Random Thoughts on Communication

According to prominent anthropologist Margaret Mead, evidence of the earliest true civilisation was a healed femur (thigh bone). It is because, in the remains of earlier competitive, savage societies, such healings were never found. Healed femur showed that someone must have cared for the injured person—hunted on their behalf, brought them food, and served them at a personal sacrifice. Only a caring and supportive culture would enable recovery.

Taking a cue from the above and extrapolating a little further, it may not be wrong to consider a strong shoulder bone and big ears as signs of a highly evolved organisation. Such an organisation will have people in the system to lean on, hang on and share the burden when things don't happen as planned. In other words, there are people in the system with whom one can share their concerns and seek advice.?

Why in distress people go to a particular person and shun others depends on that specific person's ability to connect with others? How one communicates effectively plays a crucial role in one's ability to connect.?

You can be a technical expert (or even a manager) even if you don't have good communication skills. But, you can not be a leader if you can't communicate effectively. There are many books, training etc., on how to be a master storyteller, public speaker etc. But that is just one side of the coin. The other side is - are you communicatable??

You may force people to listen to you if you are the boss. (And the worst is the?toxic leaders, who love to hear their voices in every meeting.) But you can't force people to come and speak to you even if you are the boss. (for a moment, let us assume a world without sycophants). Putting a board outside your cabin stating 'expert listener' won't help if no one wants to open up to you.?

For people to open up, they usually look if another person has the following traits.

• Approachable (do?you have an open-door approach? or are you too hierarchical?)
• Empathic (can you see the world from their view,? or are you opinionated?)
• Able to make a difference (Can you be counted to act upon the issue, or is it like water on leaves or wind on the rocks?)
• Trustworthy or Discreet (If need be, can you find a solution to a problem without telling the world who raised it? Or is it, as Khalil Gibran said, "tell your secrets to the wind, but don't blame it for telling the trees" with you?)

The highest quality of respect is giving time to listen to others. It is possible to put an act of a great listener or a communicatable person one or two times, but the mask will fall off by the third act, if not by the fourth.??

And organisations intended to last will make all efforts to develop people and leaders with solid shoulder bones and big ears. Not a big ask for an evolved one.?