Communicating and Connecting
This Summer I went on a trip with my two daughters to Moscow to visit my college room mate and his family. He has done an incredible job of building a company that employees thousands of people, so while we were there I wanted to pick his thoughts about what has made the difference in his path to success versus others who were not so fortunate.
One night we were sitting in a small coffee shop, and he was telling my daughters that the only reason he has gotten to where he is today is because of his ability to communicate and connect with others. As we were talking about this, it quickly became clear that he was not just referring to the language barrier. Many people who speak the same language never figure out how to really connect with others. I just hope that my daughters were able to grasp what he was telling them. It seems so simple, but so many people never understand this principle.
Thinking about my professional life, I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have been in a meeting where the person in charge was not able to connect. There are some key things that we all should remember when we are trying to communicate and connect with others.
It’s not about you…make it about them.
For a person to feel a real connection with their leader they need to feel that they have a vested interest in the path that they are taking with you. A manager can manage a system or process. But a leader connects with people so that they are going on the journey together. This is seen in how the leader interacts with everyone. A leader must be someone that you can trust and believe is looking out for your best interest.
Keep things simple.
Sometimes leaders can get too tangled with all of the details. It is better to find a simple path for everyone to follow, and then take them down that path so that they can see what the finish line looks like. If the plan is too complex, people tend to fade off and focus on something else that they can understand rather than trying to follow something that has too many moving parts.
Do the work.
This is quite simple. You can’t expect someone to follow you and do something that you are not willing to do yourself. If they see you in the trenches with them, they are far more likely to jump in and help you reach your goal. At a certain point you can remove yourself and let them finish while you focus on another task, but they need to understand that you are all working on tasks that are moving you all toward the same goal.
There are so many things that we could say about communicating and connecting. I hope you find this useful. I’ll share more on this and many other topics later.
If you would like to discuss your personal growth plan be sure to visit my site at www.geoffreylove.com, or for more information on sales and marketing funnels visit my affiliate page at www.thenext23.com.
Lead Well!
