian's I get it moment is why people talk about him as one of the brightest guys they know.

His ability to quickly grasp a concept and move on displays

fierce intelligence. Contrast that with Anna, a marketing professional at a drug company. I've learned that about 15 minutes before the end of a coaching session, I need to let her know we're ending.

It takes her about that much time to think out loud about what we've been talking about and to begin all her leave-taking behaviors.

As I enter the elevator to descend to the lobby, she's still getting out her final ideas.

The difference between Brian and Anna is not IQ. They're both very smart people.

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