Don’t mistake effective communication for influence and inspiration. One is what we learn at university, the other is what we learn through experience.
As a seasoned professional you know from experience: Effective communication is how leaders get things done. From executing a project to inspiring cultural change, clearly conveying your message so it is heard and understood is mandatory. Your experience has shown this, but the question is: Are you ready to move beyond ordinary effective communication to become an Exceptional Communicator?
Exceptional Leaders are Exceptional Communicators
As more professionals lead cross-functional teams, drive initiatives in matrix organizations, and become entrepreneurs and intra-preneurs, the ability to get things done depends upon our ability to influence, motivate and inspire others into action.
No longer will the directive, authoritative ‘because I’m the boss’ work at work. Not only are we wiser as workers, but often leaders do not have direct authority to give these directives. You may have tried it yourself. Certainly it works in the short run, but it is exhausting and doesn’t last for very long.
Your ability to have impact and influence becomes as important as keeping air in your vehicle tires – without it you won’t make it to the next green light.
As an experienced professional you would not have been as successful as you are right now without your business acumen, your intellectual horsepower, or your functional and technical skills. But that alone will not help you be heard and understood. That alone will not help you move others to action.
Why haven’t more leaders moved from effective to exceptional? Many of us have focused so much on the business of business (the technology, the processes, the finances) that we forget that how we get things done is through people, and why we are in business is for people. In doing so we have developed misconceptions about communication and how we develop these skills.
Communication works for those who work at it.
-John Powell
