I was invited as Guest Speaker by IBM India today to deliver a talk on the above topic as part of their 2-day workshop for women leader empowerment. The audience was a select group of participants from the Top 100 Women Achievers of their India Software Labs. It was an enjoyable afternoon and highly interactive. I got first-hand insights into the challenges of interaction and communication faced by young women leaders. I shared insights and lessons learned in crucial conversations to achieve breakthroughs in communication. Examples were shared from experiences and applied through a model / framework that I have developed for Effective Communication.
Ultimately, after you have the necessary education, expertise, skill and certifications, effective communication skills will become a vital instrument for leadership. Like John W Gardner said - “If I had to name a single all-purpose instrument of leadership, it would be communication”
Ultimately, after you have the necessary education, expertise, skill and certifications, effective communication skills will become a vital instrument for leadership. Like John W Gardner said - “If I had to name a single all-purpose instrument of leadership, it would be communication”
Awesome Azra I like the way you seem to be emracing most women- challenges in top management tier. Would love to see you in action in one of your talks...
ReplyDeleteThanks Anney. From the responses I have received so far, Communication is definitely an area that seems to be a concern across organizations. And it is not restricted only to women.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned in another blog page of mine (and I am copying that here for the benefit of my readers on this blog too) -
I hear employees lamenting, for example, about “the mask” that they run into when interacting with senior leadership. Putting on a mask (of limited or no communication) among subordinates, team members and even peers, is a mis-placed personal strategy of “image protection” among (some, if not all) leaders. The executive signalling here does not result in “awe” or “aura”. It simply goes awry, leaving little room for honest and free-flowing communication. The inevitable result is frustration, confusion and mistrust among employees. On the other end, there are genuinely approachable leaders, but the missing link of Communication lies elsewhere.
My framework for Effective Communication (still undergoing chipping & refining) has several moving parts depending on various factors including role, individual attributes, position in the hierarchy, gender, parties involved (employees, peers, clients etc) and other factors in the environment. Context is crucial and every context will have to be studied in depth before an effective communication solution program is rolled out.
I'll keep you posted about future talks...
Talk to people in their own language. If you do it well, they'll say, 'God, he said exactly what I was thinking.' And when they begin to respect you, they'll follow you to the death
ReplyDeleteOkay. It's also official now - Deloitte study: 48% of employees don't trust their employer - 46% say it's due to lack of communication from #leadership http://ht.ly/2Ku60 5:38 (Tweeted by Joseph Grenny)
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