Effective communication steers many a ship, from businesses to professional teams to personal relationships. Left unchecked, in effective communication negatively impacts all of the above. From a business standpoint, this topic couldn’t be more important; it’s a driving force in productivity, work culture, and ultimately, a company’s profits. In fact, looking back on my 52-year…
Active Listening and Beyond: 3 Steps toward Effective Communication
Active listening skills aren’t just a nice-to-have. They improve communication, strengthen relationships, boost team performance, spur personal and professional growth, and play a huge role in leadership excellence. Taken further, active listening is not just functional. It’s effective. How so? Anyone who has experienced good listening can understand its power. When someone listens to you well,…
3 Little Rocks: A Client Shares His Story about Smart Communication
By Julio Covarrubias Sr. Vineyard Manager, Wente Vineyards Client of Bill Munn Management Coaching We all know that in the business world, communication is extremely important. But often, it’s also a huge challenge. I understand this challenge well. Within my own teams, communication and idea sharing used to be big struggles, for reasons I’ll get…
12 Customer Gifts that Outshine Partridges in Pear Trees
‘Tis the season for getting inundated with fruit baskets, coffee mugs, and drab holiday cards from anyone whose customer list you’ve managed to land yourself on in the past year. In other words, ’tis the season of missed opportunities. This year, why not wow your customers with something more human, more personal, more valuable than a no-personality, one-size-fits…
Open the Door to Better Communication
In most organizations, we talk constantly about improving communication. In my 25 years coaching leaders and managers, this topic has always remained one of the top 10 issues that new clients want to focus on most. So when it comes to communication, I have a big box of tools, exercises, and ideas. Today, I’d like…
E-Mail Slavery + 2 Steps to Avoid Becoming Sony
Sony’s “private” e-mails are now getting pasted all over the news and Internet. Talking heads everywhere are lamenting the fact that this “could happen to any company.” Top Sony executives are apologizing and mentioning that the e-mails were hastily written between friends, without much sensitivity. And of course (this is the United States, after all),…