Quotes About Communication

Alignment cannot be achieved with one good speech from the bridge of the ship—it is established one person at a time. Even though everyone is in the same boat, heading in the same direction, it's quite likely they are going there for different reasons. Yes, working through these issues one person at a time is time consuming, but not as time consuming and frustrating as dealing with lack of alignment when the boat is in the middle of a storm, part way to its destination.

High performance teams master the art of straight talk. They have learned how to confront issues and address behaviors without attacking or provoking one another.

Because many barriers are organizational in nature, team leaders as the boundary managers can play a major role in dampening their effects. In some respects team leaders can play the role of team diplomat and ambassador to other components in the organization.

Crystal clear roles characterize high performance teams. Every team member is clear about his or her particular role as well as those of the other team members.

Role issues are invariably one of the top three problems teams face (ineffective processes and communication represent the other two major team problems).

Within the team you must balance demands, sometimes conflicting, between individual team members and the task, between individual team members and the team, between the team and the task, and between the team and the larger organization. Again, you're a juggler. And if you drop one of these balls, you must invest in damage control.

Ultimately leadership boils down to a relationship. High-quality relationships are based on trust—trust of one anothers' competence as well as character.

Communication is the very means of cooperation.

Communication appears to be deceptively easy. However, most of us carry a major misconception about the process: that communication is primarily message sending. Communication does not take place until someone receives the message and understands it as the sender intended. The most eloquent speech or the most beautifully composed letter isn't a successful communication if it misses the mark.

All day I listened and looked down, hoping no one would ask me a question. I hid so deep inside, I'd lose myself for days, forget the sound of my own voice. At home, I was silent more and more, my mouth too sad to speak.

A net of words, he said at last, is more powerful than a net of rope.

if you speak of this I will tear out your voice and top it down the nearest drain

I could barely do more than watch the rich tapestry they were of their glances and slow smiles, the words they spoke that said one thing to my father, and another to me, while the ivy, growing secretly all around us, whispered warnings.

I did not say what I thought; perhaps, if it remained unspoken, it would become untrue.

What you say, when you say a word. What you think when you say it. What I see and hear when you speak. Words are ancient; visions and echoes cling to them like barnacles on the whale's back. You speak words used in poetry and song since the beginning of the world we know. Here, you will learn to hear and to speak as if you had never listened, never spoken before. Then you will learn the thousand meanings within the word. What you say when you say fire.

If nobody's talking, then nobody can say no.

She closed her eyes, felt a long breath ease out of her, and realized then how much knowledge could weigh until it was shared.

Gyre did not comment. She glanced at him, found an odd open, rueful expression on his face, as if he were looking inside and found himself lacking. It was unusual, she thought; his confidence seemed always unassailable. No one is unassailable, he said, shifting a branch in the fire with his bare hand. Then he turned his head quickly to meet her cold eye. I'm sorry. My thoughts were drifting; they floated into yours." Anchor them, she suggested drily. "I will try.

All human cultures, from hunter-gatherers to city slickers, share certain universals in the ways that we, as primates, interact with one another. This social destiny has a profound influence on the way that we relate to our dogs.

The next time you see a dog you'd like to greet, stop a few feet away, stand sideways rather than straight on, and avoid looking directly into her eyes. Wait for the dog to come all the

What is given from the heart reaches the heart.

Among all of us there was a leadership philosophy expressed to the entire organization: If there is a problem and you tell me, it's our problem. If there is a problem and you don't tell me, it's your problem—and you don't want to have a problem!

His philosophy hasn't changed: to get in front of the problem and tell the truth about what is happening. "If problems exist, recognize them and take corrective steps immediately.

When information doesn't flow, bureaucracy builds and departments become siloed. Stagnation is the inevitable result.