Is your message getting through?

Recently, I was speaking with a client and we discussed an ongoing communication challenge he’s facing.

Here’s how he put it:

“People just don’t understand me. I think A. I speak B. My team hears C and then they do D.”

A jumbled mess, right?

But what he’s going through is something I hear regularly from CEOs and founders.

Team communication can be one of the largest hurdles companies face - and bad communication can really drag down an organization.

Let’s start with why this happens.

Simply put, the mind of a CEO or founder is different from most other people.

The vast majority of the CEOs I meet are able to handle large amounts of complex disparate information in their heads. They typically are excellent at remembering numbers, names, faces, places and events from the past.

And their brains are just wired to always see new ways of doing things and to refuse accepting the way things are currently done. This is why they start companies!

“What do you mean, there are no digital banks? There should be! Let’s start one…”

But this gift they have for seeing a different future comes with a cost.

Their brains move quickly and jump from one thought to the next. Being able to translate for their teams their vision and the tactics and strategy needed to realize it is a real challenge.

And often their patience is thin.

If someone doesn’t grasp a concept as quickly as they do, they could shut down talking to that person and just do it themself. (spoiler alert: this is a bad idea)

And sometimes their own brains stumble when they try to communicate. To go back to the example at the beginning, my client was thinking A in his head, but with so many thoughts swirling around his brain, it was B by the time it came out of his mouth.

So, how do we build a communication structure in which everybody leaves the conversation on the same page? Here are a few key things I have found to work well:

• Clarity is key. One thing you can do is ask “What did you just hear?” Have them repeat it back to you so if you want them to hear A… they hear A (even if you said B!).
• Finish with a strong summary. At the end of a meeting, make sure everyone is aligned and that each person knows what they are responsible for, who will be supporting them, and when it’s going to be done by.
• Make it even stronger. Follow up the meeting with the takeaways and next steps in writing. The more we communicate in writing, the easier it is for everybody to remember what was actually said and plans can be refined if necessary.
• Respect different communication styles. Take the time to learn what communication styles work with your direct reports. Some folks will want everything spelled out and regular check-ins while others want to get the task and just be left alone until it’s done.
• If you look left, the entire business looks left. Remember, as CEO, great power comes with great responsibility. Be careful about sharing unfinished thoughts - it’s very possible that people aren’t going to push back, and then your contemplations become decisions. This is why putting things in writing is so critical.

Thanks for reading and I hope these tips are helpful for you.

Have a great week!

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