Ever wondered what makes your colleagues tick? What turns them on in the office? Or do you save all your best lines for that special someone back at home?
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62765873
When you step into the world of entrepreneurialism, it’s natural to spend the majority of your time focussing on the day-to-day tasks required to get your business off to a flying start. Financial planning, strategy, marketing, social media, product design…the list goes on.
But as you clear those first hurdles, begin to put processes in place, take on your first employees and inch towards feeling a bit more established, it’s time to step back and look at the bigger picture.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62765873
Prince Harry used to be the naughty prince, the nation’s younger brother, who was known more for his passion for partying than for typically Royal behaviour.
And yet after some hair raising times in his twenties, he has stepped confidently into his role, using his position to give a voice to many who have been sidelined, disenfranchised or forgotten. He has done so with responsibility, grace, good will and a gentle determination, which reminds many of his mother. So what can we learn from his communication style?
The BBC has just released their findings from the world's largest loneliness study. 55,000 people took part in the BBC's Loneliness Experiment in collaboration with the Wellcome Collection. The people who took the survey were asked how they would define the feeling of ‘loneliness’. The results were surprising. In fact, being around people or not has no bearing on loneliness. Instead, it’s a more complex notion. In the top five responses, for example, was that people felt loneliness was simply not feeling understood.
How is it that some people seem to get exactly what they want at work, while others struggle to get anywhere at all? We all know the sort of people – they are often the recipients of promotions ahead of their peers; they negotiate their ideal salary while others jump at the first offer; and management often implement their ideas when they’re presented at meetings or in proposals.
I am willing to bet that when you’re tasked with giving a presentation at work, the first thing you do is load up PowerPoint on your computer. However, by presenting yourself with a blank canvas that you feel compelled to fill, you are giving yourself further hurdles to jump before you even know what it is you’re going to say!
In the second of this two-part blog post, we continue to share top tips for those of you in leadership roles who are looking to communicate more effectively with your team. In our previous post, we looked at how clarity and confidence can have an enormous impact on how you communicate with your team. Here, we share the final three tips, which deal with how structure and preparation will ensure you get your message acrsoss.
When you have gone high enough up the ranks to have a team of people working underneath you, you might think you should already have basic aspects of leadership, like communication, in the bag. And yet, a lack of effective communication among management is probably one of the biggest reasons for low performance, poor results, and people not getting along or enjoying their work. And, as we all know, finding a manager who is an excellent, effective communicator is rare! It is so important as a leader that the message you give is clear, both in your non-verbal messaging, positioning yourself as a leader, and also in your verbal. But regardless of how good we should be, the reality is that most people would benefit from some guidance to improve their efficiency as a leader.
First impressions matter. As the saying goes “You don't get a second chance at a first impression”. Ensuring that people see the best of you from the beginning will not only make those relationships and interactions easier, but will also improve and expand your network.
What if there was a simple equation that helped you to become a better communicator? Well, now there is!
