Communication | Transitions Intl - Part 2
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Transitions Intl / Posts tagged "Communication"
10 July 2015 In Change, Character, Coaching, Comfort Zone, Communication, Conflict Leadership, Customer Service and Sales, Emotions, Employee Engagement, Habits, Lead From Within, Leadership, Life, Organizational Leadership By Lalita Raman

Three Keys To Be An Impactful Communicator

"This is urgent. So please get it done ASAP" "Can you call between 9 am to 10 am?" "I would like to meet you sometime next week or so". "Can you tell her I called?" "Client is livid, can you look into it when you get a moment, please ?" What is the common problem you see in all of the above communication? Have you been in situations when you have told somebody it is urgent or ASAP and yet your request has not been met within your specified deadline? Has this caused you frustration and increased your stress and overwhelm? However, did you use specific language in your request or your instruction ? Let's take another scenario "I'm not sure I can do this" "I'm sure, I'm going to mess it up and not be able to make that presentation properly" "I'm not going to do this interview well" "I am in no good at public speaking. I suck at making presentations in front of a group of people. Does this form of self-communication sound familiar to you? There are three factors to impactful Communication, those that lead to inspiring and influencing others or what is often known as leadership communication 1. How do you communicate with yourself? Your thoughts lead to your inner talk. Is that empowering or

18 February 2014 In Change, Character, Coaching, Comfort Zone, Communication, Habits, Lead From Within, Leadership, Life, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

Leadership And The Art Of Communication

Last week on Wednesday, I was attending a meeting and one of the conversations was about organizing events where we could bring out the best in Women and show diversity of women by getting those who practice it to share their experiences. Along with this, some of us were of the view that we should combine this talk with some fun, food and frolic. While this conversation was going on, I suggested that maybe we should consider a theme party and before I could finish my statement, I heard a woman who was dominating the meeting till then, cut me off by laughing and saying “oh God, no, I hate fancy dress parties”. For a second or two I was upset but decided to smile. I smiled, because at that moment I had a flash of this particular extract from Pema Chodron’s quotes that I had read the day before. “It’s not life that causes suffering, says Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön, it’s our story about life—our interpretation—that causes so much distress. When we practice interrupting the story we’re telling ourselves, and learn to ride the wave of emotions that inevitably come up in life, we can find a new freedom and flexibility in

17 February 2014 In Change, Character, Comfort Zone, Emotions, Integrity, Lead From Within, Leadership, Life, Organizational Leadership, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

Leadership and Bias

"She is quiet; she has probably nothing interesting to say", "Investment bankers are all extroverts and make a lot of money", "Oh you are Indian; you must have grown up in a caste system", "She is successful and has come up the ranks on the fast path. She must have achieved this because she is a flirt and has used her influence", "A leader is one who manages team and is part of senior management". What do these statements sound like to you? Asian/American, Male/Female, Extroverts/introverts, rich/poor, aggressive/meek is the common single story we hear or are categorized into. You are categorized, stereotyped and generalized and not seen for your uniqueness, for your passions, your interests. Nor do you see others. Bias creeps in our day-to-day life, and communication. This comes from our culture, our exposure or non-exposure, and our experiences. But the real question is do we get so taken in by others beliefs and by our limited experience that we fail to see the uniqueness of the person in front of us. Do we fail to see that one person or a group of people don't represent an entire country or gender? Can Bias be fixed? "I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the

18 November 2013 In Change, Character, Coaching, Comfort Zone, Communication, Conflict Leadership, Lead From Within, Leadership, Life, Organizational Leadership, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

Leadership In Troubled Times

The CEO of the Company was having his monthly meeting with his direct reports to discuss achievements, strengths, opportunities missed or well used and way forward. Jack, the CFO of the company had attended several of these meetings and felt the quality of these meetings had deteriorated. In the moments of silence, whenever he was an observer, he felt these meetings had become agreeable in nature and no brainstorming was encouraged. Just in the last meeting he had raised an objection to the way the revenues were being earned and the way the company was going about increasing its market share and how in the medium to long-term the company may not be able to hold its market share. He also had concerns on the franchise value which he thought he will bring it up later. Despite presenting solutions he was left with the feeling that by raising a different perspective, he was considered possibly a rebel. The room didn't celebrate his passion for the business nor appreciate his concern. "Don't trouble trouble till trouble troubles you because if you trouble trouble, trouble will trouble you". As a kid I used to play this tongue twister with my friends. Today in many organizations and

17 November 2013 In Character, Comfort Zone, Customer Service and Sales, Habits, Integrity, Lead From Within, Leadership, Organizational Leadership By Lalita Raman

