Can I Tell You the Truth?
We often overlook the power communication has in building, growing and sustaining our relationships. We engage in conversation all the time, so what’s the big deal, right? Actually, your communication with others IS a big deal. Every once in a while, it is important to take a closer look at your professional relationships and do a little fine tuning.
At McHale Group, we believe that the connection you have with others is one of the most powerful cornerstones in advancing your ideas, your business and your success as a leader. We feel so strongly about the power of communication that we developed a signature learning program called Can I Tell You the Truth?™ in which professionals get to the brass tacks of what it takes to communicate in a way that will advance the relationship and the initiatives they are working on. To date, over 1500 professionals have successfully completed our program.
We believe in meeting our clients where they are so that we can partner with them to create a plan of action tailored to them. One tool we offer to begin the path to improved communication is an audit of the most crucial relationships a professional has in their work life.
As we round out the year in our final quarter, use this time to look back on your relationships. Having this baseline assessment will help you identify strengths to build on and vital areas to improve.
While you complete your own audit, feel free to reach out for additional insight and coaching.
Communication Self-Audit Tool
Purpose – to take an honest look at the professional relationships you have to determine what action you need to take to further strengthen or advance that relationship so that it may be a mutually respectful and productive one.
Instructions: Identify 5-10 people with whom you work closely. Choose from a variety of colleagues including leaders, peers, direct reports, customers. Using the graphic below, place the initials of those individuals within the area on the circle that best defines the quality of communication you have with that person. In this case, the quality of communication is defined as: mutually respectful, open, safe, clear, accountable to sharing feelings and following up on actions.
The closer you are to the center of the circle, the stronger and more effective that communication is, while the further away you are, the weaker it is. The outermost circle may even indicate the communication pattern needs repair.
My Top 3
From your communication assessment above, select the top three people with whom you want to strengthen your communication.
Over the next couple months take steps to reach out to your “top 3” to learn more about them, what interests them and what they are passionate about so that you may establish a little common ground to build those relationships. Reach out to McHale Group anytime for more tips, tools, workshops, and coaching to support you as you continue to enhance your communication. In the meantime, you’ve got this!