The Value of You We all like to see results. Whether it is in the work we do, our bank account, or other personal activities, results make us feel good. The life of Warren Buffett is a great story about leadership that gets results. He spent decades mastering the financial industry and understanding how to get results. Regardless of how you feel about his approach, philosophy, or business style you cannot argue with the effectiveness and success he and his organization has had. In 2008 Warren Buffets net worth was estimated at $62 billion dollars. Those results were achieve by a lot of focus on the bottom line.
So how does Warren Buffett’s success apply to you? In November 2009, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates participated in a Town Hall meeting at Columbia University. During this event the following question was posed by a student:
Student Question: “Mr. Buffett, Mr. Gates, thank you for being here today. My name is Justin, I’m a second-year MBA, as I get ready to graduate, I was wondering, what’s the one thing that your MBA didn’t prepare you for when you got out into the real world?”
Warren Buffett Response: “Well, I was — it prepared me very well, not the whole degree, but specific professors prepared me very well for what I wanted to go into. I knew I was interested in investing, like I say, from the time I was six or seven years of age. So I was lucky that I found what turned me on early on. And I had these two marvelous professors here at Columbia that just being around — I had read all the stuff they had written. So it wasn’t I was acquiring lots of incremental knowledge but I was getting inspired. They were terrific for me. They treated me like a son. They would take me out to dinner. Ben Graham did the same thing for me. So it gave me confidence in myself. It just propelled me into a field I already love with a terrific tailwind from these professors that believed in me. [APPLAUSE] But let me add one point because — to the MBA situation. Right now, I would pay $100,000 for 10% of the future earnings of any of you. So anybody that wants to see me after this is over — [LAUGHTER] [APPLAUSE] If that’s true, you are a million-dollar asset right now, right, if 10% of you is worth 100,000? You could improve — many of you, and I certainly could have when I got out, just in terms of learning communication skills. You know, it’s not something that is taught. I actually went to a Dale Carnegie course later on in terms of public speaking. But if you improve your value 50% by having better communication skills, that’s another $500,000 in terms of capital value. See me after the class and I’ll pay you 150-thousand.”
Monetary Value of Learning and Communication
This matters because it illustrates the importance of learning and effective communication. As individuals, it is important to develop ourselves. Whether you get an industry trade degree, look at going through a mini MBA program, or complete a Masters Degree at Columbia University, ongoing development of yourself is important to you, your future success, and ultimately your net worth. Investment in learning will pay huge dividends. If good communication skills are worth an additional $50,000 to Warren Buffet, it’s worth far more to you individually.
Heavily Invested
Ask yourself this question. What would an investor ask you at the annual shareholders of YOU meeting? At a high level, you might hear questions such as:
- Do you understand what it takes for you (and your organization) to win today?
- Do you understand where and how we can increase profit margins?
- Are you cutting operational expense to increase profit margins?
- How can you create distance or differentiation from the competition?
- Is the organization focusing on what matters?
If you can answer those questions, you are doing great. If not, look to refocus your efforts. Educate or develop yourself to the point where you can answer them. You are heavily invested in yourself so what do you want your future earnings look like? Are you a million-dollar person? It’s hard to argue against hard results.
With companies merge, employees leave one company for another, and new members of the workforce land their first jobs, many individuals are trying to form new teams. Regardless of the situation, most organizations encourage open and candid discussions between staff members among employees throughout the organization. These differences in perspective can elevate teams to a higher level of performance. Differences in opinion and/or outright conflict is natural, and it can be very productive. The key is how to use conflict to our benefit so we can reach these higher levels of performance.
So how does one operate on a conflicted team? We still need to be able to create a win-win solution for the team and the organization. How do we use conflict to our advantage?
1. Acknowledge Conflict
Acknowledging conflict can be uncomfortable, yet once the conflict is recognized and discussed the team will feel a sense of relief. People tend to be more effective when they can agree to work together and find mutually satisfactory solutions to common problems.
