By Heather Campbell >> Want to be a clear, concise communicator? Here’s a simple tip that guarantees you will take a step towards that goal: cut out unnecessary adjectives and adverbs – usually words like very, really, absolutely and extremely, although not limited to these. But even if you are addicted to jazzing-up your communication with a few extra words that don’t add much value, there are certain combinations that should be banned. These are the ones that are nonsensical, rather than just ...

By Heather Campbell >> Who’s the David Brent in your company? And, if you’re completely honest with yourself, which of his particular management foibles do you secretly recognise as having been guilty of demonstrating on occasion? It’s ten years since David Brent hit our screens in The Office, one of the most successful comedy series the BBC has screened. Most of us cringed in embarrassment as much as laughed, as we recognised so much of the truth in his antics. And it’s ...

By Heather Campbell >> In interviews with medal-winning Olympic athletes during London 2012, most of them acknowledged the impact that the cheers from spectators had on spurring them to success in their vital races and events. Yesterday, I had my own – admittedly somewhat less headline-grabbing – experience of the importance of someone else’s encouragement. Heading out on one of my own runs (or rather slow jogs) around my neighbourhood, someone walking past smiled at me and said, “Good for you – ...

By Heather Campbell >> Leaders with charisma usually win the hearts and minds of the people around them – whether that’s the people they lead, those they report to, or other stakeholders within or outside the organisation. Leaders with charisma quite simply win more often. The great news is charisma doesn’t have to belong to a lucky few. Everyone can build it – and the secret to doing so lies in some surprisingly simple guidelines around how you communicate. These are the ...

By Heather Campbell >> Even with the best of intentions, leaders who want to change the way they communicate can find they quickly revert to old habits. This isn’t surprising given that most of these habits have been developing since we were babies. That’s a long time to embed habits that we find are less than effective once we get into leadership roles! To help leaders make changes to the way they communicate that will stick long-term, CommsMasters’ programmes are usually run ...

By Heather Campbell >> In today’s working environment, it is good practice for leaders to empower and engage people in order to get better business results. As regular readers of this blog will know, CommsMasters certainly subscribes to the link between an empowered and engaged workforce and business results that head north. But the focus on empowerment and engagement is leading to one of the big mistakes that leaders are making when they delegate projects or tasks. This is a failure to ...