Chris Westfall - Leadership Language: Using Authentic Communication to Drive Results

USING AUTHENTIC

COMMUNICATION TO

DRIVE RESULTS

Cover image: Henrik Sorensen/Getty Images
Cover design: Wiley

Copyright 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Names: Westfall, Chris, author.
Title: Leadership language : using authentic communication to drive results / Chris Westfall.
Description: First Edition. | Hoboken : Wiley, 2018. | Includes index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2018021623 (print) | LCCN 2018025120 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119523352 (ePub) | ISBN 9781119523321 (Adobe PDF) | ISBN 9781119523345 (hardback)
Subjects: LCSH: Leadership. | Communication in management. | BISAC: BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Leadership. | BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / General. | BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Management.
Classification: LCC HD57.7 (ebook) | LCC HD57.7 .W45587 2018 (print) | DDC 658.4/5--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018021623

For my mom, with love

Gone but not forgotten

I have a simple motto hanging in my office:

Success is not about what you work on. It's what you choose NOT to work on.

I've been running different businesses since I was 14 years old. Some have done well, some not so much. If you're anything like me, you're continually looking for a path to success that feels right. A fundamental transformation comes when you finally know you're on the right track. That transformation is what this book is really about.

When I made my first feature film, Why I'm Not on Facebook, I planned it out scene-by-scene as though I was on the set of one of my television shows. I spent hours of time (and mountains of money) sweating every shot, scripting every outcome, tweaking every payoff. I had a specific plan, and so that's the movie I set out to make.

When I screened the first cut of the film for my graphics team, my lead editor simply said,