Effective communication is key to just about everything

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.

Research psychologists tell us that the average 1-year-old child has a three-word vocabulary. At age 2, most children have a working knowledge of 272 words. A year later, that number more than triples. At age 6, the average child has command of 2,562 words.

As adults, our word accumulation continues to grow. We can speak up to 18,000 words each day. But that doesn't mean those messages are clear or correctly received. In fact, words can often obscure our messages instead of clarifying them.

Don't confuse using big words or technical jargon with sounding more intelligent. Fancy language does not equate with clarity.

From time to time, you should re-evaluate your performance in these fundamental areas: speaking, listening, writing, leading meetings and resolving conflict.

Effective communication is a necessity for every occupation I can name.

After a long silence, a student answered, "I guess you'd be eating alone."

Mackay's Moral: A few little words can teach big lessons.