While face-to-face communication is generally more effective than other methods of communication, a wide variety of factors—from the seriousness of the issue to career considerations to affinity among colleagues—can positively or negatively influence this effectiveness.
Conversations are the engines of organizational success. However, to encourage productive conversations, leaders must distinguish between productive and unproductive voice and productive and unproductive silence.
Successful and productive social interactions, in the form of our conversations with others, are at the heart of our lives and our work. A new study reveals, however, that most conversations don’t end when people want them to end. Conversations, it seems, are much harder to manage than we realize.
Caught between low-power employees and high-power executives, the ‘middle power’ of middle managers keeps them hopping between the roles of subordinate and superior. A new Theory of Power framework helps middle managers, their bosses and their organizations identify the challenges and psychological consequences of their caught-in-the-middle position.
When business was just trade, and trade was all about product it was pretty simple to work out what the product was, who had it and what more needed to be done to it to get it to the customer. In a world that has not just become service-driven, but also hugely virtual, it is far less straight-forward to identify and understand these things. What is more, is that most jobs, even in organisations that produce product, are now knowledge and service ones. The complexity of modern organisations further complicates the picture. If you recognise the issue of 'where is this project right now?' '...
The world circulates on information – whether that be hard data or gossip. Those who are listened to and have their messaging acted upon hold the levers of power. This book recognises that the ability to be listened to and then acted upon frequently has little to do with the content of the message but rather traits the messenger possesses, and their ability to deliver the message convincingly.
In Ancient Greece, Cassandra forsook the god Apollo who had gifted her the ability to foresee the future, and in revenge Apollo cursed her so that despite this gift no-one would...
Successful implementation is the litmus test for any business strategy—and the key to that is making sure people across your organization are fully engaged, focused, and committed.
Visualization is a vital tool for business leaders needing to communicate strategy to their people in a way that facilitates effective strategy execution.
It’s a new way of communicating strategy—turning data points into a compelling story that grabs people’s attention and helps them understand how their individual roles fit the larger plan.
Amidst current pace and complexity, feedback has never been more important nor more difficult to craft. In an environment of disruption and adaptation leaders find themselves on quests to facilitate higher performance, greater engagement, and boosting the potential of the talent around them. Here, the authors draw on science and expert opinion to surface the myths that need debunked, present a feedback framework that fits today’s world, and take us through the step by step practices that can make a huge difference to the work of leadership and the shaping of organization culture.
Words make the world go around. Almost nothing we would like to happen happens without some degree of communication. But how much do we know about the hidden power of good rhetoric? Metaphor has become a much explored theme in leadership recently, and Lancaster’s background as a speechwriter brings intimate knowledge of how to leverage metaphor in practice; his academic research brings deep knowledge of its use and influence through the ages from Ancient Greece to the modern day. As he makes clear, simile is when we liken one thing to another, which is far less powerful than metaphor,...
Whether you are making a sales presentation, leading a team, explaining a strategy to the Board, the sound of your voice, regardless of the words you are saying, carries a message to your listeners. Robin Kermode is a stage and screen actor who is now one of Europe's leading communications coaches, working with senior politicians, executives, entrepreneurs and media personalities. In this podcast with Roddy Millar he discusses how everyone can practice to ensure they bring their authentic voice to the fore when big occasions often make us try to sound different.