2. Gain Common Ground
Is there common ground between the parties involved in the conflict? Put the conflict in perspective based on the team’s goals. If everyone is committed to a common purpose, they should be willing to address any issue that may affect the team’s final outcome.
3. Understand Each Point of View
Gaining an understanding of difference perspectives does not necessarily mean gaining agreement on all sides. Here we must take the time both to understand and be understood as we gain information from all sides.
4. Attack the Issue(s), Not Each Other Bickering or fighting with someone on the team is an unwanted stress, yet the issue needs to be addressed in order for the team to maximize its potential. The goal is to reach a solution that allows everyone to achieve individual/team goals without violating anyone’s values.
5. Develop an Action Plan
a. The team will outline specific steps that each person on the team will take in order to reach the team’s goal. Each person will be accountable for his/her role in the action plan, and the plan will be written on paper so that each person is aware of his/her responsibilities to the team.
As team members utilizes this five-step process to address issues and conflicts, they will see more win-win situations and the team will increase their levels of productivity.
The author Scott McKain makes a strong case for Organization Distinction. He states that too many organizations have lost customers trying to meet their competition conditions rather than making their own. McKain explains that organizations can succeed by focusing on four cornerstones, Clarity, Creativity, Communication, and Customer.
The author’s fist cornerstone discussion and one he insists must be first, is Clarity. How can you sell anything unless you know what it is? This concept certainly made me think about my own situation. What is it that makes the organization different than the rest of the pack? I quickly realized that I couldn’t state in “High Concept” what our company really does. High Concept is a short, less than five words, statement of who an organization, a team, or a person is.
The second cornerstone is Creativity. Thank you, Scott McKain for taking me out of the box called “Out of the Box.” I agree the term has become so convoluted that it is confusing. Creativity cannot grow without roots, the knowing why and what we are creating. My manager certainly doesn’t want a song when he needs a story. The author gives a series of steps that are well worth considering and applying to your situation.
At first the third cornerstone, Communication, the process of telling the organization’s story, seemed a bit hokey. Why an organization is created seemed quite obvious to me, the organization wants to sell or promote its product or service. However, the author is saying because your competitor has the same product, you need to tell why you are different. This difference is solely because of your story and includes all of the reasons you chose that particular product or service to support. Secondly, you need to let everyone know what it is that makes you unique. Finally, McKain tells us you can’t sell what you don’t know. I found this was exceptionally beneficial for me. It is well worth the effort to write the story down before you try to sell the world about your passion.
Finally the last corner stone is the customer. Here the author hit the nail on the head. One of my pet peeves is trying to purchase an item only to have the salesperson tell me that I want something else. Just as he stated, I seldom go back to that business. Certainly, customers may not know about or understand new products, but they do know what they are looking for and what they will spend their money on. Taking time to learn the wants of your customer is not only an important way to develop truly impressive distinction, it is critical if you are to succeed.
While reading industry books, I often make write comments in the margin. In this book, “Good Point” far exceeded the “I’ll think about this” or “Missed” notations. This book compelled me to consider what it is that makes me distinctive. What makes my organization distinctive? How I can become distinctive? I highly recommend this book to any organization trying to survive in these turbulent times, and to take up the author’s charge; Don’t be simply value-added; Be Distinctive.
The helm or steering mechanism of a ship adjusts the angle of the rudder, and in turn, changes the direction of the ship. In the 18th century as technology increased ships began to increase in size. While this growth was advantageous, at the same time the ships became increasingly difficult to control. Thus a ship master needed an invention to foster technical growth but at the same time keep the ship on course. Today’s steering wheel was designed to connect to the tiller of the boat, with a block and tackle. This addition provided a considerable increase in the ship’s mechanical capabilities and resulted in smoother operations with less effort.
I relate this story of the steering wheel because the world economy is going through some stormy waters. Although the changes going on may turn out to be good in the long run, it is still difficult to stay the course in the middle of these “troubled waters”. More than ever we need strong leaders to step up and take the “helm”, provide guidance, and “steer” their teams in the right direction.
