I find that there are many ways to learn. I hope to provide some insight on the ways that I learn, share knowledge, and be a great community citizen to the web.

ONE QUESTION YOU SHOULD ASK BEFORE MAKING A DECISION

When I heard this question asked by Andy Stanley, I wasn’t prepared for how much this question would infiltrate my thoughts and decisions. The question is becoming one that I am thinking about each time and saying where appropriate. Are you ready to internalize this question? Andy Stanley put the question in the form of “What would a great leader do?” Replace the word leader with: Employee Friend Husband / Wife Parent And the list goes on: Maybe you have uncovered the power of this great question, “What would a great (Fill in the Blank) do?” If so, you probably already know the value. For those of you just discovering this question, let me share my thoughts:

FEEDBACK WITH INTEGRITY

Over the past few days, my inbox has started to fill with requests for feedback from my peers. Interestingly, I don’t know if they personally requested it or if it was requested by their manager. Either way, I am encouraged that I may be able to participate in such a valuable exercise. However, before I share how I provide feedback, let’s understand the realities of feedback systems. Anonymity skews the results There are many studies that show when people don’t have to identify who they are, the quality of feedback diminishes. If the results are scale based with comments, you will tend to see most answers to the far right, far left, and few in the middle. It is important to take anonymous criticism with a grain of salt and be skeptical of steeped praise as genuine.

MY CURRENT COMMUNICATIONS RESPONSE MATRIX

Here is a current list on how I think when it comes to responding in various communications mediums.

SETTING EXPECTATIONS FOR COMMUNICATIONS RESPONSES

As I have started thinking about the best ways to communicate, I am realizing that most of my communications problems are self-inflicted. One of the biggest areas is how I respond. I very rarely respond to text messages, I may read Facebook feeds every couple of days, I am not consistent on mediums such as twitter, and I am too instantaneous on email. I am not saying that how I respond or interact above is bad, in fact, I would argue that for the most part they are absolutely the right approaches for me. However, there is potentially another person on the back side of the email, text, or post with whom communication happens. My goal now is to set the right expectations with my style of communication.

PROVIDE CONTEXT FOR THE DATA

I am often asked to provide charts of data, tables of information, and bullet point lists though the week. I just put together a basic bar chart in Excel (Select your table and hit the F11 key) a few hours ago. Today’s topic in communication is making sure that the data meets the context of how it is being used. Let’s face it, most people can manipulate facts to serve whatever message they are trying to get across. I am not suggesting that this is either good or bad. You may have heard the saying “Let the facts speak for themselves”. I would like to change this up a bit

MEETING COMMUNICATIONS

As I was reviewing the email for the last time in the day, I received four meeting requests, all with no agenda and ambiguous titles. My initial response was to just decline without any reason. After a hard pause, I decided to be more civilized fashion and at least respond with a couple of questions. The Response I noticed you have scheduled a meeting with no agenda. So that I can be better prepared, could you please help me with the following information:

OUR NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION MATTERS

One day I received feedback after a meeting took place. My manager graciously let me know that my opinions on various topics were well communicated. There was only one problem, I didn’t say a word. My body language, facial expressions, and the way I made eye contact with others was truly transparent and exposed for all to see. I constantly have to work in meetings to make sure that my non-verbal cues are appropriate for the time and location.

THE 5 W'S OF GIVING FEEDBACK

I am a person who is always looking for feedback, constructive criticism, and critique about my life, work, and abilities. This keeps me humble to grow, hungry to learn, and happy when the feedback helps. On the flipside, I am not shy about giving back in these mediums to others. I have distilled some core truths into the 5 W’s that must happen for the information one shares to be effective.

THE PURPOSE OF FEEDBACK

This was a poem I created a couple of years back around how we shape purpose in our lives. Feedback becomes an essential component. In the last few months, I really have been focused on getting clarity of purpose and have shared a lot of my thoughts to garner feedback. It has been a very healthy and productive exercise. Now when I read the words below, I am really encouraged that feedback is making me into a better person and one of purpose, leading a life that is of significance. Let me know after reading your thoughts on feedback and purpose and how they fit together.

COMMUNICATE YOUR VISION (UPDATED)

When was the last time you looked at the Vision, Mission, and Values of your company? Maybe you have them memorized and they come out in every part of your being. If so quit reading now. For the other 99.9999% of us keep reading as the vision definitely needs focused on. Dusting off the vision statement Read the most recent company vision statement. What grade would you give yourself on pursuing the vision? I must say when I did this, I didn’t get a high mark. It is one thing to have a vision out there, quite another to pursue it. Each employee should have the responsibility for understanding what that vision is, but the accountability of the visionary pursuit falls upon the leadership of the organization.