Category Archives: Improve Your Communication Skills

Increase your personal development and career potential as you master these areas of communication with your boss.  Great communication demonstrates growth and maturity.  Poor communication sabotages your advancement.  Eliminate these words and the values they illustrate and see your influence and recognition rise.

1. “It was nothing.” “No big deal.”

When you can’t accept a compliment, you show a lack of confidence in yourself.  After all, if you don’t think it’s a good job, why should anyone else? When your boss compliments you, don’t denigrate yourself.  He is praising your skills and accomplishments.  Own them.  Sometimes people down-play their achievements due to a false sense of modesty.  If you want to move your career forward, accept these compliments with graciousness.   Say “Thank you.”  Smile.

2. “Well, I emailed you about that a week ago.”

This statement tells your boss you think … Continue reading Seven Things to Never Say to Your Boss →

Client Rebecca Asks:  I’m fairly new here and my company seems to rank pretty low on the trust scale. I want to create a more open, trusting environment where my people feel free to share and grow. How can I use your executive coaching tools to work around my corporate culture without making waves?

Coach Joel Answers:  Executive coaching and the work we do together can give you the tools you need create the environment you want, regardless of your company’s philosophy or operating style. So let’s talk about what trust actually looks like and the tools you can use to build it within your own team. Here are four key trust factors that I’d recommend putting at the top of your list:

Be consistent Show respect Create transparency Have their back 1. Be consistent.

Why is consistency important?  Sometimes people associate consistency with someone who’s a plodder, … Continue reading How to Build Trust in a Non Trusting Environment →

Kimberly, a free-lance marketing consultant, landed an assignment to temporarily replace Jennifer, the VP of marketing at a large financial institution for six to twelve months. Jennifer was taking a leave due to complications from a high-risk pregnancy.

Because of her medical condition, she had very little time to brief Kimberly, but as she was leaving she informed Kimberly that she had just fired Jerry, a young IT guy—and the only IT guy in the department.

A couple of days later Jerry emailed Kimberly and asked if they could meet off-site for coffee. By this time, Kimberly had heard a little of the backstory on Jerry, the principle fact being that he was the son of the company’s CEO! Kimberly was a little intrigued by this political hot potato, so she agreed to meet him. Here are the facts as Jerry presented them to Kimberly:

Jerry’s former boss had indeed … Continue reading Can Proper Employee Coaching Turn a Problem Employee into a Superstar →

Kevin is on the management fast track at a Fortune 500 company. He’s outgoing, friendly, never met a stranger. He sees himself as a real deal-maker. Yet a lot of people in Kevin’s world routinely keep their distance when he enters the room. Even some of his clients seem to shut down when he’s around. He doesn’t quite understand why others don’t see him the same way he sees himself.

In his recent 360 review, ten stakeholders did provide quality feedback to Kevin. These insights began to shed some light on the situation. Frankly, he just talks too much. His co-workers and managers see him as a bit of a phony, maybe someone who’s not as smart as he thinks he is, even as someone who’s not to be trusted. The main message he heard in the feedback was to talk less … Continue reading How to Talk Less and Listen More at Work →

Communication is critical to your professional success. If you are not a strategic communicator, your effectiveness within your organization will be minimized. Years of knowledge and experience mean little in the hands of someone who can’t communicate effectively. Becoming a strategic communicator will maximize your ability to influence others in your organization.

Learn to speak the language of executives.

Reading articles on executive communications, such as Marielle Segarra’s article, “How to Be a Strategic Communicator: 5 Tips,” is one way to improve the effectiveness of your communications. In her article, Segarra gives CFO readers five ways they can improve communication when discussing finance with the rest of the organization. The five tips Segarra gives are: align interests, teach finance, tell a story, get to the point, and don’t go it alone.

I was pleased to be interviewed for two of these … Continue reading 5 Tips for Becoming a Strategic Communicator →

Even though there are many articles on leadership communication, this one discusses the six tips on how to improve communication and become a better leader of people.

They say any sailor can navigate on calm seas. It’s when the waves are the roughest, when the boat is in peril, that a captain’s skills are truly tested. The same is true with business leaders.

All Successful Leader Want to Become Better at Communication

All successful leaders need to be engaged and to find new and better ways to communicate with their employees. When navigating their companies through difficult economic times, smart executives are placing a priority on communicating with their customers, employees and executive leadership.

Employee communication is a two-way street. Don’t just talk—ask questions and listen to the answers. Start with an employee retention survey. Find out who’s thinking of leaving and why. Find out who wants to … Continue reading 6 Steps to Better Communication in Difficult Situations →

Improving communication effectiveness  begins by seeing each persons point of view.

“My employER doesn’t see my point of view.”

“My employEE doesn’t see my point of view.”

These two quotes, usually accompanied by sighing, head-shaking, gritted teeth and other signs of frustration, are quite common in today’s workplace.

We often have “tunnel vision” which means we can only see our side of a situation. The other people involved are busy focusing on their side. Communication lapses, frustration and anger increase and situations turn into major problems. How can we avoid this dilemma? How can you get your employer or employee to see your point of view?

Here are 3 steps to immediately improve communication effectiveness Switch sides.

The most effective way to get someone to see your point of view is to see their point of view. This communication concept sounds simple enough but how can you actually do this? … Continue reading Communication Effectiveness
Starts With These 3 Steps →

90% of all business transactions involve communication

Recent research has suggested that written and verbal communication is involved in 90% of all business transactions. Whether you’re just making small talk or closing the biggest deal of your corporate career, the art of communicating clearly and effectively is one area of executive presence that should not be taken lightly or, even worse, overlooked. It’s key to becoming a great boss—or succeeding at any level.

At its most fundamental level, effective communication is the exchange of thoughts, information, ideas, and messages between people or groups. But it’s not communication unless the transmission is understood. Communication can happen verbally, nonverbally, in writing, and through behavior as well as by listening and using feedback.

No matter who or what audience you must address, the art of communication can be a daunting task.

Communication Competency … Continue reading #1 Communication Competency
Be Clear & Concise →