A strong leader will effectively partner with each employee and provide direction, guidance, and coaching. He or she can help team member adjust their personal courses and move into “smooth water”.
Providing constant support takes a lot of effort but it will be worth it in the long run. Consider the following points when helping your team stay afloat:
Communicating frequently with each team member
-Will reduce or eliminate fear of the unknown
-Encourages confidence in individual performance
Building understanding within your team
-Instills ownership in the tasks to ensure success
-Keeps each person focused on the goal
Encouraging respect between members
-Promotes synergy
-Supports a relaxed and engaging environment
Maintaining your integrity
-Retains trust in you and the organization high
-Inspires integrity from team members
“It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what is required.”
How important is it to know your audience? Extremely important if you are dealing with a culture different than your own. A few weeks ago, my Father told the following story to me about the importance of knowing your audience…
“We were attached to the Special Operations Command; our area of responsibility was primarily the South Pacific and Near East.We were preparing for our first military mission in Japan, to participate in a joint operation exercise with the Japanese military.So, we were deeply involved in learning as much as we could of their history, culture and customs.Early in our training, the importance of exchanging of business cards in the Japanese culture was explained to us.Not only did you need to have a card, there was the right and wrong way to present your card, and how to handle ones you receive.For example: when givena card you should hold the card in both hands, study it for a moment, bow and thank the giver and then place it in your shirt pocket, next to your heart, all as a sign of respect. As we would be meeting and working with high ranking military and civilian members of the government, business cards were necessities for us.
This quickly became a game of who could design the most impressive business card. Every time someone came in with their newest printing of cards, those of a lesser quality felt obliged to scrap their old ones and try to match or improve theirs. It quickly went from standard weight paper with black printing, to top shelf weight and water marked paper, with multicolored designs, titles, phone numbers, fax numbers etc.
As I considered what my card should look like, I decided to wait until the frenzy was over so I would only have to pay for one and not multiple printings. I also decided that less was better and so had my cards made with a Crest on top, rank and name in the middle, and fax and phone number on the bottom, that’s it. Because the minimum order of cards was something like six hundred, and I could never imagine giving out that number, I decided to have a friends name put on half of them to save him some money. To be honest, I was embarrassed to show my simple card to my associates so simply said, “Yes, I have some cards,” when asked.
There were a number of social events before the start of the exercise where we were able to test our newly learned cultural and customs skills.Upon meeting in the Japanese culture, an “underling” of sorts is put in front to accept a card from someone. Unfortunately, when my commander was introduced before I was, it was assumed that I was the commander and he the underling, instead of the other way around.
As I gave my card to the person to pass on to his superior, the man took it in both hands, and with eyes widened exclaimed, “Oh-so Pederson-son!”He then with much reverence bowed even lower to his superior and presented my card. The superior had much the same reaction as the first.
Throughout the exercise, I almost exhausted my supply of cards.At times, I had dozens of people asking for a card.My friend, with whom I shared my cards, also had a similar experience.Needless to say, I surprised at the popularity of our cards.
However, my commander and other egocentric types were not only surprised but a bit miffed.Since both my friend and I were large of stature and graying, they soon decided that the reverence the Japanese hold for their elders was the reason for our popularity.
Even after the exercise began, I was still sought out for a card, to such an extent that I had to hold back a few for the festivities following the end of the exercise.By the end of the exercise my friend and I were completely out of cards, the only ones I know of that were. This popularity continued to rankle my supervisors.
Upon returning home, I did some more research and found the reason for my friend’s and my instant popularity in Japan. I read, a card presented to someone in Japan with nothing but their name tells the receiver; “This person is so important that everyone knows who they are,” at least in the country from where they came from.Our simple cards to the Japanese were equivalent to a card from the President of the United States, who only needs the presidential seal and his name on it.
I never did share this information with my egocentric supervisors.”
