THE GREAT
COMMUNICATOR...LESSONS LEARNED
Ronald Reagan, who was born February 6, 1911, died on
June 5, 2004, after a ten-year ordeal with Alzheimer’s
Disease. Reagan will be remembered for so many
things...being 40th President of the United States;
ending a long, cold, fearsome war; changing politics and
culture. I honor him for all that and more.
I also honor his wife Nancy, who remained loving and
devoted through all the experiences of their 52 years. I
personally know the heartbreak and stress of being the
primary caretaker of an Alzheimer’s patient.
Ronald Reagan would want us to focus on the positive
aspects of his life, and we’ll zero in on something he
modeled that all of us need to apply daily. I am
fascinated by the name given to him by friends and
opponents alike...THE GREAT COMMUNICATOR. (How many of
us would qualify for such a nickname?)
I've watched the interviews of the many people who knew
him and read the news accounts. I’ve been trying to
discover what it was about his communication style that
earned such praise, cooperation, and results. Here are
a few of the insights I’ve gleaned for us. As you read
these examples, let’s ask ourselves, “To what extent do
I apply these principles on a daily basis?”
1. HE TREATED PEOPLE IN EVERY STATION OF LIFE AS
VALUABLE.
George Bush, Sr., said, “He was kind, courteous, and
thoughtful to all staff. He would no more walk by the
guy in the elevator without asking how his family was
than to fall off a cliff.”
A six-year-old African-American boy wrote Reagan a
letter. Not only did the President write a thoughtful,
handwritten letter in response, he wrote dozens,
becoming this little boy’s pen pal. When the boy
invited the President and Ms. Reagan to come to his
house for dinner (writing, much to his mother’s
mortification, “but give us some notice so my mom can
get the laundry picked up off the floor”), they did just
that.
An adolescent named Rachel Pierce from Tupelo,
Mississippi, had the same experience. He answered her
letters personally. On her sixteenth birthday, he not
only sent her a personal birthday letter, he addressed
it to her mother, requesting that she hold it and
deliver it to Rachel exactly on her birthday. Later, he
invited her to visit with him. She did so, and was
invited to return on two more occasions.
According to “Time,” Ronald Reagan seemed untouched by
the arrogance and self-regard common to actors and
politicians. On the eve of the election when a young
reporter asked Reagan what the American people saw in
him, he responded, “Would you laugh if I told you that I
think, maybe, they see themselves, and that I’m one of
them?”
2. HE NOT ONLY CARED, HE COULD ARTICULATE IT.
One of the most powerful examples of this came when
Reagan postponed his State of the Union address to talk
to the people about the Challenger disaster. Speaking of
the shuttle’s crew, he said, “We will never forget them,
nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they
prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped
the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.”
It’s one thing to care…another to be able to skillfully
express it.
3. HE HANDLED DISAGREEMENTS WITH TEAM MEMBERS IN
PRIVATE, BEING WILLING TO COMPROMISE, BUT NOT ON
PRINCIPLES.
George Bush, Sr., shared his minor “disagreement with
Reagan” experiences on the Today Show. He described
their regular private lunches in which the President
welcomed opposing viewpoints. According to Bush, Reagan
was willing to compromise on methods, but not on
principles.
From his hospital room after the assassination attempt,
Reagan was calling Democractic Congressmen, asking for
support of his tax cut. One quoted the President as
saying, “I’d rather get 80 percent of what I want than
to go over the cliff with my flag flying.” He was a
master negotiator.
4. HE USED HUMOR TO COMMUNICATE AND TO MANAGE STRESS.
Humor is the quality most often mentioned in describing
Reagan’s communication style. Here are a few examples.
By the time he was inaugurated in 1981, Reagan was
almost 70 years old. He quipped, “Middle age is when
you’re faced with two temptations, and you choose the
one that will get you home at 9 o’clock.”
Reagan survived the assassination attempt by John
Hinckley. Right after the shooting, with a bullet lodged
just inches from his heart, Reagan told Nancy, “Nancy,
honey, I forgot to duck.”
His use of humor to deal with a very stressful situation
was also seen at the hospital. He said to his doctors as
he entered surgery, “Please tell me you’re Republicans.”
Coming out of anesthesia, he paraphrased W.C. Fields:
“All in all, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.” He added,
“If I had this much attention in Hollywood, I would have
stayed.”
5. HIS COMMUNICATION WAS FULL OF OPTIMISM.
Time Magazine summed it up: “Hope is an infectious
disease, and Reagan was a carrier.”
True to his reputation as a great, direct communicator,
in 1994 Reagan chose to reveal his battle with
Alzheimer’s Disease by writing a letter to the American
people. Even on this sad occasion, his optimism thrived.
Reagan wrote, “At the moment I feel just fine. I intend
to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this
Earth doing the things I have always done. I will
continue to share life’s journey with my beloved Nancy
and my family… When the Lord calls me home, whenever
that day may be, I will leave with the greatest love for
this county of ours, and eternal optimism for its
future. I now begin the journey that will lead me into
the sunset of my life. I know that for America there
will always be a bright dawn ahead.”
May these glimpses into the life of Ronald Reagan
challenge you and me to become our best at work and
home, rising ever higher to the next levels in “great
communication.”
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