Communication Skills – Doug Dickerson on Leadership

Talking Up Feedback

Posted September 16, 2020
by admin

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. – George Bernard Shaw

A story is told of a man who dialed a wrong number by mistake and got the following recording, “I am not available right now, but I thank you for caring enough to call. I am making some changes in my life. Please leave a message after the beep. If I do not return your call, you are one of the changes.” Talk about your not so subtle message.

Employee engagement and the manner in which you communicate as a leader is essential to the success of your organization. It matters now more than ever especially during this time of remote work that so many are still participating in.

One of the barriers to good communication and employee retention is found in the ability of your people to not only receive good feedback but also in their ability to give it. Click To TweetThis was pointed out recently in a TinyPulse article regarding employee retention.

In the article, it was brought out that employees that don’t feel comfortable in giving upward feedback are 16% less likely to stay at their companies. It went on to say that while 60% of employees have a way to provide feedback about their employee experience, only 30% said that their feedback is acted upon. And this is where change can and should occur.

As a leader, you know how important your workplace culture is to your overall success. You also know that the way in which you provide feedback to your people is equally important. But feedback is only as effective as each person’s ability to receive it and give it.

What is the ultimate benefit to the health of your organization if the only feedback given is top-down? What purpose does this serve and in what realistic way do you think you benefit as a leader if your people do not have a regular means of talking to you?

Here are four simple tips to consider for the benefit of everyone as you think about employee engagement and employee retention.

Be intentional

You must make it known that you are always available to talk with anyone who wants that opportunity. But you need to do more than just provide lip service. Give specific times and days when you make yourself available for conversations and not just ask for feedback in writing. Many things get lost in translation. Have an open-door policy and make it known.

Be receptive

If you really want the feedback to mean something, be receptive to what you hear. Listen with an open mind and try not to be defensive. Listen to what your people have to say with the understanding that this is likely not easy for them. But when the conversation is over your people need to leave with the confidence that they were heard and respected.

Be responsive

The worst thing that can happen is for one of your people to come and give feedback and feel that they have been dismissed or not taken seriously. Be responsive to their feedback and listen with an open mind. Typically, those closest to the problem or concern have the greatest sense of clarity regarding the issue. Click To Tweet Listen respectfully and respond accordingly.

Be appreciative

As mentioned already, giving upward feedback may not be the most comfortable thing your people do so don’t make it any harder for them. Be appreciative of the fact that your people are invested enough to come to you. It means that they care.

Final Thoughts

Just as loyalty is a two-way street, so too is feedback. And while not every idea or concern is something that you can address or satisfy to their liking, you can set a positive tone in your organization by being a leader who listens.

Employee engagement and retention is up to you. If your people do not believe that they are being taken seriously or are valued then they will find a place where they are.

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When Things Aren’t Always Clear

Posted November 10, 2019
by admin

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. – George Bernard Shaw

Communication is the lifeblood of any good organization. With it, things run smoothly. Without it, it’s a constant struggle.

Consider this humorous story I came across not long ago. It was about a man who lacked tact. He was the type of person who just couldn’t say anything graciously.

He and his wife owned a poodle. They loved this dog. It was the object of their affection. The wife was to take a trip abroad, and she made it to New York on the first day. She called home and asked her husband, “How are things?”

He said, “The dog’s dead!”

She was devastated. After collecting her thoughts, she asked, “Why do you do that? Why can’t you be more tactful?”

He said, “Well, what do you want me to say? The dog died.”

She said, “Well, you can give it to me in stages. For example, you could have said, ‘The dog went out on the roof.’ And then when I travel to London the next day and call, you could tell me, ‘Honey, the dog fell and had to be taken to the vet. In fact, he’s in the hospital, not doing well.’ And finally, when I call you from Rome, ‘Honey, brace yourself. Our dog died.’ I could handle that.”

The husband paused and said, “Oh, I see.”

Then she asked, “By the way, how’s Mother?”

He said, “She’s on the roof.”

Communication. How would you rate it in your organization? Is it good? Bad? Why is that? If it’s bad, is that a reflection of the culture at large or is it more random? Regardless of your answers, one thing is for certain – good communication matters.

As a leader, you want to make sure that your communication systems are working. It needs to be C.L.E.A.R.

C – Correct.

It’s not enough that communication in your organization is taking place. The information that is flowing within and out of your organization needs to be accurate. Expediency serves no purpose if the information is wrong Click To Tweet. Make sure it’s correct. Nothing is more frustrating than inaccurate information being disseminated. It makes you look bad and frustrates the very people you are trying to serve.

