You Can’t Get Better at It If You Never Practice.

If you want to get better at something, what do you do?

You practice.

It’s an act often and easily equated with things like sports or hard skills.

We shoot hoops, run scales, download duolingo, punch numbers and create content.

But what about soft skills?

What about things like clear communication and conflict resolution?

Whenever a client brings up an inability to speak her mind or an insecurity about how to say something or guilt over giving tough feedback, I say the same thing.

You practice.?

As a leader, you can’t get around it.

You have to be direct, honest and initiate.

You have to model the kind of communication you expect from your team.

You have to get better at approaching what most of us find awkward, uncomfortable or difficult.

It’s your job.

You won’t get any better at it if you don’t practice, and not on your own in front of a mirror, but with real people in real time.?

Struggling to give feedback to a stakeholder or direct report?

Set up a time and risk fumbling your words.

People not meeting your expectations?

Book in the discussion and risk being disliked.

Want a bigger role in the project than you have?

Make the pitch and risk getting rejected.?

It’s the only way to get better and grow stronger.

A master communicator knows that the more they avoid growing in this area, the more they cap growing in every area. They know that how they relate to people is the single most important skill to develop in their careers. It’s the soft skill that bridges and connects every other skill together.

So how do they do it?

And how can you get more practice?

Start with small disturbances that you might normally sweep under the rug or wait to pile up.

Practicing with the small stuff will help ladder you up to the bigger things like promotions, annual meetings, big presentations, hiring and firing personnel and navigating interpersonal dynamics that come with leading any team.

When entering into any situation where you need to be clear and meet conflict head-on, keep these three tools in your back pocket before going in.

PUT YOURSELF IN THEIR SHOES

Don’t ride in on a righteous high horse. Come into any conversation seeking to understand, listen and empathize first and foremost. With humility, your common humanity will find each other and it will serve to create mutual trust instead of tearing each other down.

BE CURIOUS

You’ll patronize people with your position if you haven’t spent any time honestly inquiring into theirs. It can feel threatening, but remain open to the possibility that there’s something you’re unaware of or haven’t considered yet.

LISTEN

Nowadays, we confuse listening with abiding, consent or agreeance, or we spend the entire time formulating a response instead of taking in their side. Listening is honoring and shows respect, and if it just so happens that you don’t agree, you can easily say something like, “That’s interesting. I never thought about it that way” instead of taking a sharper angle.

If you chose only one focus in your pursuit of becoming a better leader this year, make it practicing clear communication and conflict resolution.

Just like everything else, it’s a muscle that can either atrophy or strengthen your reputation, career, but most importantly, your courage as a leader.

Sharpening our skills is never automatic or simply baked in.?

We need to be constantly learning and fortifying our skillset to move up the mountain of leadership.

Book a free 30-minute call with me to find out how I can help you develop any skill to become the kind of leader you’re capable of becoming!

Isn't it time to be a POWERHOUSE?

You’re an ambitious woman with a game-changing vision for the world.

You’ve never doubted that.

But your current blueprint isn’t working.

You feel stuck in imposter syndrome, in perpetual burn-out, in old beliefs that keep you in old behaviors, in fighting tooth and nail for every promotion and position. You want to feel sought after, not invisible, confident, not passed over, in charge, not at the whim of corporate winds.

There’s a better way.

With my program, The Powerhouse Blueprint, you will start to evolve from workhorse to powerhouse in just three months using the three cornerstones of a natural and balanced leader: presence, strategy and influence.

Want to learn how YOU can become a powerhouse and change the trajectory of your career? Sign up for your free consultation to learn more.