Communication Issues? Possibly Not

Words.
We use a lot of them. Some of us use more than we should. I am probably one of those people. I like to talk. Better, I like to make a point. Sometimes, I get really, really excited about making my point that I see how many words I can possibly string together to say what I think I need to say to make my point. In reality, I can make a point using concise statements but what fun would that be?

Words, placed in the right order, spoken a certain way can have a positive, powerful impact on conversation. Words, used poorly can have an equally negative impact on a conversation.

When this negative impact happens we often say we have "communication issues." Really the issue is that we didn't try hard enough to find the right words, or the right amount of words to help build a relationship or communicate instructions, directions, or news.

The challenge in the world we live in is not that we are not connected or that we do not want to communicate. Goodness, we have more means of communication available to us now more than ever before. People are connected and becoming more connected everyday. We have cell phones, I-phones, smart phones, blackberrys, and use all of those to update our facebook, myspace, twitter pages multiple times a day. We are more connected in our communication than ever before in the history of the world.

So why does it seem that we have so many "communication issues" within our organizations???

Could it be the words that we use? I believe it is. We take for granted that because we communicate so often that we communicate clearly. The amount of communication simply does not make up for the quality of the communication itself.

Have you experienced this challenge in communicating with people?
You don't need to adjust the methods you use. You may need to adjust the style and the words you use.

In coaching we use concise statements to help summarize or deliver a message to the person being coached. The concise statement is meant to clearly communicate what person being coached may already realize but is having a hard time putting into words.

Have you ever struggles putting words together?
Do you think you have communication issues in your organization?
What are some things that you might try to do differently to help with these challenges?
How might you go about making those changes?

Taking Flight

I am sitting in a hotel at the Portland, Oregon airport. I happen to have a room that is on the side of a couple runways so I have a great view of the planes landing and taking off.

If there is one thing that truly fascinates me it is how planes fly. I never really flew that much and to be honest it used to scare me to death. I would aways here things like "it's safer than driving..." and all that but still the control freak in me never really liked it.

I don't mind it so much now. I actually find it's a great way to get work done.

The other thing that I used to hear about flying was that take offs were harder sometimes than landings. As I watch these planes I am thinking about why that is.

Landing a plane seems to me like it would be harder to do. You have the forces of gravity pulling you down and to me that seems like it could be tricky. After all it is a pretty hard surface you have to contend with.

Taking off seems like it would be easy. You get everything set, all the details completed, hit the throttle and off you go. I am told it's not exactly like that.

I am wondering if getting your plans and actions for life are similar to flying. You get everything set, but them sometimes we fail to "throttle up" with them. We also know that we have to fight against forces that try to keep us from flying.

What are the things that keep you from throttling up?
What might you do to work through those things?
Who can help? Do you have a flight crew to help with accountability?