In an effort to do a fun activity with my four year old son, I recently started a little project that captured the results of teamwork over a sustain period of time. This idea stemmed from my son asking for a pet, and me wanting to find a simple, easy, maintenance free alternative.
I reference this as a “project,” because when I helped my boy select and purchase our Ant Farm, I had an underlying motive to observe the teamwork exhibited by these insects. Ants are known for their teamwork, and used as an example in the book The Team Approach. My intent was not just simply observing them, but documenting them for others to see. Our period of observation lasted 14 days and below are a few observations of Ant teamwork in action:
Upon the ants being placed into the farm, they immediately began to work. It was clear they had a combined objective which was to find a way to the light which represents the surface. It was from the very beginning that teamwork to accomplish the task at hand is everyone’s responsibility. The mission for the ants was to dig tunnels and from minute one they all appeared committed to this goal.
When one ant gets trapped due to a tunnel collapse, a small portion of the team stops working and focuses solely on freeing the pinned individual. They value each team member and the contribution they make. These ants seemed very aware of the needs of others and willingly offered help when the pressure was on.
They have clearly defined processes of where to dig tunnels and where to remove and place the excavated waste from the tunnel. They even have a process on where to put deceased ants and ant waste. Unfortunately, all of our Ants did not survive our observation period.
They project was running 24 hours a day. Some ants sleep or rest, while others continued the work. Once they have completed an element of their mission, they move onto the next one. They work with an intensity any organizations team would want.
They work well across functions because of a shared vision to guide their actions. If ants were digging from two separate points towards each other, they were always able to meet in the middle.
There is a strong sense of community and the ants appear to be connected and unified. One of the ways ants communicate with each other is by touching each other’s Antenna. In a strong community, community, communication is openly shared and people feel safe and secure to persist through challenges.
It makes the point that even lower life forms create organizations and team with roles, structures, and processes for their leaders and members.
– Team Team Approach
See this teamwork in action for yourself and watch the video clip below. There are approximately 25 ants working together over a period of 14 day. Through time lapse you can observe these 14 day in under 1 minute.
From the beginning of this project, it was clear that Teamwork in and of itself would be required between a father and his young curious son. Aside from my boy moving the camera, moving the ant farm, turning off the computer, or turning on the lights, it was a success.
In many ways, ant colonies are similar to human organizations: they work, play, and keep pets. Although small, they are incredibly strong. Often ants will team up, two or more to drag a caterpillar that is several times their weight back to the colony. – Team Team Approach
An interesting fact: It is estimated that there are 1,666,666 ants to every one human being
The benefits to building an effective team within the workplace cannot be understated. Yet, after you laid the groundwork for a great team, maintenance is the most important factor.
No one doubts the importance of team building in an organization, but the necessity to maintain the team and continually foster an environment where it can grow is sometimes overlooked. Just like any engine in a car, in order for all the pieces to function perfectly and reliably, the integral parts must be serviced regularly. Effective coaching for your team may mean the difference between significant long-term productivity and a slow decline into obsolesce.
Effective Communication The most significant factor in any team is the ability to communicate skillfully. As a leader it is extremely important for you to be honest in evaluating the team’s communication skill. Every system naturally has a tendency to break down. This isn’t just my opinion; it is the way of all human interaction. Without consistent lubrication and preventive maintenance to keep your people performing at their best, your team will digress into a meaningless machine. The key is to think creatively when renewing team purpose and commitment.
Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
Remember, no matter what kind of problem your team may be facing, chances are someone else that someone has already dealt with a similar issue and has a unique way to approach it. Seek these people out with a passion; they will inspire both you and your team to excel. Standing on the shoulders of others is a critical key to transformation and forward progress of your team. You may be able to apply the previously developed method rather than the spending your valuable time on your own trial and error.
Check in Regularly
Good communication means just that – going the extra step to assure progress. Checking in with your team members means more than making sure their productivity is staying high. A teammate who is at the end of his rope when it comes to workload may seem productive; right up to the moment that he ‘breaks.’ When this happens, the personnel gap may cost you more money than if you had checked in frequently with the team member and discovered the issues before they became problems.
