Blogs

Last week I had an amazing hiking, camping, canyoneering trip in Zion National Park. I "took the plunge" so to speak in some beautiful canyoneering routes. Check out the video on this post.

One of the most frustrating experiences I have had when interacting with others is when I receive feedback from someone who decides to use "softeners" instead of being direct in his or her communication. These "softeners" come in the form of:

• saying "we" when you really mean "I"
• using words such as "kinda", "sortof", and "right"
• being indirect in asking for something by saying "would you mind..."

These "softeners" often result in ambiguity and confusion about a person's intent. Effective communicators and influencers, on the other hand:

We had a great three-day leadership development program last week with a group from UCAR. As part of the program, we integrated our Hi-tech Treasure Hunt. Teams navigated through a course with their GPS device, compass, and map, and completed activities related to creating shared values, planning for the future, and understanding personality styles with DiSC.

One of the critical communication breakdowns I see teams make is not providing others with feedback.

For some reason, this is one of the hardest things for people to do in the work place. I am not entirely sure why, except to say that people either don't know how to provide feedback to others, it can be very uncomfortable, or both.

Team members want feedback - both positive and constructive. But it has to be delivered in a timely manner and in a way that is specific enough so that people understand the behaviors that need to be changed.

This is the fourth of four posts about the sometimes opposing characteristics that are required of leaders. In Part 1, I talked about the need to balance courage with humility, in Part 2 the need to balance strength with vulnerability, and in Part 3 the need to balance being demanding with empathy.