ONE-WAY LEADERS

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Gotta Hitch in Yer Gittalong?

                                           

The business of a one-way communicator fades as 

quickly from view as yesterday’s prices at the pump.

                                  

                                                           

When your spoken or written communications cease to be communicating communicatively, and you can feel the bumps but aren’t sure why messages aren’t transmitting to others as smoothly as you think you’re delivering them, check yer gittalong! You gotta hitch there, Pardner.

You don’t need no PhD. You don’t need to give up hours of your time.

It won’t cost you a penny.

All you need to do is ask yourself some questions, then answer yourself.

Quick.

Simple.

Free.

                                                                   

Start with the amount of information you’re putting into your message. Is it too much or too little for the individual or group you’re speaking or writing to, to be able to respond appropriately? Or is it  j~u~s~t  enough? Are you addressing the right individual or group to start with?

Don’t laugh at this last question if you have ever spent more than a wasted minute in a meeting that you should not have been asked to participate in to begin with. Bosses do it every day. They send out an email and Cc the whole world. They call one guy asking to meet with the whole department when only two people should be involved.

But, no. I wouldn’t imagine you’d do a thing like that.

You may, however, not be asking for answers to your questions in ways that encourage promptness, Truth, Justice, and the American Way.

Oh, wait a minute, that’s Superman.

But, hey, no reason you can’t be as efficient to make your point as changing your clothes in a phone booth, right?  

                                                             

Would I take you this far into a blog post just to urge you to be like Superman? Surely not. The point is that one-way communications are like the radio and TV . . . other than those of us who may be drunk, on drugs, or confined to straight-jackets, most of us don’t talk back to these messages.

When you put out information or requests to others, you want feedback, responses, and answers. That’s two-way communication. Don’t talk like a dictator if you’re trying to cultivate a democracy . . . or an interactive, innovative organization! 

The “Can you hear me now?” TV commercial is a great example of a line that is worthy of using in meetings and phone calls –and even emails– because it solicits feedback. It gives you a checkpoint. It’s a straight out request to make sure that your message is being received and understood. Where are you without that? Where?

                                                                                                        

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www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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One Comment to “ONE-WAY LEADERS”

  1. […] communicating requires two-way transmissions that include feedback and paraphrasing (e.g., “If I understand this point that […]

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