This post was contributed by Alisa Johnson, a guest writer, who writes about the top online business school. She welcomes your feedback at Alisa.Johnson1982 at gmail.com
OMG, RU GOING CRAZY = Oh My Goodness, Are You Going Crazy!
Can you read the above line? If you can’t, it is because technological communication is rapidly changing into encrypted messages like this, which is an unfamiliar form of communication for you! Emails, instant messaging, and text messaging are a few of the most common methods of communication these days and face-to-face communication is becoming outdated. While I can see many benefits these communication methods bring both to the social and professional world, my concerns about how it affects our conflict management and relationship building skills is growing nonetheless.
U Need Help = You Need Help I have a small counseling practice on the side where I focus on helping teenagers navigate through life. During the past few years, I’ve personally seen a rapid decline in many teenager’s everyday social skills. Some of my observations include difficulties addressing conflict, smaller vocabulary, poor non-verbals communication, inability to express emotions through verbal means (outside of the Text Message Shorthand of sideways smiley or frowny faces), and an overall discomfort with spoken conversations. I know what you’re thinking at this point – welcome to working with teenagers! However, I truly believe that this is largely due to a decrease in experience with face-to-face communication, and solely relying on texting, emailing, and instant messaging, where the human interaction is removed.
YUPPIES = Young Urban Professionals
So, how does this affect our up and coming workforce? While the future is looking bright and full of talented and capable young individuals, it is likely these young individuals will struggle with the basic and essential skill of relating and connecting with team members, leaders, subordinates, clients and customers, and vendors. Some organizations may even be seeing the affects of texting and emailing in employees who are in their early twenties.
Getting the 411 Is ^ 2 U = Getting the Information is Up to You
So, what is the solution? One immediate action we can all take is to preserve the art of face-to-face communication in our own realm. Despite the ease of typing a quick instant message to the person in the cubicle behind you, make an effort to send and receive a more accurate and personal message by doing so face-to-face. Take the opportunity to call that vendor and clarify exactly what your department needs, versus hoping it is understood through a series of emails. When you are going to be late to your next meeting, send a quick text letting the administrative assistant know you won’t be on time, but then take the opportunity to apologize in person and use non-verbals to communicate your sincerity.
Another step companies can take to ensure their workforce is full of effective communicators is to increase opportunities for training and development in the area of communication. Training on communication skills is a great opportunity for employees to practice and learn basic and advanced levels of communication. Your employees will be more aligned when they communicate from learning the same concepts and skills taught by qualified facilitators who are trained in adult learning theories.
Today, we are constantly reminded of the vast differences in people’s social norms. These are contingent on culture, religion, even regions. Perhaps, because of special friendship I have with a family of Persian ancestry, I began reading a book on cultural differences, Multicultural Manners: Essential Rules of Etiquette for the 21st Century by Norine Dresser. While I feel this is a highly beneficial book, I think another book is more important if an organization works with diverse nationalities, The Coach: Creating Partnerships for a Competitive Edge by Steven J. Stowell, Ph.D. and Matt M. Starcevich, Ph.D.
This book takes the reader through eight skills, the authors call steps, to building strong business relationships. I call them skills because the steps are not necessarily used in sequence. While these can be used sequentially, they can also be used together or singly depending on the situation. However, the first step, Be Supportive, is central and connects with all the other steps.
When I read the book the first time, I thought the authors meant being supporting only entailed encouragement, helping, and listening to the other person. Now, I understand that the authors encourage the readers to take the initiative to really try to understand the situation from other vantage points. This requires action on our part and often means change in our thinking, ouch. This brings us back to multicultural issues.
