smartbooks.com Author Article
Making Your Words
Count -- A Factor in Determining the Power of Our Leadership
By Rebecca Shambaugh,
Author of Leadership Secrets of Hillary Clinton
Much research supports my personal experience that as leaders and executives, we spend close to 80% of our day communicating. Unfortunately, I think because we use our communication skills so continuously, we take them for granted and don't work to develop them after we begin to achieve success in an organization. So it's no wonder that we aren't as effective in communicating as we'd like to be.
Here are a few questions to expand your own awareness on how well you are communicating:
- Would others say you are clear, concise and easy to understand?
- Do you speak up when you have something to say, or do you hesitate and not say anything?
- Do you adapt your speaking style to the situation and the individual?
- Do you actively listen to others and show interest in what they are saying?
If you answered "no" to any of these questions there might be some timely opportunities to hone in on your communication skills to ensure you are having the greatest impact as a leader by making your words count.
I have outlined below 7 sticky floors that are based on my company's 16 years of research working with and coaching women across the globe. The sticky floors reflect key behaviors, assumptions and beliefs that can self-limit women's potential and abillity to achieve their career goals. The sticky floors include the following:
- Balancing Your Work and Life
- Making the Break -- Staying In a Place Too Long
- Embracing Good Enough
- Forming Your Own Board of Directors
- Capitalizing on Your Political Savvy
- Making Your Words Count
- Asking for What You Want
As an executive coach for women as well as SHAMBAUGH'S years of research regarding women in leadership, we have found that one of the more challenging sticky floors is Making Your Words Count. This area is key as your credibility and your power as a leader depend greatly on how others perceive you. How well you communicate greatly impacts that perception of you, it's probably true that you are what you say and how you say it. So, making your words count -- ensuring that you get the attention and respect you desire and deserve when you speak -- is ultimately critical to your success. The image you convey with every aspect of your communication will help or hinder your ability to influence people, impact decisions, and will play a major role in determining whether or not you are invited into the higher ranks that lead to the executive suit.
Here are some Guidelines for you to consider when Making Your Words Count:
1. Nonverbal Communication: Make eye contact, manage body language and exude a level of engagement and energy through your nonverbal's.
2. Become an Active Listener: Be curious and open to other views. Listen actively and communicate back what you heard to the group.
3. Plan Your Message: Do your homework and ask yourself "what result do I want to achieve, key points I need to make, and how I should say it to get the result I want?"
4. Keep it Simple and Stay on Message: Prioritize, give key points, ask for questions/if more detail is needed, but stay on message and avoid wavering from one idea or perspective to another.
5. Leverage the Use of Questions: Start a key meeting with a few questions to understand the other person's needs and opinions.
6. Adapt Your Style to Your Audience: Prepare beforehand and learn what the audience wants to hear or not hear, and how to adapt your style so your message and how you say it connects with them.
7. Pay Attention to Your Speaking Habits: Avoid tics such as "umms"and run-on sentences.
8. Speak Up! Believe You Deserve to be Heard: Don't let fear get in the way of contributing. Link your idea to another person's, segue from a previous idea or frame your message by saying, "I have two points I would like to make."
9. Balance emotions with Logic: Read the emotional dynamics of the conversation and calibrate your message appropriately. Logic does not play well when people have strong emotion-laden opinions or biases or want just want the bottom line.
No matter how confident or competent we are, being a good communicator gives us a leg up for successfully dealing with a variety of challenges and situations encountered every day. We are naturally great collaborators and connectors, so capitalize on this strength.
© 2010 Rebecca Shambaugh, author of Leadership Secrets of Hillary Clinton
Author BioRebecca Shambaugh is the founder and CEO of SHAMBAUGH Leadership and author of It's Not a Glass Ceiling, It's a Sticky Floor. She lives in Washington, D.C.
For more information, please visit www.mhprofessional.com.