L – Logical

A necessary ingredient to good communication is that it’s logical. Make sure that it serves a useful purpose and is beneficial to those who receive it. If the information you are trying to communicate is important enough to be distributed to those in your organization and beyond, then it’s important that it’s done right. Don’t put forth information that is irrelevant or hard to understand.

E – Essential

It’s one thing to communicate regularly, but how much of that communication is essential? How would a communication audit look for you and your organization? How much of what you communicate in a meeting could have been handled in an email? Click To TweetHow do you recoup that lost time in productivity? What about those unnecessary emails that clutter up the inbox? Good communication is necessary but make sure that what you are communicating is essential. Don’t waste people’s time with the trivial.

A – Accessible

Information that your people need should be accessible through good communication channels. Make sure that people who are supposed to be in the loop are in the loop. Don’t make access to information difficult or make assumptions that it’s been received. Nothing will frustrate your people more than being in the dark on matters that they should know about. Be intentional with your communication and make it accessible. Click To Tweet

R – Regular

Good communication within your organization should be regular. In other words, good communication practices should be a part of the routine of your organization. It’s dependable, it’s reliable, it’s accurate, and you’ve built a reputation upon it. Avoid the pitfalls of poor communication and poor morale by good communication a priority. Too much is at stake not to.

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Leadership Essentials: Communicating with Clarity

Posted July 14, 2016
by admin

comm

The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said. – Peter Drucker

A worker asked for a pay raise and got this note back from his supervisor: “Because of the fluctuation predisposition of your position’s productive capacity as juxtaposed to standard norms, it would be momentarily injudicious to advocate your requested increment.” The puzzled worker went to the supervisor and said, “Is this is about my pay raise I don’t get?” “That’s right,” said the supervisor.

As a leader one of the most important skills you will develop is communication. Unfortunately, it’s becoming one of the hardest skills to develop. The reasons for this vary. On the bright side, technology has increased our ability to communicate like never before. On the down side, conversational and social skills have waned because we prefer to text or send an email- thus avoiding actual human interaction.

Communicating with clarity is important for you as a leader. Those you lead don’t need to be like the man in the story above trying to figure out what you are saying. Here are a few simple guidelines to keep in mind going forward.

Keep it simple

Avoid as much as possible all the fancy corporate jargon. Keep it simple. Your goal here is not to impress people with your vocabulary but to inspire your team with your words and actions.

Keep it pithy

Don’t waste your people’s time with never ending meetings and chasing proverbial rabbits. The longer things drag out the more your people tune out. Have an objective, stick to it, and get going.

Be transparent

Nothing will endear your people to you more than to by being open and honest about where you are personally, where things are as an organization, and by reminding your people of the vision and the role they play in fulfilling it.

Be inclusive

Clarity is essential throughout your organization. As the leader you need to make sure everyone knows your heart and that you have their backs, and that they have all the knowledge and information they need to be successful.

Know when to speak, and speak on purpose

When communicating with your people it is important that you have a reason and purpose behind it. What you say and how you say it is important. What a team members “hears” and interprets may be very different from said and meant. Before you speak, think it through and put yourself in their shoes.

Know when to shut up

I’ve saved the most important for last. Clarity comes to us best not when we are speaking but when we are listening. The most powerful communication skill you have is your silence and your open mind. It is when you listen to your people that you have your greatest moments of clarity. Someone once said, “God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason.” That’s great advice.

Communicating with clarity is essential to your success as a leader. Use these guidelines as starting points and build upon them. Your success as a leader depends upon it.

What tips would you add?

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Building Bridges and Tearing Down Walls

Posted June 2, 2016
by admin

bridges

Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing. – Tom Peters

The Great Wall of China was built over hundreds of years to keep China’s northern enemies from invading. The Great Wall is so wide that chariots could ride across the top. It is one of the few manmade objects that astronauts can see from space as they look back on the earth.

But the Great Wall did not keep the enemy out. Do you know why? All the enemy had to do was bribe a gatekeeper. Despite the massive wall, there was an enemy on the inside that let the enemy on the outside in.

One of your most important responsibilities you have as a leader is to grow your corporate culture in a way that benefits everyone. But what happens when office gossip, professional jealousy, and turf wars build walls that place your company at risk? What is the fallout when walls go up and camaraderie is a faint memory of the past? Here are four critical areas that are impacted in your organization if walls are built or allowed to remain.

Loss of trust

The first line of defense for you as a leader as it relates to your corporate culture is the establishment of trust. When walls go up among your people trust is one of the first casualties along with it. Trust among your team is essential to your operation. If it doesn’t exist internally it’s going to be hard to nurture and develop it externally.

