In these times of economic pressures, geopolitical unrest, and even looming layoffs, kindness at work is not a luxury, but a necessity. Decades of research suggests that a leader’s kindness at work helps them retain top talent, establish a thriving culture, and enhance productivity & engagement. It also speaks volumes about individual character, commitment, and values. Writing in The Harvard Business Review, Andrew Swinand, CEO of Publicis Group Creative and Production U.S. and CEO of The Leo Burnett Group, offers advice for cultivating kindness at work.
When was the last time someone was kind to you at work, and how was that kindness expressed? To join the conversation, click "comments" above. We'd love to hear from you! Learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication with our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022.
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Tired of people finishing your sentences or cutting your stories or opinions short to interject their own? What can you do about annoying interruptions? For many of us, being interrupted can feel diminishing and condescending, says Maria Venetis, an associate professor of Communication at Rutgers University. Sometimes it’s even “enraging,” she added, “because it suggests that my ideas or my participation aren’t valid.” Interrupters often have, or believe they have, more power, and they’re used to having people defer when they talk. Jancee Dunn, of The New York Times, studied how to handle interruptions at work and in relationships, and offers these suggestions. At work:
In personal relationships:
Who interrupts you the most and how have you tried to correct it? To join the conversation, click "comments" above -- we'd love to hear from you! To find out how to create a habit around masterful communication, signup for our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022. By now most of us are aware that employees become more motivated and engaged when their leaders express gratitude. Expressing gratitude can be more motivating to employees than money. But it's how you thank that matters. A mere “drive by” recognition can have the opposite effect, according to Vidyard CEO Michael Litt. “They start to come off like cheap motivational techniques," he says. "On the flip side, they also run the risk of conditioning teams to expect constant positive reinforcement for meeting the basic requirements of their jobs.” So, what to do? Fast Company editor Lydia Dishman offers these 3 opportunities:
How has someone shown you gratitude in a significant way? To join the conversation, click on "comments" above. We'd love to hear from you! To find out how to create a habit around masterful communication, sign up for our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022. Confronting issues is never easy, but avoidance can be hazardous, not just to our relationships, but also to our own health. Most people navigate through important moments of communication on auto-pilot, reacting from emotion more than intention. As communication researchers and partners in work & marriage for decades, we’ve experienced both the joy and challenge of personal and business communication. We’ve found these following 5 steps can resolve conflict and build trust: 5 Steps To Resolve Conflict and Build Trust
Do you have a New Year’s resolution that could lead to stronger communication? We want to hear from you! So, to join the conversation, click on "comments" above. Learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication with our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022. Swear words can shock, offend, and entertain; They can even help us withstand pain. Why are these (usually four-letter) utterances so powerful? All languages have taboo topics usually clustering around themes like religion, defecation, and sex. And words that colloquially refer to those topics become swearwords. When we swear in a context in which we can assume those around us would prefer we didn’t, that choice is a sign of our disrespect. It’s somehow less offensive to replace a letter with an asterisk, despite the fact that everyone still knows what it means. But swearing, writes author Rebecca Roache, a senior lecturer in philosophy at Royal Holloway, University of London, “even without censorship or euphemism, can also be affectionately benign. To be understood this way, a listener needs to trust that the speaker is not verbally attacking but letting his or her guard down and signaling that the setting is informal and the relationship is friendly. Swearing in these contexts can even foster intimacy between recent acquaintances. Between people who already trust each other, it’s an excellent way to communicate affection. What about at work? In one study, researchers recorded conversations between employees of a soap factory and found that good-humored swearing was common between workers who knew each other well but absent between workers who were not part of the same friend group. At the office, a historically formal environment that has been trending toward informality, it’s possible to hear the occasional expletive in a meeting or read one in a group chat — more common in some industries than in others. “But before you partake, it’s worth remembering swearing’s tendency to vary in offensiveness over time and with context” says Roache. In what context, and with whom, might you let loose a swear? To join the conversation, click "comments" on above. Learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication with our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022. Leaders spend much of their day asking questions, but are they asking them artfully and skillfully? Here are 4 tips to remember. Lawyers, doctors, and journalists are trained to ask questions to uncover critical information. But this skill set is typically not part of a leader’s education. Writing in The Harvard Business Review, Alison Wood Brooks and Leslie K. Johns, outline what to remember when seeking information:
How artful and skillful is your question asking, and how do you react to the questions of others? To join the conversation, click on "comments" above. Learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication with our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022. If your boss has unrealistic expectations, there are 3 things you can do rather than update your resume! Writing in the Harvard Business Review, consultant and professor Liz Kislik, offers the following advice:
“When all is said and done,” writes Kislik, “for as long as you stay in the job, you’re still responsible for helping your team and your boss be successful. And as frustrating as it can be to work for an unrealistic leader, your goal should be to satisfy as much of the organization’s mission as possible while maintaining your sanity and self-respect.” Have you ever had an unrealistic boss, and how did you cope? To join the conversation, click on "comments" above. Learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication with our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022. Moving from managing a team to leading an enterprise is tough. It's different at the top, but how? Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Michael D. Watkins, co-founder of Genesis Advisers and author of The First Ninety Days, offers a breakdown of the key mindset transitions new leaders face:
