168 Posts Found

There are four basic roles you can play in a conversation. (I also call them action stances.) You can move: Start something new, like saying, “We need to spend less time in these meetings.” You can follow someone else’s move, by agreeing with it: “Yes, I’ve been concerned about the same thing.” You can oppose the move, raising objections or trying to stop it: “I … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: David Kantor | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Communication

Some acts of speech are in the affect domain; they involve words of feeling, seeking an increase in connection and intimacy. “This decision seems pretty heartless. I wonder how people will feel about it.”

Other speech acts are in the power domain, using words about getting things done, and their purpose is increasing competence and efficacy. “Who’s going to make sure that there’s follow-through here?”

Finally, there … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: David Kantor | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Communication

The highest compliment, I’ve come to understand, is, ‘Oh, that’s obvious.’ “I used to get really mad about that, but now I understand that’s the goal — to take a complex problem and make it seem really clear and obvious.

Content: Quotation | Author: Michael E. Porter | Source: FORTUNE | Subjects: Communication, Problems / Solutions, Trends / Analysis

The oldest, shortest words — “yes” and “no” — are those which require the most thought.

Content: Quotation | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Communication, Decision Making

The test of understanding is not when you tell others, “I understand you”; rather, it’s when they tell you, “I feel understood.” But we will seldom reach understanding without first listening.

Content: Quotation | Author: Stephen R. Covey | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Communication, Organizational Behavior

Managers who are in touch only through their keyboard are out of touch with the vast world beyond it. They risk substituting breadth for depth. Recent research shows that we may have more connections today, but fewer relationships. Facebook and LinkedIn can complement but not replace the personal interactions at the heart of managing effectively. Managers who believe that they can learn about their department … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Henry Mintzberg, Peter Todd | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Communication, Management, Organizational Behavior

Research has shown that poor communication regarding changes in organizations actually results from good intentions (DiFonzo and Bordia, 1998). That is, managers are often silent about changes only because they do not want to mislead employees by giving out (incomplete) information that may be subject to change. In other words, because we know change is stressful, we tend to avoid saying anything that might increase … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Deborah Compeau, Phoebe Tsai | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Change Management, Communication, Organizational Behavior

In business, we tend to spend a lot more time thinking about the problems than the triumphs. People need to know that what they’re doing is making a difference, and that their leaders notice and appreciate their efforts.

Content: Quotation | Author: Irene Rosenfeld | Source: IESE Insight | Subjects: Change Management, Communication, Management, Motivation

Unless employees truly understand the issues [that affect the business] and make a meaningful connection between their jobs and those issues, their attitudes and behaviors will not change. To achieve engagement, three things have to happen: The business issue has to mean something to the employee personally, the employee has to understand the issue (and I mean truly understand it, not just read about why … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Marcia Xenitelis | Source: LeaderValues | Subjects: Communication, Organizational Behavior

Organizations may be ever striving to streamline and boost operational efficiency, but corporate English grows increasingly less effective as an everyday medium for doing what people need it to do, which is to inform, motivate, explain. What should be clear, concrete, and concise is vague, abstract, and wordy. The English that has evolved in the American management corps shares family traits with the mumbling of … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: James Krohe Jr. | Source: The Conference Board Review | Subject: Communication

The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.

Content: Quotation | Author: Peter F. Drucker | Subject: Communication

The many interactions you have during your day, whether planned or unplanned, have the potential to become a high point or a low point in someone’s day. Each of these small moments is an opportunity to clarify the agenda and to influence the course of events. Each interaction is a chance to transform an ordinary moment into a TouchPoint.

The secret to mastering the … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Douglas Conant, Mette Norgaard | Source: ChangeThis | Subjects: Communication, Leadership

The test of a good, powerful piece is when people say, “But it’s so obvious.” You agonize and agonize and then somebody says, “But it’s obvious.” When I was younger, I used to get so irritated by that. Now I think it’s the highest compliment you can get.

Content: Quotation | Author: C.K. Prahalad | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Communication

A truth spoken before its time is dangerous.

Content: Quotation | Subjects: Communication, Organizational Behavior

Most arguments, misunderstandings, confusion, and aggressive behavior are triggered by negative words, phrases, and attitudes. In situations of confrontation and controversy, at least one side of the argument needs the negativity of the other to continue operating effectively and pushing the argument forward. Eliminate that negative energy, and progress can actually be made, or a more peaceful resolution can be sought.

Content: Quotation | Author: James E. Lukaszewski | Source: Leader to Leader | Subject: Communication

It’s crucial to understand just how powerful this concept [focusing on outcomes] is. Fundamentally, it recognizes that everyone owns yesterday, last week, last month, and last year, from their own point of reference. That ownership is permanent. Even given a limitless amount of discussion, the past will remain as it was, owned by those who were there.

But no one owns the future—the next 15 minutes, … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: James E. Lukaszewski | Source: Leader to Leader | Subjects: Communication, Negotiation

When you’re not caught up in being right, then you have the ability to listen when an issue comes up – and I mean really listen.

Content: Quotation | Author: Harry Kraemer | Source: Chief Executive | Subject: Communication

Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers.

Content: Quotation | Author: Colin Powell | Subjects: Communication, Leadership

Many managers rely on deliberate cognition—that is, the ability of the human mind to process and analyze information—and an appeal to reason. By contrast, insurgents realize that audiences rely on automatic cognition, or shortcuts, to make sense of the world. Hence, they use symbols to communicate their point of view.

Content: Quotation | Author: Hayagreeva Rao | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Communication, Organizational Behavior, Persuasion

Don’t write merely to be understood. Write so that you cannot possibly be misunderstood.

Content: Quotation | Author: Robert Louis Stevenson | Subject: Communication