Yesterday, in discussing CNBC’s Warren Buffett and Bill Gates: Keeping America Great, I noted that Mr. Buffett emphasized the importance of being a good communicator. Because it is such an important point, I am providing additional information herein.
As to the importance of being a good communicator, I can say that of the 100+ CEO’s I’ve interacted with over the years, almost all were good communicators. There were only a couple of exceptions. Not only were most of them good communicators, many were exceptional communicators. I can assure you that this is not a coincidence. If you want to quickly verify for yourself how leadership and communication skills correlate, search YouTube for videos of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, Barack Obama, and so on.
Mr. Buffett mentioned that, early in his career, he took a Dale Carnegie course to help develop his communication skills. Taking communication skills courses, and practicing what they teach (over and over), is the best way to learn to be a good communicator. Buying a book on how to communicate well, and expecting it to give you a quick fix, is not the way to learn how to be a good communicator.
In fact, throughout my career, I must have taken a half-dozen 2 and 3-day courses (American Management Association courses and others) before I finally “got most of the bugs worked out.” I needed someone to catch me saying “you know” too much (saying it once is too much), and I needed someone to tape me so I could see and hear how much I needed to improve. I needed feedback from other participants who would tell me that they weren’t understanding the point I was trying to make. And so on. And, I think I was a pretty typical communicator before going through those courses, so I believe most of you would benefit from coursework, too.
Having said that, I know some of you want to know what book you should read. The only one I can personally recommend is Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High. But, I got the book when I took the course. Our company required that everyone in the company take the two-day course developed by the authors of this book. And, I can tell you that, if you can arrange to participate in the course, you should do so. If you cannot arrange to take it, the book has important information you need to know. (It cannot only help you in business, it can help in home life, too.)
There is another book that is getting a lot of buzz right now: Confessions of a Public Speaker. Its table of contents looks pretty good to me, but I have not purchased the book and have no need to (and therefore no plans to).
Again, I want to emphasize that having good communication skills can make the difference between you being successful or unsuccessful. Any time you can spend polishing your communication skills will be amply rewarded.
Great posts. Thanks.
Thank you for the feedback, John. Much appreciated.