The Missing Link In ‘The Customer Is the Boss’

Have you ever thought like a customer when you are talking to a potential client? Do you really care to understand what the customer wants ? I was in Mumbai last week visiting my family for 4 days. My dad and mom are not keeping too well and I thought I must take some time out to be with them. While I was there, I decided to complete some formalities that was pending with a bank account that I had opened. The relationship manager stated that he wanted copies of my passport, other identification documents and photographs. I was taken aback because I had submitted all of this in as many copies as was required by this bank, four months back. The relationship manager started giving me several reasons why he wanted those again, none of which sounded convincing to me. One of the reasons he gave me was that this was a compliance requirement. This is one of the top favorite reasons given by many a customer contact of most banks. The relationship manager did not take time to understand my requirements, figure out how much time I had and how to reduce the inefficiency for me. Many customer contacts ever so often

3 September 2013 In Character, Emotions, Lead From Within, Leadership, Life, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

Does Your Behavior Reflect Who You Are or Desire To Be?

→ How often are you inspired by a person whom you meet or read or hear about? → What is it about them that makes you listen or to follow what they are doing or learn a lesson or two from them? A friend of mine, Carole called me last week saying she wanted to meet me. Carole is one of the most cheerful person I know and on that call she sounded hassled, frustrated and dejected. I know she had suffered a huge financial loss recently having trusted someone she thought was a friend. The trust that she had placed on this person was misused, mishandled and every aspect of her belief and friendship was broken. I had learnt from her that she was making efforts to get her money back and the process had been none too easy. When I met her that day, she shared with me her experience with a person whom she had met with regard to getting her money back. This person whom she met is wealthy, well-connected and this is a known fact among most people in the city we live. Now you would think, this person would have some class and it is not necessary for him to

31 August 2013 In Coaching, Customer Service and Sales, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Life, Organizational Leadership, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

How Are You Connecting With People?

Businesses and organizations run because of the people, the relationships and the connections between people. When we network with people we look for common interests or topics to break the ice, strike a conversation and thereafter get into a discussion. In a business scenario, during interviews, a set of questions is asked by different people in an organization of a potential candidate. In each of these situations, be it at work (or in daily life), there is  judgment being made based on skills, qualifications, the ability to make an elevator speech, the way a person talks or present themselves, all of which are external factors.  Also, in today’s age of social media, there is an eagerness to strike a conversation with people who have large number of followers, or if they are famous. Again these are extrinsic factors. However, part of the judgment rests with our own gut feel or our intuition. In today’s world there seems to be a lot of communication and modes of communication but is real connection happening? Leaders connect because they are human and understand that trust and rapport can’t be built without real connection. Meaningful communication is possible only with real connection. How do you connect?

31 August 2013 In Coaching, Communication, Habits, Lead From Within, Leadership, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

Fake It Till You Make It Or Feel It Till You Make It

One of my sister’s friends’ colleague Anita, submitted her resignation recently, since she had found another job. Whilst she was serving her notice period, she still kept hoping that she would be asked to stay in her current organization. She was almost nearing the end of her notice period when my sister’s friend asked Anita why she wanted to stay back. Anita did not have any job in hand. She had pulled a fast one since she believed in doing so, she would get a salary hike with her current company. You have probably heard of “Fake it till you Make it” ever so often. I have always wondered about this statement. Do you fake →your values, authenticity, talents and skills? →your job, salary, what you can afford? →your emotions, compliments and the way you articulate? →who you are? Fake it till you make it or become it seems to be losing its essence in the way people are using it. I have always understood “Fake it Till You Make it” as, to get over your negative self talk, to believe in yourself, to achieve your dreams and not have your inner critique take over. From when did it become not being authentic, or being a hypocrite or

7 June 2012 In Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

Commitment : Top 15 Questions You Need to Ask Yourself

“What we speak becomes the house we live in.”-Hafez. How many times have you heard friends or colleagues or family members or yourself say, "I've tried to convince the person so many times on this idea, but fail to do so." Sounds familiar? Have you ever evaluated why does that happen to you or others? Is it because the other party has not bought into your vision or is it because you fail to keep your commitment? In other words, have you failed to live up to your word innumerable number of times that the person doesn't trust you enough, to buy into your vision? Failing to keep your commitments is an indication that you don’t care about your vision, or word, your client, their time, and the outcomes. Questions you need to ask yourself when your actions are not in sync with your word are: Do you have a clear goal and vision Are you trying to pursue one too many goals or things to do at the same time Are you trying to get some brownie points by agreeing to do something but have no real intention of doing it Are you trying to avoid a situation of open communication and dealing with the situation Have you