The Communication and Performance Blog #2

Our last blog focused on family-related communication skills.  We learned how to tamp down a brewing family conflict by using the acronym CALM.  Visit to review the post.  Teens and young adults occasionally find themselves in social situations that show signs of trouble.  Examples are concerts and parties where unfortunate activities lead to confrontations.  Obviously, the goal is for us to create awareness of situations before it’s too late so that we can LEAVE.  That’s the next acronym we want to keep in mind. 

Business consultants advise their clients to always know how and when they are going to exit their new business before they open for business.  We can follow the same advice in our social lives:  know how and when you are going to exit an event by being aware of certain silent communicators.  The silent communicators in LEAVE are L = Listen, E = Emotion, A = Action, V = Violence, E = Exit.  Briefly stated, Listen in order to be aware of what is occurring around you.  Understand the Emotion in the room; is it positive or negative?  If the emotion is negative, prepare to take Action.  If you determine that the emotion could lead to Violence, E = Exit immediately.   

I promised to expand on the topic of Workplace ROI.  Tomorrow morning, August 11^th, I begin a 3-week series of 90-minute workshops on this topic.  Information can be found at outfluence.com.  How can we earn the maximum return on our workplace investment of time and effort?  We spend 30 or more years in the workplace.  At the end of that time we expect to have a “nest egg” which will finance our golden years of retirement.  Well, that next egg has become a moving target at best.  There are 10 areas upon which we need to focus if we are to realize a return on our workplace investment.  Today I will introduce 3 of the 10.  They are:  1, recognize opportunity.  2, have faith based in reality.  3, delay gratification.    

How do you recognize a good workplace opportunity?  It requires that we do a little bit of homework.  We need to answer a few questions about ourselves, about the future, and about the prospects we are exploring.  In addition, we must place faith in the leadership of our company and in our co-workers, as well as in the potential of our company to compete in a highly competitive world.  Third, we must understand the process of delayed gratification and how to evaluate if our patience will be rewarded. 

As this blog continues we will explore more about your place in the workplace of the future and how best to perform in it to maximize your success.  We will also continue to explore the 70% of communication that occurs in silence.

Blogger Al Betz is an entrepreneur, an author, and America's silent communicator.  He can be reached at 410-365-0742.