PCD-Communication

The second piece of “PCD” is communication. This subject is vital to success and arguably the area most leaders need help with.

I believe you cannot over communicate! You can beat a dead horse by not letting go, but there can never be enough good communication.

Excellent leaders are master communicators. They understand how to relate to others thereby getting their points across effectively. The three main forms of communicating are: verbal, written, and non-verbal. As leaders we must use of each these effectively.

Active listening is another area we must master. There is a large difference between listening and hearing. Understanding this can make the difference between being successful or failing as a VALID leader.

How can you tell if you are actively listening? Consider these points:
1. Are you able to repeat back what someone told you?
2. Are you formulating your response while someone is talking?
3. Are you interrupting the other person?
4. Are you looking right at the person who is speaking?
5. Are you taking notes to make sure you capture the most important items?

Effective two-way communication comes in the form of dialogue. Not monologue. In order to establish dialogue one has to send a message and one has to receive the message. They maintain dialogue by alternating between sender and receiver. Dialogue needs at least two parties equally engaged or it becomes monologue.

It can be easy to use our power and authority to ruin the dialogue and revert back into a monologue. We must guard against this. It will hamper our efforts of being effective with people, which is the main goal in communication.

We will dig deeper into this mid-week. For now focus on dialogue!

God Bless.