Many small businesses are operated by a primary (generally the owner) who is then supported by a group of individuals. Group is the primary term used here due to many leaders refusing to acknowledge the inherent value provided by their staff. Many businesses plan their positions: technicians, bookkeepers, office managers, etc. Great businesses take those planned positions and focus their energies on the people that fill them. Empowering those individuals to provide unique, uplifting memories to each client that walks in the door. The odd thing is that both types of businesses have the same amount of money and time invested in their people. The difference is that businesses have employees; while, great businesses have team members.
When a team member feels empowered to provide memories on behalf of their company/employer, they seek out those opportunities at every available chance. Their motivation revolving around bettering the day of others simply for the enjoyment of it. Their enjoyment is read by the clients as being enjoyment purely in their job/role; thus those clients leave with a desire to tell the story of the stellar service that they received, ultimately referring prospective clients back to the business. When negative emotions threaten to overtake the mood of the business on a given day, these team members identify and address any misgivings before they can escalate.
Conversely, when an employee is conducting their job, they tend to mirror the current mood of the primary (owner). In many cases, the employees are seen as emotional dumping grounds by the primary; in that it is a very common correlation that when a primary’s other facets of life (marriage, school, church, etc.) become strained, that strain spills over into other facets of his/her life. When employees are greeted with stress by their employer, they simply respond by sharing that stress with the clients. In a best case scenario, an employee will be short when dealiing with a client/customer. In a worst case scenario, the employee will show a lack of concern over the client’s needs leaving the client/customer to feel like their service was uninspired, possibly even unnecessary; thus prompting the client to seek out a new service-provider.
Ultimately, the goal of any business is to grow. Yet, many businesses fail to capitalize on investments already made in their staff due to a failed understanding of the human spirit. Don’t let your misconceptions about your worth versus the worth of your staff prevent you from gaining every advantage available from your staff. Turn your employees into Team Members! Coker Communication Consultations, Inc. is only a phone call away to help you create, implement, and maintain a plan for creating your own Dream Team!
There are many varied leadership styles, several work well, many simply languish without ever changing. In an effort to stoke the fires of this blog anew; this represents the beginning of a new effort to catalog various leadership styles, some good, some bad, some an absolute liability, and all are in need of improvement.
There is a dichotomy in all Humans, Logic vs. Emotion.
A dichotomy is a division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups. Dictionary.com
Logic represents a collection of experiences and one’s ability to parse their knowledge to find similarity between events, problems, or occurrences in order to cipher the next sensible action required. Logic is at the core of language. All humans develop logic as they learn. Children are taught as they age, mixed with the collection of their experiences, they begin to develop a logical understanding of the world around them which allows for prediction of events or occurrences. Their understanding grows as they encounter each moment. Thus each moment also effects their understanding of each moment to follow. In the instance of two people riding in a car when they begin to slide due to a wet road; for the one who has survived a traumatic event, such as an automobile accident on a wet road, to relive these circumstances will induce fears and worries equivalent to those during and after their accident. Whereas, the other individual who has not experienced such trauma will see or experience little more than a simple worry about the momentary loss of traction.
All humans share the same emotional constructs. While it may take different amounts of stimuli to elicit anger from two different individuals, the manifestation of anger will cause the same response. It will have equal effects on the physiological systems of both of the individuals. Their blood will race; their heart will speed up; their breath will quicken. Emotions are at the center of communication. If communication is the sharing of ideas and thoughts, and emotional manifestations are a similar point of reference, then communication occurs on an emotional level. The innate trait in humans to bond together into groups: couples, families, tribes, clans, etc. stand as proof.
While this has been no more than an introductory peek inside this deeply discussed and often written about topic, let it demonstrate the need that anyone who wishes to be a successful communicator must always work toward mastery of communicating on both of these levels.