Trust is the foundation of your corporate culture. If there is no trust among the members of your team then your team is simply going through the motions. Trust is built when the walls come down and your people learn to work in harmony with one another. When they see each other as allies and advocates rather than adversaries then you trust can be established.

Lack of communication

When there is no trust then communication is going to suffer. If information is being withheld and secrets are kept, then good corporate culture is lacking. Walls keep people apart and when this occurs then the life blood of your company is missing. Everything rises and falls on trust and communication.

Consider for a moment how different things in your organization would be if there were not impediments to communication. Good communication can be a challenge in the best of times when there are no walls much less when they do exist. Communication in your organization will exist and thrive when you bring people together and make it a priority.

Lack of collaboration

Whatever the cause for the walls that exist – clicks, territorial disputes, petty office politics, etc. one thing is certain – relationships suffer. A strong work environment and the collaborative process are dependent upon good relationships – the very thing the walls have destroyed.

A healthy collaborative process can be very beneficial. When team members come together and check their baggage and their egos at the door, it can make a huge difference in the productivity of the organization. But this can’t happen within the confines of walls that are far too often supported by pride. When team members see their differences as strengths and their diversity as an advantage then collaboration can thrive.

Lack of credibility

Walls can be detrimental to any organization and every leader faces the challenge of how to deal with the underlying issues that lend itself to their creation. It’s a frustrating process and I understand the challenge it presents.

But the credibility of your organizational structure is on the line when walls of division that lead to a lack of trust, communication, and collaboration are allowed to linger. Chances are it’s only one or two disgruntled people who are the chief antagonists giving you this headache. But nonetheless, walls are being built because well-meaning team members may know of no other way to deal with it.

As a leader you must be proactive in the implementation and development of your corporate culture. It’s not an auto-pilot feature that you can turn on and then ignore as you move on to other issues. As a leader the best things you can do is learn how to build more bridges and tear down a lot of more walls.

What do you say?

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Relationships: The Fuel of Your Company Culture

Posted January 15, 2016
by admin

work

The purpose of life is not to be happy, it is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. – Emerson

Some time ago I came across this story of 76- year old Bill Baker. If you think your family has problems, consider the mayhem created when he wed Edna Harvey. She happened to be his granddaughter’s husband’s mother. That’s where the confusion began, according to Baker’s granddaughter, Lynn.

Lynn said, “My mother-in-law is now my step-grandmother. My grandfather is now my stepfather-in-law. My mom is my sister-in-law and my brother is my nephew. But even crazier is that I’m now married to my uncle and my own children are my cousins.”

From this experience, Lynn should gain profound insight into the theory of relativity.

We’d all agree that relationships can be tricky. We bring to any workplace culture our own unique personality, quirks, beliefs, and qualities. Blending those characteristics into a cooperative environment can be a challenge.

The truth is, we live and work in the context of relationships and as leaders we are not exempt. Are you being intentional about the value of relationships and doing what you can to foster good ones? Passive participation will produce nominal results at best.

Building a strong organizational culture begins with building solid relationships – it’s that simple. But it’s also that hard. So what is a leader to do? Here are four steps to building better relationships.

Take the initiative

This is one of the fundamental characteristics of a strong leader. As such, you do not wait to take the first steps in the right direction. Take responsibility and act as if developing good relationships depends on you- because it does.

You build good relationships as a leader by being proactive. For some leaders this may be a big step out of your comfort zone but the more you do it the more at ease you will become. Show your people that relationships matter by making it personal.

Find common ground

Good relationship are essential to your company culture. Mesh all of the personalities and differences together and you have the potential for something truly unique and special—if you do it right.

So long as we allow our differences to divide us we will have problems. A strong leader will find common ground, find points of common interests and goals, and build off of it. Our objective is not to create molds of ourselves – to mold everyone into our way of thinking, believing, and way of doing things. It’s to embrace our differences, build off of our uniqueness, and elevate everyone because of it. Find common ground and build from there.

Welcome everyone

Building relationships in your company environment happens as everyone is welcomed in. The responsibility rests with you as the leader to create an atmosphere in which everyone is made to feel welcome and no one is shut out. To foster anything less is to play favorites and create division.

When diversity of relationships are seen through the lens of value that each person in your organization possesses then everyone feels like they belong. Your life as a leader is much richer and rewarding when you experience the full range and scope of a diversity of relationships. Do yourself a favor- broaden your circle and welcome everyone.

Look outside yourself

The final thought is this – the strength of your relationships and the power of the company culture you build is realized not when you attain it but in how you use it. It’s not so much about having a “look at us” mentality, but in a “how can we serve you?” expression of it.

