Chapter 43 Everything starts with communication

Theodore Roosevelt's children loved him very much, and not without reason.Once, an old friend of Roosevelt came to him in frustration, saying that his young son ran away from home and went to live with his aunt. kids get along. Roosevelt said: "Nonsense, I don't think there is anything wrong with your child. If a child is not treated fairly at home, then he will naturally look elsewhere." Roosevelt met the boy a few days later and asked him, "I heard you ran away from home. What's going on?" "Well, Colonel," said the boy, "every time I go to my father, he's always mad at me, and he never hears me out, and I'm always wrong and always scolded."

"Son," Roosevelt said, "maybe you can't believe it now, but your father was your best friend, and you meant more to him than the whole world." "Maybe, Colonel Roosevelt," said the kid, "but I wish he'd put it another way." Then Roosevelt went to visit the father and told him some shocking things, and the father was as furious as his son said. "Look," said Roosevelt, "if you talk to your son as you did to me, I don't really wonder why he ran away from home. I still feel that he can bear to go away until now." Surprised! You really should talk to him more and get to know him better."

From this example, I think everyone can see the importance of communication. Lack of communication is a common problem in enterprises, such as inferiority, contradictions, scolding, belittling, treating others with the attitude of "I am the boss, you are just working for me"... Not so long ago, when these phenomena were commonplace even in the largest and most prestigious companies, "swearing at human rights" seemed to be the prerogative of managers, a privilege that also included desks by the window and two-hour lunch breaks.The same is true of families, schools, and other institutions, unfortunately.For many years people believed that yelling equaled toughness, stubbornness equaled knowing everything, and arguing equaled honesty.All of us—executives and employees, parents and children, teachers and students—should be thankful that those days are finally over.

Jerry Greenwald, a former Chrysler vice president, likened the old corporate communication to a child's game: "Two kids who live next door want to mingle, and if one of them walks across the lawn, they can talk. But if they belong to two departments of the same company, then one of the children will tell the news to his brother first, the brother will tell the mother, the mother will tell the father, and then the father will go next door and tell the other The kid's dad, when the other kid finally hears the apparently deformed message, he'll ask: 'What the hell is that guy next door trying to say to me?'"

"At Chrysler, we try to break down all walls," Greenwald said when he was still in office. "If you're working on an assembly line and you need another guy three hundred paces away, just walk up and tell him, not the foreman. , otherwise the foreman will tell the foreman, and the foreman will tell the supervisor, in this case, the person you want to ask for help after half a year will not know what you are looking for him to do." More and more people, in the business world or elsewhere, are beginning to understand how important communication is.Only those with good communication skills can successfully motivate others, turn good ideas into practical actions, and make actions come true.

In theory, communication is not complicated.Everyone communicates with people every day, starting at a young age.We all think we have the ability to communicate.But real, effective communication is rare among adults. There are no secrets to learning to communicate, just a few basic concepts.Here are three basic principles of successful communication, and you're off to a good start: (1) Treat communication as the first priority. (2) Treat others with an open attitude. (3) Establish a communication environment conducive to acceptance. No matter how busy you are at work, you have to make time for communication.No matter how clever an idea is, it is worthless if it is not shared with others.Communication can be accomplished in many ways - in a meeting, in a face-to-face discussion with a co-worker, walking down the hallway with someone, picking up water at the water cooler together, or taking advantage of half an hour at a restaurant, and most importantly, remember that communication is never end.

Robert Klander, the president of AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, has a large conference room. Every Monday, he will spend most of the day in this conference room, communicating with the heads of various departments of the company and listening to their opinions. Talk to them.Not so long ago, Klander said: “Like yesterday morning, executives and departments sent eight to ten colleagues from three or four levels into the conference room to do complex analysis work. "We wanted to figure out whether the company's current transfer system would be economical in the fast-changing conditions of this industry. When we designed this system, the world was completely different from today, and this would directly affect our customers' shipments. Of course, it also affects the cost. In the end, we can't determine whether the system is worthwhile, because the analysis is too complicated.

"Analysis requires a lot of data. It took us three or four hours yesterday. We discussed it from different angles. Finally, we assigned three or four tasks. The colleagues who accepted the tasks had to summarize further in a few weeks. data, and then we sit down and have further discussions: 'Are we doing something wrong?' 'What can we do differently at work?' Finally we hope to find a way out." The benefits of this kind of discussion are two-fold. Crand can get data from experts, and experts can help build a vision for the future of American Airlines.This communication is the basis for building a relationship of mutual trust.Of course, communication does not have to take place in a large conference room. The most successful communication in many companies is often informal. Walter Green, president of Harrison Conference Services, uses a "one-on-one" communication method ."Unfortunately our company already has a fixed structure, with presidents, vice presidents, and many layers, and the one-on-one approach removes barriers," Green said. so that I know what is important to them, how they feel about the company, how they feel about their work. I want to treat them more humanly as individuals, and I want They were able to ask me questions about the company. All of that was easier in 'one-on-one'." The upshot of those conversations: Green had bigger visions for the company.

Douglas Werner, president of Morgan Bank, introduced this direct communication to the old bank. "We have to go around," says Werner, "go down and see the employees, instead of telling them to come into our offices." talk in." Every week, Werner and his senior assistants drink coffee several times with thirty or forty senior executives in the bank. In Werner's own words, it is "face-to-face communication, direct and informal".Even a big bank like JPMorgan is starting to understand the value of this kind of talk.This pattern also applies among managers. "We have more than 300 managers, and we go to the restaurant to have dinner together at noon every day-in addition to the local managers in New York, there are also managers from overseas, so that we can discuss every day."

David Luthor, director of quality at Corning, described his company's approach to me: "It's like casting a net down to the bottom of the company and asking, what's going on? What are they bothering about? They're saying What? What are they against? What can I do for them?" Effective communication doesn't just happen in the office. It can be found in the home, school, church, and even the halls of science.Communication is key in every area where you have to deal with other people.There is a common phenomenon in communication between people: they are unwilling to say what they think, and they are unwilling to listen to what others say with an attitude of acceptance—unless trust has been established with each other, or there are common interests.When communicating, you can't be false. What you really feel about the communication, whether you let go of your mind, will be clearly and powerfully expressed, no matter what you say.

"You can tell immediately if a person's attitude is close or not," Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton said. You can read the 'I don't want to talk to people' message from him very quickly." How can one avoid giving that impression?Be open and friendly with people, and let others know that you are.You could try Layton's advice: "It's important to be humble and humble. I try to put people at ease, and I treat everyone the same. I treat everyone as equals, whether you're the general manager of a company or a salesperson." However, it should be noted that the difference between the two is only a difference in occupation.” In fact, establishing a communication environment conducive to acceptance, to put it bluntly, is just one sentence: make people relax.In the past, communication was not as difficult as it is now, and former baseball star Joe Galakira, who became a TV reporter, recalled how common face-to-face contact between players and fans used to be: "When we finished the game, we usually talked to a few people. The fans who cheered for us a few hours ago took the same subway home." "It's not uncommon for fans to ask, 'Hey, Joe, why are you hitting the third bat? The player I like signed a contract of six to seven million." Ray Stata, chairman of Analog Design for High-Performance Integrated Circuit Manufacturing, learned an important lesson from his friend Reid Auerbach, the longtime president of Boston Celtic Corporation.Stata recalls: "When he talks about leadership, he always says, I love them. He thinks that's a prerequisite for leadership, and he has to let them know. When people really believe that you really care about them after a day at work, then you create a relationship that really means something to them.” Only then can the communication be effectively and well prepared.Of course, this takes work to do.