Our communication style effects our unique personal effectiveness. The words we choose matter if we wish to communicate effectively personally, professionally, and organizationally! It's a mindset thing. If you work with me, you know mindset is everything. Our mindset establishes our tone. If the mindset is out of balance, desired outcomes, and thus profitability, will no doubt follow suit. These statistics prove the statement we often hear. Maybe it's not all about the words we choose...
Communication is 7% verbal, 38% tone, and 55% body language. It's not really what you say, it's how you say it.
-Jeff Rogers, CMPBC
The words we choose are based on this critical mindset as a human being. Where are you coming from? Is the glass half full, or empty? Do you have a Growth or Fixed mindset? A positive mindset is required, and there is no movement on that—words matter, tone and body language matter more. The statistics prove it and I will prove it to you below.
The language we communicate, the body language we present, and facial expressions say it all. Are your tone and body language telling a different story than your words? If you are like most people, unfortunately, the answer is yes! We all suffer from this communication dilemma, and this is being human. But to enhance your personal effectiveness, you must improve these fundamentals of communication.
You must consistently align your words, tone, and body language. I maintain it begins with your mindset and the little voice in your head.
Elevating Personal Effectiveness and Communication
Although it's not everything, language and choice of words matter. Your tone and body language will enhance your word choice. It's all about how you frame the situation, as a leader, that sets the tone.
If we use the language, "Team, here is the task at hand; we will complete this task competently, meeting all stakeholder expectations by this date"; the words feels confident, competent, and straightforward. But, your results will suffer if you say the same phrase with no positive tonality and a poor posture.
Change the way you talk and the way you talk to yourself
Developing a positive mindset is critical for managerial success. It is at the leadership level the rubber meets the road. Here, the strategy from above is translated into action, and implementation begins. Often in the face of adversity. One cannot tackle trouble with a negative mindset. But you can't ignore the situation with an overabundance of positivity either. Regulation is your friend. One cannot rally a team with a negative mindset. One cannot do anything successfully with a negative attitude and expect positive results. If you find yourself speaking with negative self-talk, it is time for serious adjustments. Insecurity is a natural human condition and nothing to be ashamed of. If left unchecked, however, it will get in your way.
Change the way you talk: Get rid of words like....
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- Hopefully
- I'll do my best
- I'm too busy
- I'll try
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- Do I have what it takes to succeed?
- Do I have the right skills?
- Do I have enough knowledge?
- Do I lack experience?
- I do not enjoy change, do not like being out of my comfort zone; what am I doing?
Often, your insecurity gets in the way – Doubt. What can I do?
The first step is to identify the current situation. You can adjust your mindset and behavior, which will require real effort, and exit your comfort zone.
Few are willing to do the work. Instead, they make excuses. To improve results, we must think and behave differently. Only then will we elevate the impact and personal effectiveness.
By developing your personal effectiveness communication skills, you will move the ball. Simply change these words and phrases in your language personally, professionally, and organizationally. This minor tweak will dramatically change your results. If this were easy, everyone would do it; they choose not to engage because this is hard to do consistently. You must be willing to exit your comfort zone, it is not fun for many intentionally.
A Starting Point for Personal Effective Communication Attitude and Behavior
By first getting things right in your head personally, you can be more effective professionally. You can and will make a difference in the lives of those you serve, and you owe them that. We all have a backpack that fills regularly with drama and emotional baggage, draining our positivity. I maintain that we empty the backpack daily to remove these mental distractions that can negatively affect desired communications, outcomes, and our ability to achieve our goals. We start fresh by emptying the backpack daily of stress, overwhelm, noise, bad feelings, negativity, and other unneeded crap.
By starting fresh daily, we begin with the right positive mindset. Our communications are free from unintended bias and negativity. The company, team, and customer stakeholders are properly served. Stress levels are naturally reduced, and you feel joy and fulfillment. This positive can-do mindset gets things done. It is your job to accomplish desired outcomes through clear and straightforward communication. The words matter, and your tone and body language matter more. It starts in your head first.
If there is a rejection of this idea, please re-read the document. One cannot achieve desired results and outcomes through brute force. Laws of physics apply, and the overuse of force will break stuff. I know that is a paraphrase, but it's for effect.
All eyes are on you, and you must be aware of that. Not to add any more stress, but to understand the true reality of leadership, you are in control, and your mindset establishes the tone. From the above, expectations are set. It is your responsibility to deliver. Here is the opportunity to make the magic happen. The magic begins through your best positive mindset encouraged throughout your team. Those who do not buy in may need to go. This is a simple fact right there. It's not easy to digest, I understand, but it's still true.
Our communication style affects our unique personal effectiveness. The words we choose matter if we wish to communicate effectively personally, professionally, and organizationally. Your tone and body language amplify or detract from your words. It's a mindset thing. When you smile, the team smiles. They will do more with smiles than they will with frowns. You know it, and I do too!
