A young man, fresh from receiving his MBA, went back to visit his old college professor to ask him a question that had always puzzled him. He asked, "What do you think is the most important quality for someone who wants to become a business leader?"
The professor answered communication, without hesitation.
"The leader who can't communicate can't create the conditions that motivate, and the genius who can't communicate is intellectually impotent," he added. "The organization that can't communicate can't change, and the organization that can't change is dead."
My good friend Nido Qubein, president of High Point University, shared the above example with me.
Mark McCormack, the late founder of International Management Group, now IMG, and a writer, said something similar: "A manager's personal style — how good he or she is at exchanging information — contributes more to a department's efficiency than the results of any structured or organizational brilliance."
The word communication comes from a Latin word meaning "to share." We share ideas, thoughts, information and concerns. Communication can start friendships or make enemies.
And if we don't communicate effectively, we have wasted our time.
As a business owner, author and speaker, I constantly preach that clear communication is of utmost importance. Confusion is bad for business.