How do other people communicate?

In this step, you will be introduced to Dana Denis-Smith who talks about her personal communication style and her insight into communicating as a business leader.

Dana is a business leader and CEO at Obelisk Support, a provider of flexible legal services. Her company brings together organisations and a community of hundreds of highly experienced legal professionals who want to work outside the traditional hours of nine to five. Working with FTSE100 companies, major law firms and businesses around the world, Obelisk Support helps customers to deliver high quality and cost-effective legal work.

Dana introduces herself and answers the following questions in the in-line short audio clips:

^{Select the Play button to listen to each clip.}

Dana’s introduction _{This clip is 1:28 minutes.}

What was your journey to becoming an effective communicator and leader? _{This clip is 1:28 minutes.}

What mistakes have you made in the way you have communicated? _{This clip is 1:25 minutes.}

What are your communication preferences? How do you use your preferences for different situations? _{This clip is 2:23 minutes.}

How should you approach communication when you first start a new role or job? _{This clip is 1:12 minutes.}

How can you be yourself at work and settle into a new job? _{This clip is 1:37 minutes.}

What are the key skills you need to progress in your career? _{This clip is 1:28 minutes.}

Accessible versions of these in-line clips are available in the Downloads section.

Dana places a lot of emphasis on personal development in communication because you ultimately only have control over yourself. Whilst this is necessary, it’s equally important to remember that if you’re the only one making an effort to develop, it will be ineffective. This is because communication is about engagement and cooperation with others.

When teams fail to communicate with each other, the results can be very damaging to a business. Improvement in communication needs to be a collaborative business effort, where employees are working together.

Good communication is as much a collaborative effort as it is a personal one. All employees in a business, from the CEO to the most recently hired intern, need to be trained in communication techniques. This will help create honest, open and helpful communication pathways in the workplace.

What do you think?

Dana explains the importance of being able to adapt how you communicate with colleagues and clients.

• Do you think it’s important to be completely yourself at work?
• Can you think of an example where you may have felt restricted in being yourself in a professional setting?

Share and discuss your thoughts with other learners in the Comments section.