10 Common Communication Mistakes

 Avoiding Communication Blunders and Misunderstandings
 
It can be embarrassing to make mistakes with communication. For example, if you send an email without checking it, and later realize that it contained an error, you can end up looking sloppy and unprofessional.
But other communication mistakes can have more serious consequences. They can tarnish your reputation, upset clients, or even lead to lost revenue.
In this article, we'll look at 10 common communication mistakes, and we'll discuss what you can do to avoid them.

Mistake 1: Not Editing Your Work

Mistakes with spelling, tone, and grammar make you look careless. That's why it's essential to check all of your communications before you send them.
Don't rely on spell-checkers: they won't pick up words that are used incorrectly. Instead, proofread your work, and use a dictionary to look up any words that you're unsure about.
You may find it helpful to make a list of words and phrases that you find it hard to get right (such as "your/you're," "its/it's," or "affect/effect"). Store this close to hand.
It can be difficult to see errors in your own work, so consider asking a colleague to look over key documents before you distribute them. Alternatively, read your work aloud – this makes it easier to catch typos and tone errors. Then, give yourself time to reflect on your document, and to make any final changes.

Mistake 2: Delivering Bad News by Email

Would you announce layoffs to your team by email or IM? If you did, you could upset everyone!
Written communication channels don't allow you to soften difficult messages with nonverbal cues (such as body language ), and they don't allow you to deal immediately with intense emotions.
If you need to deliver bad news, do this in person, and think carefully about how you can do it sensitively, so that you can convey your message but minimize long-term upset at the same time.
When you deliver a difficult message personally, you can pick up on signs that people may have misunderstood key parts of your message, or may have taken the information particularly badly. You can then take steps to clarify your message, or help people deal with the difficult news.

Mistake 3: Avoiding Difficult Conversations

At some point, you will need to give negative feedback. It's tempting to try to avoid these conversations, but this can cause further problems – in particular, you may let small problems grow into big ones.
Preparation is the key to handling difficult conversations. Learn to give clear, actionable feedback, and use tools such as the Situation – Behavior – Impact technique to encourage your people to reflect on their behavior.
You may also want to role-play your conversation first, so that you feel confident in both your words and your body language.

Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

 
When you think of a "perfect leader," what comes to mind?
You might picture someone who never lets his temper get out of control, no matter what problems he's facing. Or you might think of someone who has the complete trust of her staff, listens to her team, is easy to talk to, and always makes careful, informed decisions.
These are qualities of someone with a high degree of emotional intelligence .
In this article, we'll look at why emotional intelligence is so important for leaders – and how you, as a leader, can improve yours.

What Is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, and those of the people around you. People with a high degree of emotional intelligence know what they're feeling, what their emotions mean, and how these emotions can affect other people.
For leaders, having emotional intelligence is essential for success. After all, who is more likely to succeed – a leader who shouts at his team when he's under stress, or a leader who stay in control, and calmly assesses the situation?
According to Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist who helped to popularize EI, there are five main elements of emotional intelligence:

1. Self-awareness.
2. Self-regulation.
3. Motivation.
4. Empathy.
5. Social skills.

The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence. So, let's look at each element in more detail and examine how you can grow as a leader.

Trump in victory: 'It is time for us to come together' By Jeremy Diamond,

Donald Trump promised to work to "bind the wounds of division" and bring Americans together as the next president of the United States as he claimed victory in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

"I say it is time for us to come together as one united people," Trump said. "I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans and this is so important to me."

Trump began that process by congratulating his opponent Hillary Clinton on her "very, very hard-fought campaign" and said Americans "owe her a major debt of gratitude" for her decades of public service. He said Clinton called him to concede the race and to congratulate Trump on his victory.

And Trump also sought to reassure people around the world about what his presidency will mean for the world.

"While we will always put America's interests first, we will deal fairly with everyone -- with everyone. We will seek common ground, not hostility," Trump said.

The newly minted president-elect put aside his penchant for bashing the media and belittling his political rivals, instead repeatedly emphasizing that his next focus will be on unifying the country, which has been battered and deeply divided by the intensely vitriolic 2016 presidential campaign.

"To those who have chosen not to support me in the past -- of which there were a few people -- I'm reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so that we can work together and unify our great country," he said.

Trump emerged on stage at 2:50 a.m., followed by his family and dozens of his closest campaign advisers and surrogates. Instead of descending an escalator, the Republican walked down a set of stairs onto the stage below to the soundtrack of "Air Force One."

Trump thanked his staff and advisers, but singled out Reince Priebus for special praise, asking the Republican National Committee chairman to join him at the podium.

Of course, Trump also tipped his hat to the movement that propelled his improbable campaign -- and his outsider victory, which he said has "been what they call a historic event."

"I've said from the beginning, ours was not a campaign but rather an incredible and great movement made up of millions of hardworking men and women who love their country and want a better, brighter future for themselves and for their family," he said. "While the campaign is over, our work on this movement has really just started."

Introducing Trump, his vice presidential nominee Mike Pence also tipped his hat to the "historic night" and said "the American people have elected their new champion."

And he wrapped up his brief remarks with a simple phrase: "It is my high honor and distinct privilege to introduce you to the president elect of the United States, Donald Trump."

 

Culled from CNN

Trump will become 45th President of United States of America

Fallen Hero- Late Lt. col Muhammed Abu Ali

It could be recalled that Ali’s exceptional gallantry earned him accelerated promotion from Major to Lt. Col in September 2015.

9 Habits Of Highly Emotionally Intelligent People

 
When emotional intelligence first appeared to the masses, it served as the missing link in a peculiar finding: people with average IQs outperform those with the highest IQs 70% of the time. This anomaly threw a massive wrench into what many people had always assumed was the sole source of success—IQ. Decades of research now point to emotional intelligence as the critical factor that sets star performers apart from the rest of the pack.

How much of an impact does emotional intelligence (EQ) have on your professional success? The short answer is: a lot! It’s a powerful way to focus your energy in one direction with a tremendous result. Of all the people we’ve studied at work, we’ve found that 90% of top performers are high in emotional intelligence. You can be a top performer without emotional intelligence, but the chances are slim.

Emotional intelligence is the “something” in each of us that is a bit intangible. It affects how we manage behavior, navigate social complexities, and make personal decisions that achieve positive results. Emotional intelligence is made up of four core skills that pair up under two primary competencies: personal competence and social competence.

Personal competence comprises your self-awareness and self-management skills, which focus more on you individually than on your interactions with other people. Personal competence is your ability to stay aware of your emotions and manage your behavior and tendencies.

• Self-Awareness is your ability to accurately perceive your emotions and stay aware of them as they happen.
• Self-Management is your ability to use awareness of your emotions to stay flexible and positively direct your behavior.

Social competence is made up of your social awareness and relationship management skills; social competence is your ability to understand other people’s moods, behavior, and motives in order to respond effectively and improve the quality of your relationships.

• Social Awareness is your ability to accurately pick up on emotions in other people and understand what is really going on.
• Relationship Management is your ability to use awareness of your emotions and the others’ emotions to manage interactions successfully.

Despite the significance of emotional intelligence, its intangible nature makes it very difficult to know which behaviors you should emulate. So I’ve analyzed the data from the million-plus people TalentSmart has tested in order to identify the habits that set high-EQ people apart.