THE CHALLENGE OF COMMUNICATING  

"You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere."

Lee Iacocca

In working with groups, small or large, the challenge of communication- of connecting to others is the central thread for why things go so easily...or go so wrong in a sale, in a negotiation or even in a merger of teams or businesses.  

There are certain people that we cannot seem to communicate clearly with - on the job, at home or in our community.  No matter what is said, something different is heard and the frustrations may lead to a project failure, people leaving a team, or even broader conflict in the organization.    

In the Law of Connection by Michael J. Losier, the science of NLP, Neuro Linguistic Programming, was used to describe and illustrate the preferred styles of communication.  In his book, Losier focuses on the flexibility in helping us to understand other people's styles, their gifts, and OUR challenges.   

You may a visual learner, and prefer that style, while your leadership team, may have its unique preferences. Failure to be flexible in your presentation leads you to the wrong result.    

Each of us has our preferred style of communication, the difficulty is in accurately assessing someone else' style..  While we may recognize that our communication is important, we may miss the gravity of what happens when we miss the mark for another person's preference.  Understanding the differing styles of an individual or team allows us to see why they receive and communicate information the way that they do.  Information allows us to be flexible so that we create and improve our connections.   

In the chart below, take a look at where your preferences may be:

Reflections

• Which style creates the tougher challenge for you in communicating?  
• Are you considering the different preferences and communication styles to deliver your messages?

This Issue Leadership Advice  

Good communication skills require a high level of self-awareness. Understanding your personal style of communicating will go a long way toward helping you to create good and lasting impressions on others.  

By becoming more aware of how others perceive you, you can adapt more readily to their styles of communicating. This does not mean you have to be a chameleon, changing with every personality you meet. Instead, you can make another person more comfortable with you by selecting and emphasizing certain behaviors that fit within your personality and resonate with another.