Kevin M. Warren, chairman, president and CEO of Xerox Canada, received the Excellence in Communication Leadership (EXCEL) Award at the World Conference in Toronto earlier this month.

Kevin Warren accepts the award from Glenda Holmes, chair of the 2010 EXCEL Award nominating committee. Photo by SalvoPhoto.com.

In his speech, Warren accepted the award as a tribute to his mother, Lucy Warren, a career English teacher, whose tireless teaching beyond the classroom instilled the value of communication in him.

Photo by SalvoPhoto.com.

Here are a few quotes from his speech:

• “Business is unpredictable, ever changing and intensely competitive.  Crisis often fuels these fires.  Case in point the great recession.  Proof positive that whether self-inflicted or imposed upon, all leaders will contend with crisis; no one is immune.  And to that end, communication is a means to extinguish the flames.”
• “Communication is a path to survival, recovery and growth.  A way to do the unthinkable!  It is my constant companion.” 
• “For me, the IABC EXCEL award is validation that others see what I know.  We are uniquely advantaged by our entire ensemble.  Like so many things at Xerox communication success is about teamwork.  As such, this is as much their award as it is mine.”
• “Past experience taught us you can’t communicate too much in a time of crisis.  Frequency aside, message context and consistency are key.  The spokesperson must stay on point:  Here’s the problem.  Here’s the strategy.  Here’s what you can do to help.  Now take action.”
• “My rule is:  be candid about the problems and confident you can overcome them.  Sure I worried and had doubts – but those were private thoughts in private moments.  In public – especially with employees – I always assured them things would get better.  Furthermore, I took care that the audio and video were in sync.”
• “In terms of strategy this is my philosophy.  Sound business strategy matters, but values matter more.  Values inform leadership, leadership shapes culture and culture drives performance.  As such, if the plan you devise in the boardroom, no matter how perfect, doesn’t resonate on the street it is sure to fail.  Conversely, if your plan is less than perfect in the boardroom and does resonate on the street genius will follow.  After all, as aptly depicted on the war room wall at Ford Motor Company, when carrying out its change agenda, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
• “Experience tells me people spend a lot of time making the right decision, but not enough time making the decision right.  Ideas are just that.  Without impeccable planning and execution—to which communication is central—all may be lost.  Take for example Xerox Canada.  We made decisions that were fraught with risk at a time when the stakes were most high.  Only by connecting at a rational, emotional and motivational level with our people, about these decisions, were we able to succeed.  Simply put, communication is a lifeline to results.”

We celebrated our 40th birthday at the World Conference in Toronto earlier this month with a HUGE cake.

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Photo by SalvoPhoto.com.