25 | Practising Empathetic & Introspective Leadership

A lecturer in his early career, Nick’s first foray into ‘practical communications’ was as a speechwriter for the Governor of Virginia. In 1997 he went on to found Public Words, a consultancy with a mission to improve the world of professional communication in which he has worked with CEOs from most of the Fortune Top 50, a number of Heads of State and a US President or two (he wouldn't tell us who!) ​

I met Nick at the launch of his newest book 'Can you hear me? : How to connect with people in a virtual world'.  As the use of smartphones, teleconference, video conference and email continues to explode in business, Nick explores the impact that's having on the quality and impact of our communications. He shares the top five challenges he identified in his research and offers some ideas on how to mitigate them.

Show Notes:

2.24 – Nick’s background – 4.40 – …and his commercial experience – 5.40 – Why he wrote the book – 7.35 – Challenge 1 – lack of feedback in digital communication – 10.05 – Not noticing a Brazilian earthquake! – 12.05 – The brain processes Why before How/What – 12.35 – Recipients need to provide feedback, but it’s tough at first – 14.00 – We need to rethink purpose and HOW of virtual meetings – 15.40 – Challenge 2 – lack of feedback = lack of empathy - 18.20 – actively increasing feedback can help to avoid hostility – 20.24 – Trust is very fragile in the virtual world, we’re quick to judge – 25.30 – Challenge 3 – lack of control over your persona – 29.10 - Challenge 4 – Lack of emotion (which makes it hard to make good decisions) – 35.00 - We have to get better at expressing intent to be better understood – 36.24 - Challenge 5 – Lack of connection – means relationships are more fragile – 37.25 - How do we address these issues? - 37.45 – Get better at storytelling, be authentic and vulnerable – 40.30 – Find out how people feel - 43.10 – Use emojis and emoticons to introduce ‘body language’! – 46.00 – Nick’s advice to himself – ‘find your own way’