Communication and Influence

You won’t always have the luxury in your career of having an ardent advocate, such as a sponsor, mentor or manager, fighting your corner. That’s why speaking on your own behalf is an important skill to have.

People pay attention to what their leaders say. That’s why as a leader, you have to be especially conscious of how you communicate. But no matter how good your intentions may be, it’s easy for your communications to be misconstrued if you’re not careful.

One of the challenges of the “new normal” is adjusting to online meetings. Doing virtual meetings well is an important skill to have if you want to keep advancing in your career. The key is to avoid the basic mistakes most people make.

You don’t have to be in a seat of authority to demonstrate leadership. Anyone at any level can behave like a leader and a key part of being seen as a leader is to sound like a leader.

Every leader has blind spots. Things you don’t see from your perspective, but everyone else does. And like driving a car, it’s the things in your blind spots that can cause big problems. This common blind spot can hold you back from achieving greater success.

Your network of relationships is critical for career success, and connecting people within your network strengthens those relationships and adds value. But while email can be the quickest, easiest way to connect people, it can also be tricky to get right.

Do you ever find yourself in conversations that are more combative than they really need to be? These five ways have worked well for me to avoid combative conversations and to collaborate more effectively.

When giving feedback, it’s tempting to either say everything’s great or try and save time by unloading everything that you think is wrong. Neither is a winning strategy. Instead, this third way ensures you give constructive feedback that lands.

When we’re unhappy at work, we naturally think we have two options: either leave for another job or suck it up and stay. But what if you could use your voice in a constructive way to influence outcomes and change things for the better?

The capability that makes the biggest difference to career advancement is being a great communicator. Discover what it takes to be a great communicator, and the three steps that will move you from being good to great.

People are typically in a “fear state”, which can stop them making good decisions. Learn how to recognize and remove the “fear state” to improve your chances of getting your idea across and the outcome you want.

In my first ever Facebook Live interview, Caroline Webb, author of ‘How To Have a Good Day’, shares advice on how to create more time by learning how to say “no” in a way that also still preserves your relationships.