The Hindu Business Line : Needed, leaders as the face of human connection

And it shows… as a boss who demands rather than asks, a supplier who promises but doesn’t deliver, a spouse who growls rather than responds, or a child who explodes rather than expresses feelings. With these frightening scenarios, Dianna B ooher opens the intro to The Voice of Authority ( www.tatamcgrawhill.com).

You can change things, she assures, and “the answer is not about technology”. Blogging, messaging, smart phones, and so on, will be passé after a few years, just like e-mails and faxes, the author foresees. New technology appears and disappears from the scene, but the one constant is human communication, she declares. Leaders have a great opportunity to become ‘the face of human connection of an organisation,’ by connecting with other people to get things done, and by communicating values.

“Companies with effective communication practices have a 19 per cent higher market premium and a 57 per cent higher shareholder return over five years than companies with ineffective communication practices,” writes Booher, citing a recent survey by Watson Wyatt.

Booher’s book guides leaders through 10 communication strategies, beginning with being correct. “Because spin drains us and enrages us, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth… should not be three different things.”

Mandatory read.

D. Murali

http://BookPeek.blogspot.com