Communication

“I just hate miscommunications.”

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Yesterday, while working in my home office, workers from a local store came to install a new appliance.  I overheard a shocking conversation that struck me as inappropriate.  I selected a typical excerpt, and posted it on my personal Facebook page to see what conversation would ensue.  I was not disappointed. This was an interesting … Read more

Three little words for busy leaders…

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Sometimes people feel disconnected from us, because we come off as “too busy.”

Good news – there are three words that can reverse this dysfunction.

A piece of equipment went missing, and I wasn’t told about it.  I found out accidentally a few weeks later, that this $75 piece of equipment had been lost or stolen. I knew Nicole must have known about it, so I asked her why she didn’t let me know.

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Two Words Turn a Negative Request Positive

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An earlier post discussed the perils of the use of the word “don’t”.

“Don’t” is negative, and can also be dismissive.  It is direct (that’s good) and easy (that’s why it’s frequently used). There’s a nice alternative, though, that can quickly lay out both the non-desirable behavior, and the preferred:

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Leaders tell people “why”

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Hannah was a young person volunteering at a community dinner.  She sure seemed like she didn’t want to be there.  She was listening to her iPod and had earbuds in both ears as she served peas to the public.  She was surrounded by about twenty adult volunteers.

At one point, Harold, one of the adult volunteers, finally said something.  He scowled, and

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Effective leaders mirror in e-mails

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I once had two coworkers, Mark and Sally. In DiSC-speak, Sally was a high I, and used many many many exclamation marks in her e-mails. I am not exaggerating when I say that one of Sally’s e-mails could consist of three sentences and 13 exclamation marks. Mark, on the other hand,

was a high D. He never ever used exclamation marks. In fact, his e-mails were so short and to the point that sensitive people always worried that he might be mad about something. In reality, his e-mails were efficient, pared down, and completely eliminated small talk. So, as an outsider, I became aware that Sally was always paranoid that Mark was mad at her or didn’t like or appreciate her, and that Mark was totally annoyed by Sally’s e-mails; he didn’t have time for all the “how are you doing?” Or “that would be totally awesome!!!!!!!!” stuff.

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