Becoming a Connecting Communicator is a Process

Chapter 6 of Maxwell's book was a relief. I love the chapter title: "Connecting is more skill than natural talent". What a relief. In particular, I have a tendency to confuse writing and speaking.

I have had to give two big presentations to the Provost and Deans in the last few months. I found that my first few drafts of the presentations were dry, boring, and overly dependent on details. It took me a lot of practice (and some key feedback in practice) to pare them down to just what was necessary and even to add a little humor (not exactly my forte).

One of the things I plan on studying over the next few months are the skills that make great speakers great. In particular, the use of storytelling and anecdotes to illustrate key points.

4 Components of Connection (p.53)

As I read these four components (connect with people visually, intellectually, emotionally and verbally) I find myself thinking about the concept of credibility.   I came across an article on leadership credibilty and it said that the key ingredient to great leaders is what they called your confidence base.  It's that thing that you are great at.  Sometimes other people recognize this before we ourselves do.  The theory was that confidence base is what gains you credibility and how you transfer that confidence base to make others better or make the organization better is where leadership credibility happens.  It's not just technical competence but it is how you use that technical competenece that matters as well.  You must have both.

So what is your confidence base?

The article provided an example that Bill Gates confidence base was as a programmer.  He was an amazing programmer and he relied on that skill to attract the worlds best programmers and that is how Microsoft took off.

Zodiak Action Plan Update Thread

I'm starting this thread to track all posts related to what you have done with your Zodiak action plan.  Remember, the key is to apply it!  Do something and let us know how it went by posting a comment under this post.  Then we all learn!  I look forward to seeing what we get.

This whole trust thing????

This has come up a number of times already and believe someone here brought this up as a key attribute. How important is trust for you in wanting to connect with others AND letting people connect with you?  

 Maxwell p.18 talks about "being authentic".  What does "being authentic" look like for you?  Since everyone is different how do you know if people are being authentic? 

Maxwell's book and questions for you!

The first thing I noticed about this book when we kicked around whether or not to include it in the program, was that it fit nicely with our contention that technical skills are critical but they only take you so far.  It's the people skills part that is required for maximum team effectiveness.  Maxwell calls this "connecting".  I also like that his language is replete with emotional intelligence references (perhaps unintended). 

One of my favorite parts of chapter two, comes on page 45 - Connecting in a Group, "input creates synergy, buy-in and connection".  This is not the sole responsibility of supervisors and managers.  Do you take time in group or team meetings to do this?  If so, how and what impact does it have?  If not, why not and what impact does that have? 

Non-fiction books you'd recommend?

Hi Everyone.

I thought I'd ask about non-fiction books you're currently reading or would recommend.

I think Tina mentioned a book by Richard Branson (was it Business Stripped Bare?--I remembered Branson's name, but not the title). If that's the book, would you recommend it?

One of two books I've enjoyed recently is Switch (2010) by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. It's a quick read, filled with some interesting examples of individuals who made significant changes in their organizations and communities.

Another book I enjoyed was Predictably Irrational (2010) by Dan Ariely. This is another quick read about all the irrational behaviors we have and the bad decisions we make and why.

So, if you'd like, share what non-fiction books you've read and enjoyed.

Note: For the above books, I've added links to Amazon.com in case you want to read more about them. The links are not referral links (some links give rewards to the referring site).

Reflective thinking

I thought I'd go out on a limb and be the first to post some reflective thinking.

First I'd like to share my answer to yesterday's Crown bag question of what am I most apprehensive about in the IE. Answer: the Emotional Intelligence part. I am an emotional person and emotions definitely play a part in what I do and how I perform my job. The positive aspect of that is I can be quite passionate about the work I am doing, it contributes to my tenacity and drive, and helps (I think) in fostering the great working relationships I have with so many. The negatives however are that I do take things to heart to much, and at times strong emotions are entwined in my actions or responses to situations. So while I believe the Emotional Intelligence tasks will absolutely be informative and beneficial, I fear the challenge and what will be learned.

And to further test opening myself up to the group :) I wanted to ask your thoughts on something. Last evening I was reflecting upon the fairly significant difference in my reaction to Dr. Lefton's talk and those of many others. I wonder if my having worked 27 years in public institutions, the last 22 of which have been here at KSU, contributes to the difference of opinions. How long I've worked here, and where I am in my career at KSU (i.e. fairly advanced vs starting out) seems like it might lend itself to the differing viewpoints.

Just some thoughts ...