Perceptions
We tend to see the world through the eyes of our own background. Ms. Dresser relates the following experience in her book. New to the United States, a Korean student, Ji, is greeted by a classmate with “How’s it going?” Ji doesn’t know what “it” is. Ji ignores the greeting. The classmate asked Ji again and again, Ji ignored the greeting. The classmate became so annoyed that he finally he yelled to Ji, “How’s it going?” To which, Ji replies, “My house is not going.” Had the classmate taken time to remember that Ji was new to the culture, he/she might have rephrased the question to “how are you?” or “How are you doing with the assignments?”
As business leaders, we cannot assume that our message will be received as we intended. Some idioms are unfamiliar or have different meanings in different parts of the country. Dialect can make a difference in understanding as well. A few years ago, my husband and I went to a local restaurant on Long Island, New York. The busy waitress asked me if I wanted wuud da. Based on negative experiences when I had answered yes to a question I didn’t understand, I immediately replied no. I was totally surprised when our friends’ nine year old daughter was given a glass of water. Had I asked the waitress “What is wuud da? She and my friends may have laughed, but then I would have had a glass of water.
Solutions
My point is that we cannot understand everyone and not everyone understands us. The answer, then, to this predicament is to ask questions and talk about any confusion. Just as I was hesitant to ask, others may not be bold enough to put themselves in a spotlight. So as leaders, we must lead by asking some questions but never with a blunt, “Do you understand?” Many people are too embarrassed to admit that they don’t understand. This is the crux of the step “Be Supportive.”
Be Supportive
To be Supportive means to put assumptions aside and withhold judgments until the other person has given his/her perspective. You cannot understand another perspective through a onetime conversation; this is when the action begins. Understanding requires observations, questions, and discussions with the other person over a period of time. The authors of The Coach list Ten Supportive Behaviors a leader should demonstrate. Here are five of my favorites:
Collaboration/Flexibility – responsibility is shared
Empathy/Understanding – treats feelings, concerns, and difficulties with dignity
Listening/interaction – gives full attention, asks a lot of questions, gives employees time to express ideas, reactions, and suggestions
Positive Exchange – approach focuses on issues in gentle, non-aggressive, non-threatening, non-judgmental way
Owning some Responsibility/Openness – accepts responsibility for contributing to the situation. Shows trust , shares important information and insight
Notice that all of these are positive actions in understanding the employee and the situation. It does not give blame for being different but acknowledges diversity. They also explain that supportive behaviors need to be displayed before any coaching session and it must be on-going to ensure success. It is critical to the development of any relationship, but especially in creating high performing and successful teams.
Certainly, there is much more to understand if your employee is from a culture with a different language. However, don’t underestimate the importance of differences within the same country. For example, in the United States, states in the north eastern quadrant ten to place value on being punctual, but in the south it is socially proper , often expected, to be a half hour late. This doesn’t mean one is right and the other wrong. It just means expectations will differ. As leaders, it is important to try to understand diverse background our team members may have so that we don’t have unreasonable expectations from them.
Once you understand the other person’s perspective, you can relay your expectations of them more clearly. By being sensitive to the differences in perception, a leader can make better decisions, give clear messages, help team members understand each other, and strengthen the organization’s effectiveness.
Leaders and team members need to be perfectly clear when communicating with each other. We cannot assume that the other person will always understand our meaning, and very often we will have to clarify ourselves to be sure that both the message and received message is the same. This lack of common language can be very frustrating when coaching someone on a very sensitive issue.
While my instance didn’t have a dreadful outcome, difference in understanding caused a leader inconveniences, if not major problems. One of the employees at the department store where I previously worked as a manager was a good clerk, but often caused an issue because of the way she dressed. While the elderly gentlemen at the retirement center across the street adored her and would wait in line just to have her talk to them, our women customers (particularly mothers) and the other clerks often complained about her dressing habits. The way she dressed was more conducive to a bar or pub rather than a department store.
