Once you’ve had a difficult conversation, it’s tempting to think your job is done, but the best communicators know the high-pressure conversation is not the end of the story. If you want to maintain your relationship with a person, it’s important you continue to communicate with them regularly and follow up after a difficult conversation […]

When losing control is your normal, your communication also loses its effectiveness. People ignore what you say because your behaviour distracts and detracts from your message. When you lose your cool – regardless of how legitimate your message is – the focus shifts to your behaviour instead.

Actions speak louder than words. It’s a cliché because it’s true. What you DO communicates far more powerfully than what you SAY and if your words and actions are out of alignment, it’s your actions people will believe. Simon was an old-school ‘command and control’ leader who often told his staff that respect was one […]

An intense fear of failure stifles many people’s #communication. Our fear of saying the wrong thing and offending someone keeps us silent, or our concern about embarrassing ourselves in front of the boss means we don’t put forward a suggestion about a new initiative. So many of us see failure as a bad thing, something […]

There are many myths and assumptions about effective communication. Here I dispel the top five I come across through my work: Myth 1: Communication ability is innate. You’re either good at it or not.

So much of what I know about leadership and communication in a crisis I learnt from this man. Today, after 44.5 years working at Yallourn brown coal mine in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, Ron Mether – my dad – retires. As mining manager for nearly 20 years, he has led his team through natural disasters, union […]

Albert Einstein, the German-born physicist and celebrated genius who developed the theory of relativity said, “The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.” Einstein, the man who also developed the ‘world’s most famous equation’ for mass-energy equivalence (E=mc2), understood the importance of being able to simplify his complex messages to ensure […]

There is a strong link between negative workplace cultures and professional and organisational underperformance. A negative culture doesn’t only make an organisation unpleasant to work in, it directly impacts the quality of service delivered. In some industries like healthcare, it can even compromise the safety of the very people you’re meant to help, treat and […]

In the workplace, your mood, behaviour and the way you communicate is contagious – particularly if you’re the leader. It rubs off on those around you. If you yell and scream when stressed, don’t be surprised if others in your team start responding to pressure in a similar way. If your anger is expressed in […]

There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to communication. No one way of doing things or rulebook to say: ‘If you always communicate this way, using this style and saying these words, you will have success’. It doesn’t work like that. Why? Because no one thinks like you. No one. Even people you’re aligned […]