Dr Travis Bradberry wrote this post in Linkedin some days ago about “Why We Struggle to Communicate”.
Communication is the real work of leadership; you simply can’t become a great leader until you are a great communicator.”
Yes, communication is critical in leadership, inspiring people and taking into account every member of the team. For an entrepreneur, it allows you to transmit your thoughts and ideas better, improving the chance of convincing investors and make ‘it’ happen. For intrapreneurs, it helps aligning people towards the same goal. But in the end, it is an essential skill for everyone because understanding each other is the basis for better collaboration with your professional and personal relations.
So join me on this New Year’s resolution for 2016: let’s improve our communications skills following the strategies to take action that the author states in his article:
Speak to groups as individuals.[…] You want to be emotionally genuine and exude the same feelings, energy, and attention you would one-on-one.[…]
Talk so people will listen. […] means you adjust your message on the fly to stay with your audience […].
Listen so people will talk. […] you must give people ample opportunity to speak their minds.[…]
Connect emotionally.[…] Show them what drives you, what you care about […].
Read body language. Your authority makes it hard for people to say what’s really on their minds.[…] Pay as much attention to what isn’t said as what is said […].
Prepare your intent. Don’t prepare a speech; develop an understanding of what the focus of a conversation needs to be […].
Skip the jargon. […]
And the last advice:
Practice active listening. Active listening is a simple technique that ensures people feel heard, an essential component of good communication. To practice active listening:
- Spend more time listening than you do talking.
- Do not answer questions with questions.
- Avoid finishing other people’s sentences.
- Focus more on the other person than you do on yourself.
- Focus on what people are saying right now, not on what their interests are.
- Reframe what the other person has said to make sure you understand him or her correctly (“So you’re telling me that this budget needs further consideration, right?”)
- Think about what you’re going to say after someone has finished speaking, not while he or she is speaking.
- Ask plenty of questions.
- Never interrupt.
- Don’t take notes.
Happy 2016!
