I hate that word — failure. It makes me feel uncomfortable. But the truth is poor communation causes people and companies to fail daily.
Failure means it doesn’t function properly or that it stopped working altogether. When hearts fail — we die. When businesses fail to function properly — they die.
The heart of a business is the people that run it and the people they serve. When people fail to communicate — things fall apart.
That’s failure.
How we communicate directly impacts our ability to succeed and fail with others. If marketing is the problem — that’s a communication issue. If management is the problem — that’s also a communication issue.
Thankfully, there is a simple shift that you can make that’ll begin to improve your company dynamics or at least your personal relationships.
Blame belongs to the leader.
As a leader, you still hold your team accountable, but you’re looking to praise the wins and correct the failures — not to say I told you so.
You’re looking to be heard and understood — not to rant and rave. You’re looking for your words to have impact on your team — not to blow off steam. And that starts with one decision.
Stop the blame game.
Blaming others for what you fail to communicate clearly is a waste of time.
When communicating with others your goal is to say it and make it stick. You want to deliever it in a way that makes it hard for them to mess up. That’s why you put the time in to get clear about you want and how you want to say it.
So that when you hold them accountable, it causes growth, not unneccessary conflict (some conflict is necessary).
Your goal is never to baby your team. It’s to encourage them, to clarify your expectations of them, and then to push them. Afterall you guys are trying to create something fresh and effective, and teams have to be pushed.
To do it right, it takes effective communication which takes effort, but it pays for itself with a responsive team.
Effective communication is about relationships. The better you communicate, the better your business.
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