Have you transitioned from manager to leader? What was the trickiest part to navigate? To join the conversation, click "comments" above. Learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication with our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022. Research shows that expressing gratitude is not only fulfilling for the person you share it with, but we now know that it increases feelings of personal well-being for the giver as well. Gratitude is noticing what is valuable and meaningful to you. As the United States approaches our official day of giving thanks, perhaps all of us can focus less on turkey recipes, and take a moment to consider how we might make gratitude an ongoing part of our lives. Here are some tips offered for expanding our gratitude:
If you are looking for someone to practice your “thank you” with, start close to home. John Gottman, Executive Director of the Relationship Research Institute of Seattle says: “Masters of relationships have a habit of scanning the world for things they can thank their partner for. People whose relationships go down the tubes scan the world for their partner’s mistakes. What happens when you up your rate of thanks to people around you? To join the conversation, click "comments" above. If you would like to read more about creating a habit around masterful communication, check out our book: Be Quiet, Be Heard: The Paradox of Persuasion. Many parents are stumped and troubled when their child starts tuning them out. Can this be reversed? Asked by The New York Times about how to continue to get through to teenagers, Cara Natterson, a Los Angeles pediatrician and co-author of “This Is So Awkward: Modern Puberty Explained,” and Dylan Gee, an associate professor at the Yale Child Study Center, offered this advice:
What do you do when your teen becomes uncommunicative? To join the conversation, click on "comments" above. Learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication with our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022. We all know how critical it is to make a good first impression, and how difficult it is to overcome a bad start. So what’s a surefire way to get off on the right foot? According to bestselling author and CNBC contributor Joanne Lipman, who cites research from Harvard Business School and Wharton, a great way to make a good impression is to ask for advice. This may seem counterintuitive. If we want to impress a new acquaintance we often talk about ourselves and our accomplishments. We rarely ask for advice — or, indeed, ask anything at all. Most people fear that asking for advice will make them look less than competent, but studies show it actually makes them look intelligent. At the same time, most of us think that those who ask for our advice are smarter than those who don't. This all makes sense from his standpoint of emotional intelligence (EQ). We usually feel flattered when someone solicits our knowledge and opinions. And flattery is a useful too for getting people to like us. As Lipman puts it "We tend to think: They were smart to ask for my advice because I am smart." Moreover, if someone asks you for advice or information, it's likely they've done the same with others. And if they routinely ask other people for advice and information, then they are probably well informed. Have you ever asked for advice during a first encounter, and what were the results? If not, are you willing to give it a try? To join the conversation, click "comments" on above. Learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication with our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022. How can being too positive as a leader reduce retention? An upbeat and enthusiastic leader can be a great motivator… but only up to a point. Some corporate cultures unintentionally prohibit worry or concern, even when appropriate (lay-offs, cost cuts, or hiring freezes are examples). Writing in Forbes, Jack Kelly, CEO and founder of one of the world’s largest global search firms, contends that when the expectation of joy is foisted upon employees, it can lead to burn-out and self-doubt. Says Kelly, “When dealing with problems at work or home, it may be mentally and physically draining to put on a happy face in front of your boss and pretend everything is fine. No one wants to be pressured to be someone they’re not. It’s disingenuous, and many people can’t keep up with the charade.” Kelly advises that no one should be hesitant to advocate for themselves in such a situation:
Managers must create a balance of igniting a positive culture while also acknowledging the concerns of employees, by reaching out to those who report to them and having open and honest conversations. Without this balance, retention will become rare, with quitting more common. Do you ever feel pressure to be positive at work no matter what? And what do you do about it? To join the conversation, click "comments" above. Learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication with our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022. Are you dissatisfied with your job, but not in a position to leave? A recent Pew research study found that only half of American workers are “extremely” or “very” satisfied with their jobs. But let's face it: No matter how you feel about your job, quitting is not always an option. Writing in The New York Times, Christina Caron spoke with experts who offered strategies for hanging in there. Here are 5 actions you can take to improve your situation:
Are you temporarily stuck in a job you don’t enjoy? What are you doing to make it more sustainable? To join the conversation, click on "comments" above. Learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication with our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022. Are your ideas resonating, or being ignored? Perhaps it’s not the ideas themselves but their delivery. Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Anne Sugar, executive coach for the Harvard Business School Executive Program, offers four strategies you can use to help ensure your ideas resonate.
Have you ever been frustrated with your ideas going unheeded, and what did you do? To join the conversation, click on "comments" above. Learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication with our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022. Have you been phubbed lately? “Phubbing" — a mix of “phone” and “snubbing”— is when someone pays more attention to their smartphone than they do to the people with whom they are face to face. Not surprisingly, research has shown that phubbing has a negative impact on relationship satisfaction and can lead to increased conflict. This is especially true with married couples. The good news is that researchers have also determined that effective communication skills can mitigate the impact of phubbing. Those skills include:
We cannot turn back the clock on technology, but phubbing should be seen as a problem. Addressing it by prioritizing face-to-face time and spending that time engaged in positive communication can help contain the potential damage. Have you been phubbed lately? How did it make you feel, and what did you do? To join the conversation, click "comments" above. Learn more about creating a habit around masterful communication with our online learning courses awarded International Gold for Best Hybrid Learning of 2022. |
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