One skill you must master in Life
Some time ago, I made a brash proclamation that I am not ‘…a Comms Guy.’
You see, at the time I was proud to be working with a team of high-performing media and communications professionals, each of whom really knew their craft. I definitely didn’t want there to be any confusion among these people, nor any other audience, about where the actual media and communications expertise was — even if I had been surprisingly bestowed with the ignominious task of trying to lead these remarkable humans.
Life has since continued to progress, in its unrelenting fashion. Gray hairs have finally turned to white. With this same passage of time, a slow dawning has also been drawing ever nearer to the fore of my mind, that it seems I am now ready to publicly acknowledge.
I actually AM ‘…a Comms Guy.’ More importantly, SO ARE YOU.
Well, let us say ‘Comms Person’ for the purpose of inclusivity and especially to make this about you all, rather than me.
The success of everything we do with or for others can be essentially reduced to quality of communication. Friendship. Marriage. Sports. Work. Business. Music. Religion. Politics. Community.
“The success of everything we do with or for others can be essentially reduced to quality of communication”
We also communicate when we are alone. Really? Yes. Can’t be certain about you, but there is definitely a constant narrative running in my mind, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse.
No matter the situation, there is always a story when it comes to humanity.
Sometimes we are writing that story in code. Sometimes we are manipulating paint, or pixels, or notes to tell the story. Sometimes we are preparing slides at work, or (perhaps worse) watching someone else’s. Maybe we are discovering a story in some numbers on a spreadsheet.
In our interactions with one another, we are always either telling a story, or listening to a story. At the pub. Over the coffee machine. In the car. While we walk. In front of a TV. At the local shop.
“…we are always either telling a story, or listening to a story”
Of course, not everything we do is specifically communication in and of itself. It is still true that communication and collaboration is usually at the foundation. Let’s take the example of building a road. Communication lies at the heart of the effectiveness of the civil engineer’s vision, the truck driver’s timely placement of aggregate, the safety officers’ regulation of traffic, or the hundreds of thousands of vehicle drivers and passengers who subsequently ‘read the road’ and the signage dotted along the way, to get them to their destination.
A majority of people are taught to read and write. Very few specifically elect to study communication in more detail. Yet it seems to be the one skill we really must master in this Life!
When I was choosing a University pathway, I ignorantly saw many of the artistic and creative degree options as ‘soft’, while other more technical degrees were seemingly ‘hard’ and ‘important.’ How silly.
I’ve since learned that communication is actually far more difficult to get ‘right’ than technical and rules-based disciplines like mathematics or physics or engineering.
This may be a trivial epiphany to you, as you may have realised the importance of communication long before I have. You may even proudly call yourself a ‘Comms Person’ with no reservations.
Still, I find this quite fascinating.
So much of what is important in Life depends on mastering this one skill.
Where and how do you see yourself as a ‘Comms Person?’ What elements of your life are improved (or could be), when you put time and effort into further developing your skill of communication?
It’s never too late to learn. That is what this ‘Comms Person’ believes.
