HSBC Bank Case Study

During a speaking tour in 2000, Eric Douglas was signing books at a Barnes & Nobles in New York City when a slender woman approached and asked whether he might autograph a copy of Straight Talk for her husband. "He's in banking," the woman said. "I think he might enjoy your message." Six months later, the husband contacted Eric and asked if he'd like to do some work for his bank. "I very much enjoyed your book,"he said. "It's the first time I've seen someone capture these different styles so simply. I mean that in a good way."

The husband was a chairman of HSBC bank. He invited Eric to come and do a workshop for his senior management team in New York. That assignment grew into a series of workshops in several areas of the bank, along with executive coaching.

"What fascinated me about this project," Douglas said, "was the opportunity to see the mix of British and American communication at a senior level."

How well did the Straight Talk system hold up?

"Our research gives us great confidence that the Straight Talk model works regardless of what country you come from. What's interesting is how people from a particular national extraction do tend to show a similar style of communicating. There's variation, of course, but the British tend to be more process focused, more detailed, more indirect than, say, the Americans. That presents some interesting challenges."

For several months, Douglas and his team from Leading Resources Inc. worked with HSBC to familiarize them with their communication styles, the dynamics of their teams, and the different management styles that the bank manifested around the world. As part of the engagement, Douglas asked each team to complete LRI's team communication assessment, which surveys six areas of communication and provides a snapshot of how well each team is doing. Over time, the bank showed improvements in several key areas, most notably the effectiveness of the senior management team in communicating with each other ­and throughout the rest of the organization.

"A very rewarding experience for me," says Douglas. And for the bank as well.