WORKPLACE COLLABORATION
THE MOST VISIBLE PART OF YOUR CHARACTER: COMMUNICATION
IT’S THEIR PERCEPTION OF YOUR COMMUNICATION THAT IS THEIR REALITY BY DR. SHARI FRISINGER
Character — it is the soul of who you are. It is the basis for your thoughts and actions. It defi nes your reputation and your credibility. It does not abruptly materialize when we leave the department, leave for the day or when a tragedy or a crisis hits. You create it every day. My recent article on character
prompted many of you to respond and many more of you to refl ect on your own leadership character. Your character defi nes you to others. Your character properly puts into action your intentions. When others perceive a discrepancy, they will believe your actions, not your words or your intentions.
Each letter of the word ‘character’ denotes a piece of your own character. I named several in my most recent article. In this and future articles, each letter will be expanded upon as one element of your ‘character’.
C – COMMUNICATION In today’s fast-paced world where everything is needed yesterday, we scrimp on how we deliver our message to achieve our desired results. We do not take time to explain our thought process or to fully comprehend the other person’s point of view. We can easily disregard the personal touch that characterizes high-performing departments. There are a variety of facets to
communication, including the basics of the communication process (the sender conveys a message to the
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receiver/s, who interprets it based on their own experiences and acts accordingly), voice tone (loud, soft, harsh, squeaky, grating, soothing), voice infl ection (which words are emphasized?), body language (arms crossed does not indicate stubbornness, defensiveness or anger; what do their eyes rest upon?). Much of this has been covered in the many communication programs you may have taken. These are the basics of communication and certainly play a role in how others receive your message. Let’s shift the focus and talk about
communication as it relates to your character.
HOW YOU COMMUNICATE: - Natural style vs adaptive style. We all have a natural style of communicating. Do you know your own natural style? Equally important, do you know what style others prefer (and quite possibly actually need) to be productive? o Do you speak quickly or slowly? That conveys your thinking process. If you speak quickly, you generally make quick decisions. People who speak more slowly and pause more often will need to think through the process and usually will not make decisions as quickly as you would prefer. They simply do not feel comfortable with it.
o All business (direct) or social (fl uff ) fi rst. Do you prefer opening your fi rst conversation
of the day with others using small talk, or do you prefer to immediately jump into business and get to work?
- Written/e-mail or face to face/ ear to ear. Some conversations are simply best face to face: performance improvement suggestions, praise (followed up with an e-mail or a hand-written note), working through problems or issues, following up on a personal nature. Written communications are better when one of both of you need to refer to the conversation: action items, meeting agenda and minutes, follow up plan, etc.
- Focused on the present/here and now or two to three steps ahead. Living in the hectic world we do, it can be tempting to plan and strategize about schedules, budgets, meetings and other distractions. Unfortunately, since your mind cannot multi-task (defi nition: simultaneously holding two diff erent trains of thought in your mind), you can miss entire sentences, concepts, ideas and even nuances in the conversation. Your focus also illustrates where your priorities are, and what is important to you at that moment.
- Helpful or antagonistic. Are your words dripping with sarcasm or laced with irritation or anger? Or do they provide a welcoming, conversational attitude? If you give a smart retort, will the other person take it as you intended it, or will they misinterpret your tone?
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