Great Communication

We rate communication on many variables including content, delivery, style, impact, credibility, importance, interest, timeliness and speaker.  These are all important elements and the mix will vary by situation.

I've had tremendous communications without words and challenging communications with well chosen words.   Regardless of the format, mechanism or venue, great communication occurs only when there is a connection between parties that allows each to be appreciated and understood.

Reply to All?

We continually hear horror stories of friends and colleagues who have inadvertently hit "reply all" when the intended response was a reply to the sender.  When I am sending to a large group, I put my own email in the "to" line and put my recipients in the "bcc" line.  This is not only a courtesy to not reveal the recipients, but also an insurance policy against unfortunate replies to all recipients.

Multi-Media Families

I attended a presentation last evening, hosted by DePelchin Children Center's Kezia DePelchin Society, "Texting Instead of Talking?" by one of DePelchin's many talented staff members, Jennipher Cole, MA, LPC.  Jennipher highlighted the importance of appropriately combining multiple modes of communicating.

She shared 6 important tips:

• Set the standard - Model for your children what it means to use technology responsibly.
• Establish "no-tech" times - There is no substitute for interpersonal dialogue.
• Use texting for appropriate communications - It is not the tool for serious, formal conversations.
• Emphasize technology's unforgiving nature - Stress the ease with which information can be forwarded to unintended recipients.
• Monitor online, talk offline - If you see something online that worries you, calmly address the issue face-to-face.
• Friend moderately - Never post anything on a site like Facebook that might embarrass your child.

Walk, Talk and Negotiate Like a CEO

Linda Swindling's tremendously beneficial presentation, "Walk, Talk and Negotiate Like a CEO" at Sterling Bank’s Women’s Business Initiative Luncheon in Dallas last week provided tips to help increase executive presence, power and position. Linda’s high energy, action-oriented recommendations were augmented with her special Passport to Success gift for each attendee.

Knowledge is the common denominator. And knowledge is expanded by asking great questions. We must know:

· how we are perceived
· what both parties to a negotiation consider success
· that continuous learning and shared information are essential

One of the keys to achieving executive presence is to know how we appear to others. Linda challenged everyone to note two words that describe how others see us. The next step is to ask others to describe us in two words. When we are surprised by the way that others view us, we have the choice to adopt that description or adapt our behavior to warrant a different descriptor.

Masterful negotiating requires understanding not only what we want, but also what the other party wants. When we can offer things that cost us little but are valued greatly by the other party, we both win. Differentiating between items that are essential and optional and investing more people in the deal can lead to improved negotiation outcomes.

Our position is improved when we become a “potted plant”. Contrary to the passive image the words convey, healthy, human potted plants continually absorb information and grow. Time is a CEO’s most precious resource. Ready access to valuable information maximizes productivity.

In addition to demonstrating executive presence, power and position, we need to ask for what we want. Others are not mind readers, but many are quite willing to be helpful when approached graciously and professionally with a request. We’re so fortunate that Linda said, “Yes” when we asked her to help us “Walk, Talk and Negotiate Like a CEO”.