WF Pride
Excel in Communication
Chad Cottingham
Our family just finished taking our Christmas card picture for this year. This was no easy task. Take six strong willed, type-A personalities, and put them on one couch with one mission – I felt like someone was going to get killed by the time it was finished. Now don’t get me wrong, the card always looks wonderful, full of smiles, etc… but getting there is not that easy. This year is a little different than past years – it has a cultural message. We are all on our technology. We are connected, but not communicating. Our message is to put down the technology, the phones, iPads, and laptops and start connecting face to face. I came across the following article and thought it fit perfectly:
Why Are We Failing at Communication? By Dr. Tim Elmore
The day we live in is a paradox. We buy technology to make our lives easier and to provide us with more leisure time—but we live more hectic lives than ever.
We long to stay socially connected, but we use technology that enables us to do it in isolation. For most students, they have more “friends” on Facebook than in real life.
Further, we live in the “information age” but not the “communication age.”
I just spoke to a CEO in Atlanta who told me he fired five employees in 2011. In every case, he told me, the people he let go were failures in communication. People either mis-communicated information, communicated it poorly, or flat out failed to communicate necessary details. What a sad commentary on their skill sets!
As time marches further into the 21st century, people are becoming lazier and poorer in their communication skills. The emotional intelligence of adolescents has dropped in the last ten years. In fact, those who are good at relationships and communication are at a premium. This is crucial for leaders to understand.
Communication is to a team what blood is to the body.
Take away the blood flow and you remove all life. Steve Burnett once said, “Regardless of the changes in technology, the market for well-crafted messages will always have an audience.”
Lee Iacocca, former CEO of Chrysler, said the obvious: “You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.” In fact, “The void created by the failure to communicate is soon filled with poison, drivel and misrepresentation” according to C. Northcote Parkinson. In short, people are down on what they’re not up on.
“Dear Lord and Heavenly Father, thank you for communicating to us through Your word, the bible. Thank you for communicating to us through the beauty of creation. Thank you for letting us communicate directly to You through prayer. Help us to put down our technology and connect regularly with our family, friends, and colleagues and more importantly, to You, during this Christmas season. It’s in Jesus name we pray, Amen.”