As a leader it’s not about you. If you integrate that belief and expand it system wide, then you have the potential to do great things. Why not tap into the uniqueness of your people, harness the power of your relationships, and turn it into a force for good? Can you imagine the impact you can make? When you do this then you will begin to discover a whole new dimension of the power of relationships. Are you ready?

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The Four B’s of Effective Communication

Posted September 18, 2015
by admin

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. – George Bernard Shaw

The story is told of Broadway producer Jed Harris who once became convinced he was losing his hearing. He visited a specialist, who pulled out a gold watch and asked “Can you hear this ticking?” “Of course,” Harris replied. The specialist walked to the door and asked the question again. Harris concentrated and said, “Yes, I can hear it clearly.” Then the doctor walked into the next room and repeated the question a third time. A third time Harris said he could hear the ticking. “Mr. Harris,” the doctor concluded, “there is nothing wrong with your hearing. You just don’t listen.”

Good communication is the life-blood of your organization. It is what keeps your team healthy and cohesive. It reinforces a strong corporate culture. But when communication is floundering it can send things within your organization into a downward spiral.

A Business Performance article (http://bit.ly/1KUq6i6) stated that, “Organizations that fail to convey clear strategies and processes and engage employees in shared goals are likely to lose to companies with more effective communication practices.” The article revealed the obvious – that businesses with poor communication have higher employee turnover, increased absenteeism, poor customer service, ineffective change management, etc.

That these negative consequences are taking place in organizations is no surprise. It’s a natural consequence of poor communication. Leaders must be aware that effective communication skills will take you to the next level and poor communication skills will sink you.

Here are four tips that will help you become a more effective communicator as a leader. Take these to heart and put them into practice.

Be intentional

There must be intentionality behind your communication. Your words must convey meaning, purpose, and be delivered with clarity. This goes for written communication as well. Say what you mean, mean what you say. Be concise and as best you can leave no room for misinterpretation. Never assume anything on the part of the people with whom you communicate.

Be consistent

Your communication must be consistent. Don’t damage your credibility as a leader by saying one thing and doing another. Nothing will frustrate your people more and sink morale faster than a leader who isn’t consistent in his or her message.

Be receptive

As a leader you must remember that communication is a two-way street. It’s not always what you say that will make the difference. It’s what you hear that can be a game-changer. Simply put – don’t just be a dispenser of information – listen to your people. Hear what they are saying and create an environment where it is safe for them to talk without any fear of repercussion.

Be accountable

There is an old adage that says “the teacher hasn’t taught until the student has learned.” Apply this to your leadership and it will sound something like this, “The leader hasn’t communicated until his people understand.” This applies to the vision and mission of your organization. Do your people know it? Have they embraced it? Keep in mind – your people are the face of your organization. If they don’t know your mission or vision how well do you think they are representing it?

As a leader you are accountable for communication. It falls upon you to make sure that communication on all levels is taking place. Do you have accountability procedures in place to assess communication effectiveness and desired results? These things do not happen by accident. You need to have a plan and implement the plan.

You have too much riding on the outcome of good communication. Master these basics and you will soon see the results you desire.

What do you say?

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Leadership Minute: Speak Clearly

Posted October 13, 2014
by admin

I meant what I said and I said what I meant. – Dr. Seuss

Nothing will frustrate the people in your organization any quicker than communication that’s unclear, vague, or otherwise unnecessary. Talking just to talk is not communication. It’s noise. And it’s irritating. The effectiveness of your leadership hinges on good communication skills. Knowing what to communicate, how to communicate it, and why it’s necessary are essential to your people. Answering a few simple question can help cut through the clutter of what’s necessary and what’s not. Try these on for size: What do your people need to know? Who needs to know it? For what purpose do they need to know? When do they need to know? And what is the most efficient and effective way to do communicate this information? Clear communication is essential to a smooth operation so don’t mess it up. Be clear. Be direct. Be succinct.

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Leadership Minute: What Does It All Mean?

There is a profound difference between information and meaning. – Warren G. Bennis

We live in a world of abundant information and instant communication. It’s at our fingertips 24/7 when we need it. Your ability to create, collate, and dispense information does not make you a great communicator. Leaders need to learn this. The measure of your success is not in how much information you can present but whether it has meaning or value to those receiving it. So the next time you are preparing to deliver information you should be less concerned with quantity and more concerned with the quality. Put yourself in the shoes of the recipients. How does it help? What does it mean? What does it change? What does it improve? Why me? Why now? When you focus on giving meaning and purpose you will not waste your time or theirs with things that are meaningless. Make sense?

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