Communication Strategies: Incite or Invite
Posted on | September 22, 2009 | No Comments
My recent blog posts have been focused on the receiver of information. This post asks you to look at how you are communicating. What messages, verbal or behavioral, are you sending your coworkers, friends, family and strangers?
The past weeks have been filled with examples of public outbursts, from Joe Wilson calling President Obama a liar to Serena Williams verbally attacking a line judge and Kanye West grabbing the microphone at the MTV Video Music Awards. There was even a march on Washington, a so-called “Tea Party” that included a sign saying “Bury Obamacare with Kennedy.”
Our nation and the world have a vast array of problems that need to be addressed. We need our greatest minds and our hearts involved in deep, inclusive and thoughtful conversations. But these behaviors incite and inflame rather than invite discourse and learning. They focus attention on the outburst rather than the issues at hand.
And these recent examples are but a few high-profile cases. What about our everyday interactions? How many times a day do you see incidents of rudeness? It might be on the road, in a restaurant or shop, in your workplace or in your home. We each see it, and many of us condemn it—but many of us are also guilty of ignoring it.
The question this provokes for me is, how many of us pay attention to our own actions when we are guilty of behavior that irritates, annoys or frustrates another? It is indeed the time for us to ask whether we are contributing to this growing phenomenon. And if we are, how can we alter our behavior? How can we express our views in a way that allows our messages to be heard and in a way that invites thoughtful discourse?
A challenge: Try observing your own behavior this week. How are you treating others? What messages are you sending? Are they the messages you really want to send? Are you encouraging dialogue or inflaming situations?
As always, I invite your comments.
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