What does cancer have to do with communication? If you think about it, communication dysfunctions also hide out as nameless, faceless, sabotaging agents that are capable of wreaking havoc on the health of personal and professional relationships. Communication challenges can also poison workplace culture, spreading toxicity swiftly and quietly through disengaged, careless, and fearful members. Not many people like confrontation or stepping in as mediators to conflict - but what would happen if instead of hiding out, we practiced embracing organizational tensions? Communication is fluid, not fixed, and that means there are multiple junctures that provide opportunities for infusing fresh insights, empathy, respect, and consideration into everyday workflows.

Great leaders make space for the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the comfortable and the uncomfortable, because a great leader knows how to learn something from everything.

Through Conrad and Poole's system's principles, curating a healthy communication flow is not as difficult as it may seem. The value of systems thinking is that it provides a focus on the framework - creating space for humanity to flow in and throughout - with the opportunity to adapt with advancement. Communication skills, strategic thinking, and mindfulness are essential skills for leaders of the future. If we hope to lead, direct, govern, or oversee people - we need to continually practice improving communications skills. This episode of Coeur d'Femme was created from the blog post, Cancerous Communications. If you would like more information on topics related to communications theories and strategic communication planning, join me HERE.

I hope this episode leaves you with some things to contemplate before embarking on the new year. Take with you what worked, leave behind what breeds unnecessary challenges, and let's keep on moving forward.

Melinda