George Bernard Shaw famously said: “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” Exactly!
Last week’s theme was “Perception is reality.” This week it’s how do you actually connect with and persuade your teams once you do understand their points of view?
Elizabeth Doty has a great piece on the strategy+business blog: Why Leaders Who Listen Achieve Breakthroughs. Rather than always broadcasting or pontificating to employees, she suggests two-way dialogue (a concept The Fifth Discipline’s Peter Senge loves) as a way to create a more open, balanced, and reciprocal sharing of perspectives.
So what does that look like? Here’s a quick summary from her post:
- Slow down. If others find you stressed, overloaded, or distracted, they will avoid disrupting your fragile focus.
- Create a safe space. Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson’s work shows how important it is to create psychological safety if you want to explore diverse views and foster ideas. [More on that in next week’s post!]
- Ask inviting questions. Questions help you focus a conversation without limiting creativity – especially questions that pose a puzzle for which you do not have an answer, such as, “How might we accelerate innovation, so we are ready for X?”
- Listen with a willingness to be influenced. The best way to improve communication is to focus on the listening part.
- Use reflection to deepen the learning. Because two-way conversations are usually wide-ranging, it is very important to recap what was discovered, where you are now, and what is needed next.
Dialogue is the purest form of communication. It’s how you and your colleagues look each other in the eyes and actually understand each other. It’s how you create a shared vision for the future. It’s how you create plans to go forward. It’s how you lead.
Communication is the essential last mile in finding and motivating the right teams, acquiring strong allies, powerfully bonding with customers, and capturing mindshare with compelling stories. Nothing will serve you and your vision better than developing exceptional communication skills.