Language dictates our ability to perceive the world around us
Perception is the ability of one to understand the environment and occurrences around them. Speech is an inherent trait, but Language is not. A child is born with the innate ability to make sounds. The human anatomy grants the ability to produce a myriad of sounds; a range broader than any other creature encountered upon this great Earth. Yet without a shared, structured set of rules those sounds are incoherent. It is no different than the last time you were blessed enough to hear a conversation held in an unfamiliar language; without knowing the structure and rules of the language it sounds as unintelligible as a baby’s coos and ahhs.
From a tribal standpoint, language holds all knowledge of the people, their culture, and their historical record. Societies steeped in technology seek to write, upload, and broadcast their knowledge, yet the oral tradition still holds. A vast majority of knowledge is passed from lip to ear and so on down through the generations. To communicate understanding one must have a common point of reference, such as a shared word or phrase. As a language’s (or an individual’s understanding of the) mores and structures are established the users begin to perceive their world around them in terms of the words or phrases of the language used. In the American language time is inordinately represented and utilized. Many Americans cannot form a full discussion without reaching into the bag of terms regarding to time, be it in measurement, description, or duration. Whereas, many tribal languages simply do not possess terms regarding to increments of time, some will use language to differentiate night from day, or summer from winter, but there are no words for things like seconds, days, or weeks. Without such terms present to direct their perception tribespeople have no need to rush themselves.
In French the word aimer means to Like or to Love. Those are two very different meanings on this side of the [Atlantic] Pond. Does that explain why the French are so much more passionate…probably not, but it does illustrate the nuance inherent in all languages. From a casual standpoint nuance is lost, only when one becomes involved in understanding their language and its proper usage does nuance truly become visible.
This is a blog.
This is a blog about Communication.
This is a blog focused on the principles of sound communication practices, a skill that permeates our lives in inextricable ways, yet somehow is regarded as unimportant or picayune. Topics covered here will range from seemingly mundane observations to the very advanced skills of applied persuasion and behavior prediction. Prior to any application of what you may learn here, you must first begin by understanding a few Principle Observations:
These statements each require their own posting, if not more, also do not forget to pay attention to the technologies that are innovating our methods of communication:
Each of these items (no, this is not an exhaustive list, merely an introductory one) have dramatically changed the way we communicate with each other or as a society. Each of these items will eventually receive their own post as well discussing the origination and impact upon the culture.
Effective and focused communication is at the heart of all success, and establishing a place for those who wish to learn to utilize such skills is the purpose of this blog. So, should you choose to take on this endeavor, please leave a comment below.
Communication is the cornerstone of civilization, the mother of all science, and most importantly the manner by which we all grok our environment. It is a realm in which we all live yet few choose to inhabit. Many have fallen into the false belief that words bear meaning of their own accord. That a denotation will carry their meaning sufficiently through each verbal encounter. Unfortunately, words bear meanings inherent to the individual, thus to expect each individual to respond equally to each use of a word is the equivalent of expecting each individual to be of the same stature, clothed in the same attire, wearing the same facial expression, etc. A true communicator knows that to speak is to assess the audience and attain an understanding for their needs vs. your expertise (or vice versa) prior to speaking a single word. This method of ‘focused’ communication is the type that tends to propel those that utilize it into the forefront of projects and leadership positions. Take the average politician these days… the first skill that they must possess is the ability to think before they speak, often times they must weigh many hefty alternatives in the span of a half second in order to be perceived by their constituents as being knowledgeable and capable. Challenge yourself to always assess your audience before you speak. As miscommunications lie at the root of all interpersonal problems.
The use of the example of grok was intended; however, it can be misleading as where most people do not understand that word except those that have read Robert A. Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land; the majority of miscommunications that occur today are misunderstandings rather than complete unfamiliarity. When you realized that you did not understand that word you treated it as such; whereas, had you possessed some understanding of the word, no matter how different it was from the word’s original intended meaning, you would have carried on as if you understood my message. In some cases this is inconsequential, yet in most cases it can be detrimental to one’s desired end goal; whether it be a discussion with one’s spouse or co-worker, an advertising campaign, a motivational pep talk, or any other form of human interaction and the exchange of ideas.