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communication Tag

A couple of weeks ago, I asked my team to define the word "priorities." Their responseswere spot on: "main focus, importance, consistency, safety, and order." Then, I askedthem to share what they believe are some of our top priorities for campus grounds. Iwas pleased to hear answers like "appearance, safety, removing dead plants, treehealth, mowing, litter, and weeds." As a team responsible for maintaining the visualappeal of our campus, these answers reflected an understanding of our...

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” ~ Abraham Lincoln Have you ever had to teach one of your up-and-coming leaders to be quiet instead of talking all the time? Over the years, I have experienced leaders who are amazing chatterers. I have often set up a meeting to visit them with my 2-3 meeting items to cover. Much chattering happened, but I left the meetings with my...

“The trouble with talking too fast is you may say something you haven’t thought of yet.” ~ Ann Landers Communication…it’s vital for all organizations. And like most things, communication is a process. It starts with the sender who chooses to send a message. Words are chosen and we speak it, write it, or model it. The receiver then has to process the words to understand. Then, if we are lucky, the receiver responds/feeds back to the sender that...

Decision-making is essential for building and maintaining leadership credibility. In the scheme of things, not just any decision will do. As with most things, decision making is a process. A leader who prioritizes the decision-making process not only inspires confidence, but also fosters a culture of trust and respect within their organization. As a leader how you make decisions is important to your influence on the team. First, as a leader, do you see and recognize problems?...

"The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership." ~Harvey S. Firestone As a leader, growing and developing your front-line leaders is vital to you and your organization. Organizations now require leaders who not only have skills to do the work but bring with them the ability or the desire to learn how to teach the skill, give directions and lead the charge. And it all begins with communication. Communication is the cornerstone of leadership...

Nonverbal communication is made up of all the things we add to the words - when we smile, wave, or look someone in the eye when talking to them. Most of the time we think of those things as supporting our words, the verbal message, but in fact, most agree it makes up around 93% of all our communication. Why? Because those gestures, facial expressions and eye contact heavily influence how people interpret and react to...

"God loves each of us as if there were only one of us." ~ Augustine  Friends, as we pause this time of year to reflect, rest and be with loved ones during the Christmas season, I want to share with you my gratitude for each of you and for our time together. I have had the opportunity to speak with many of you; I've opened your conferences and coached some amazing leaders. What you have given me is a...

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”  -William Arthur Ward  Recently, I was speaking with a leader who produces millions of dollars of revenue each year through his organization. He employs over 80 people, and his company creates an amazing product. In gratitude, he would give his team a lot of love at Christmas - a big company party, lots of food, gift cards, iPads, entertainment, trips. He really wanted...

“You may delay, but time will not.” ~ Benjamin Franklin.  Recently I was having a conversation with a young leader who told me he spent all day Saturday watching football and as a result, he didn’t get any work done. He felt bad because he had some projects planned, but he had wasted the entire day just watching football. This is a good guy; he takes care of his family, running a couple of successful “side hustles” to make...

Don't assume. One of the biggest mistakes I made was thinking our workforce thought of themselves as leaders. I assumed because I thought of everyone as leaders, so did they. When I ask our team to raise their hand if they felt like they were a leader, about half did and half did not. I needed to communicate more often and with greater clarity. Don’t blame your team. Once you blame others on your team, you lose...