2 questions you need to ask

School starts next week over here (?? praise be) and I got a text from one of the teachers today. After introducing herself she asked, “how do you like to communicate?”.

(“group text with my husband please,” if you were wondering)

It really got me. I mean how often does anyone ask you that??

We’re drowning in ways to communicate (Slack! Email! Messenger! Voice Note! (but seriously, never send me a voice note). But we’re still awful at it. So bad, in fact, that when you’re even OK at it, you really stand out. And CEOs are taking note. Communication was ranked the most in-demand skill of 2024. That’s right, communication ranked higher than anything else - leadership, sales, project management, even customer service. That’s not an accident.??

You know the story already. In a world where tech dominates, AI is surging, and we’re hidden behind screens, companies need employees who can get a message across. It’s what we’ve been hearing from senior leaders all year. When they talk about new hires and managers, we’re not hearing about technical skills. We’re hearing about empathy, communication, critical listening - our unique human skills. It’s starting to get more and more central to how we judge candidate success and employee success.?

The issue is, we don’t have great systems for teaching any of it. List all the classes you’ve taken on these topics. Were you ever taught to ask a really good question? Did you opt into an EQ boot camp? That sounds weird, right? Because it doesn’t exist. Which is even weirder. We’ve got advanced systems to train and credential people in every aspect of our existing tech. Just think, how many coding bootcamps do you know of? I can list 10 without trying.?

Now’s the moment to rethink. Get creative. You want employees who boost your bottom line? Build an EQ bootcamp at your org. Focus on the emotional intelligence that will drive your company forward. You’ll be years ahead of your competitors.?

Just this week, we hosted a session for CHROs to talk about the biggest challenges facing their managers today. Big take-away? Leaders want to learn from leaders. Yes, we talked a lot about the evolving, wide-range of demands on managers and the skills they need to develop - but the recurring theme was that leaders want to learn from people who have been through the same challenges, sat in their seats, and know what they’re dealing with day to day.?

Humans learning from humans. This is what we do with our clients everyday at Kunik, we’ve seen the impact up close. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that unlocking peer knowledge is maybe the biggest unlock to performance a company has. A bonded workforce is a high performing workforce. And they’re not getting there through apps.?

EQ skills are critical to our next phase of work. We’re in the knowledge economy and the technical skill training that taught us Python and Java is not the same teaching system that will empower and enable us in an AI world. We need new thinking on how to teach and scale these skills. And it’s directly related to tech. A bit of an ‘equal and opposite reaction’ situation - the more AI your company is planning to leverage, the more desperate your need to upskill on the fundamental basics like communication, empathy, critical thinking and navigating difficult conversations.??

We’ve been doing this across orgs, teams, and cohorts. No matter the group size or topic, the consistent theme is this. People are hungry for peer based, expert led learning. They want practical, actionable guidance from practitioners who have been there before, and the insights and experience of their peers.

Not sure where to start? Start small, ask the newest person on your team “How would you like to communicate?” Maybe it’s not your default, any knowing that could be a simple switch to smoother communication.?

Ready to go deeper? Try this: "What are you scared to say?”

Ask your leaders, your team, yourself.?

It’s a straightforward question that encourages open communication. Heck, start your next meeting with it. What you learn may help you tackle underlying issues bringing down team performance. At the very least, it will highlight the communication gaps you need to focus on first.?

Ask those two questions and let me know what you hear. I’d love to know.?

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