It fell to me to discuss the issue with this clerk. Knowing what I know now, my conversation would have been much easier if I had the 8 Step Coaching Model to help me through. In Step 2, Dr. Stowell explains how a coach should Define the Topic and Needs and in Step 3 Establish Impact, always in a supportive way. Unfortunately, when I talked with this clerk, I immediately went to Step 3 – Establishing Impact. “The way you dress is inappropriate, tone it down a bit. Okay?” She showed up the next day in her uniform top still too tight and still too immodest.
When I questioned her why she still dressed the same way, despite our conversation, she looked at me defiantly and said, “I didn’t even wear any makeup!” She then proceeded to complain vehemently how no one else was told to quit wearing makeup. My communication has been totally misinterpreted. “Toning it down” had nothing to do with her makeup in my interpretation, but that was the way she understood it. I should have taken the time to explain that the “topic” was the provocative fit of her clothes, not her cosmetics. Step 2 of the Coaching Model is to create a mutually understood picture of what is happening.
Something I might have said was, “I can see that you are sincere in doing the best job you can. I am concerned of the representation of our organization through the way you wear your clothing.” After she thought about it, we could talk about why her dress style could affect the organization. She needed to understand how the way she dressed impacts the organization and her team members.
Or maybe I could have said, “Our customers shop here because we serve family needs. So our dress code requires clerks present a family friendly appearance. You are very important to that image because you are one of the last and first people our customers see. What do you think you can do to present an image our customers would be more comfortable with?” This would have given both of us an opportunity to clarify exactly how we could reach the most appropriate result.
When you address an issue, do you slow down to make sure the recipient understands or do you assume you are always understood? Coaching requires that both parties are on the same page before proceeding to “Establishing the Impact.”
The author’s fist cornerstone discussion and one he insists must be first, is Clarity. How can you sell anything unless you know what it is? This concept certainly made me think about my own situation. What is it that makes the organization different than the rest of the pack? I quickly realized that I couldn’t state in “High Concept” what our company really does. High Concept is a short, less than five words, statement of who an organization, a team, or a person is.
“We were attached to the Special Operations Command; our area of responsibility was primarily the South Pacific and Near East.
I reference this as a “project,” because when I helped my boy select and purchase our Ant Farm, I had an underlying motive to observe the teamwork exhibited by these insects. Ants are known for their 
The most significant factor in any team is the ability to communicate skillfully. As a leader it is extremely important for you to be honest in evaluating the team’s communication skill. Every system naturally has a tendency to break down. This isn’t just my opinion; it is the way of all human interaction. Without consistent lubrication and preventive maintenance to keep your people performing at their best, your team will digress into a meaningless machine. The key is to think creatively when renewing team purpose and commitment.
= Oh My Goodness, Are You Going Crazy!
I have a small counseling practice on the side where I focus on helping teenagers navigate through life. During the past few years, I’ve personally seen a rapid decline in many teenager’s everyday social skills. Some of my observations include difficulties addressing conflict, smaller vocabulary, poor non-verbals communication, inability to express emotions through verbal means (outside of the Text Message Shorthand of sideways smiley or frowny faces), and an overall discomfort with spoken conversations. I know what you’re thinking at this point – welcome to working with teenagers! However, I truly believe that this is largely due to a decrease in experience with face-to-face communication, and solely relying on texting, emailing, and instant messaging, where the human interaction is removed.
This book takes the reader through eight skills, the authors call steps, to building strong business relationships. I call them skills because the steps are not necessarily used in sequence. While these can be used sequentially, they can also be used together or singly depending on the situation. However, the first step, Be Supportive, is central and connects with all the other steps.
When I questioned her why she still dressed the same way, despite our conversation, she looked at me defiantly and said, “I didn’t even wear any makeup!” She then proceeded to complain vehemently how no one else was told to quit wearing makeup. My communication has been totally misinterpreted. “Toning it down” had nothing to do with her makeup in my interpretation, but that was the way she understood it. I should have taken the time to explain that the “topic” was the provocative fit of her clothes, not her cosmetics. Step 2 of the Coaching Model is to create a mutually understood picture of what is happening.
