Becoming A Better Communicator At Work

In 2016, Nicole was shifting gears. She was moving to a different role and Jim was recruiting her replacement. Right away, Nicole was struck by his approach.

He was warm and personable and quite thorough in his interview. He asked her about herself: her challenges, her role, her strategies. He was trying to figure out what type of person would fit in her position and started by getting to know her. His style stuck with Nicole. 

The way Jim spoke and interacted with others made Nicole want to work with him. She needed guidance and figured she could use his advice. She was drawn to his professional experience too which made him much more than any run-of-the-mill career coach. She didn’t know it at the time, but the thing that made Jim stand out most—his communication style—was something that she herself would learn to adopt. 

Up until that point, Nicole had been timid in her communication. She had been holding back and had a tendency to not be direct. She was reluctant to approach members in the organization who she felt were too senior or who she didn’t know. She’d think about setting up meetings but intimidation got the best of her. She admits that she had been coasting too.

Jim saw that Nicole needed to embrace a bolder communication style which is essential in many professional environments. He thoroughly understood the needs of senior-level people since he had spent so many years in their shoes. With that perspective, he wanted to help Nicole change her timid habits. Embracing a more direct approach, he felt, would be of benefit both to Nicole and her bosses. Many people, including Nicole, describe Jim as to-the-point and that’s exactly how he taught Nicole to start acting. 

To be bold is a really important part of her company’s brand these days and it’s something Nicole is embracing. 

Jim got Nicole to understand that it was entirely within her right to ask for meetings from those who she wanted to talk to. Sending out those requests wasn’t something to feel intimidated by. In fact, it meant she was doing well at her job. He coached her to just go for it and afterwards, to be as straightforward as possible. Summarize the meeting in writing, he said. Outline next steps. Make their lives easier. He helped her with a strategy document making it crisp, clear and succinct.

Through this performance coaching, Nicole learned to articulately get her point across. She gained confidence around those she works with and now communicates better and with a more direct style. She catches herself when she’s holding back and works to do the opposite. To be bold is a really important part of her company’s brand these days and it’s something Nicole is embracing. 

She says this transformation came about because she trusted Jim. When he told her how to approach meetings, she took his advice knowing that he had real experience of being on the other side of those types of exchanges. She stopped coasting but more importantly, she came away from her experience with a strong belief that she could take on bigger challenges.    

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the clients

Article by Sinead Mulhern