Unlocking Leadership Through Authentic Communication

How many times have you raised your voice and been perceived as confident? Probably never. Confident people normally don’t blow a gasket when they’re trying to be heard. In this episode I explore the real reason we get aggressive during conversations and share an alternative way of getting your message across that works every time.

Do you want to hold more authority and have a greater sense of presence during meetings? Say less. I know it’s counter-intuitive but it really makes a big difference. Here we talk about the presence of people who dominate the room with constant contributions versus the presence of people who dominate with a succinct and well thought out opinion.

The more you speak the less credible you may become. If you find yourself working hard to make your point, you’ve likely lost your audience. In this episode, we explore where over-explaining comes from, how you can recognize it and what you can do to establish presence when fear of scrutiny attempts to take the driver’s seat.

Trust me when I tell you that your authentic communication is always going to feel better than who you pretend to be to feel safe. Not only is it going to feel better, but people will be more likely to gravitate towards you than want nothing to do with you. Communication likely feels hard because you aren’t being yourself. You’re essentially out of alignment with who you are and how you express who you are. We explore this in the professional setting. And if no one has told you yet, you’re enough just as you are.

Simply put, control feels hard. Clarity feels remarkably easy. In this episode, I show you how to spot when someone might be acting out of control rather than clarity. We discuss the cost of leveraging control versus clarity. And we discuss the two things you can do when communicating with others to ensure you’re not controlling but are clear.

Calling all quiet leaders! Calling all quiet leaders! You may have more executive presence than you thought. As it turns out, confidence is rooted in steadiness, not volume. So if anyone ever taught you that you’re too quiet to lead, maybe that person has it all wrong. In this episode, we debunk some common beliefs and I show you a little trick I learned from Daniel Pink on how to know who the real influencers in the room are.

I LOVE a good outline…especially if I’m going to be in a high stakes situation. When I wasn’t as established in my communication journey, I lived by them. Like…literally read off the script. That approach lead to distrust because people thought I was just checking a box and getting through important conversations. I never really felt comfortable with the script so I looked at the paper more than I looked at the person I was talking with. And what’s worse, I likely forgot the whole reason I put the script together in the first place…to create connection. In this episode, we explore how scripts can benefit you when you use them right.

We were all taught how to communicate by the experiences we went through the moment we were born. In this episode, I explore how these innate learnings show up in present day leadership and why most of us need to work to make some changes in how you lead. If you freeze when you’re challenged, replay conversations in your head or avoid feedback discussions, this episode is for you. Listening won’t get you on the path to communicating differently, but understanding why you communicate the way you do will give current behavior patterns less power.

Your team is looking for leadership. When you’re so nice you confuse your audience, your team doesn’t take you seriously and you don’t get results…you need to make some changes. In this episode, I give you a formula that I use when giving feedback that allows you to be direct, create trust, strengthen relationships and meet your goals.

If you shrink when you should be respectfully challenging someone or bite your tongue when something makes you upset, you aren’t necessarily being professional. You very well could be taking valid emotions and shoving them way down so you can keep the peace…and your job. Here, we explore some sentiments I grew up with that you likely did too and how you can express how you feel without compromising your character and credibility.