Business Communications Management

When faced with problems, many business leaders and teams look for familiar and standard problem-solving methods, often creating unnecessary struggle, frustration, delay, and ineffectiveness in solving the problem - if it is ever solved at all! In other words, they keep reaching for the same old hammer as if every business problem were a nail.

5 Voices is the code for unlocking your capacity to have honest conversations and build deeper, more authentic relationships with your teams, your families, and your friends. In order to lead others effectively, we need a true understanding of ourselves, our natural tendencies, and patterns of behavior.

We've all been taught that we must suppress or avoid emotions at work, but this inevitably leads to a loss in productivity, diminished creativity, and crushing job dissatisfaction. Research shows 85 percent of us avoid communicating crucial workplace problems upward, and many of us who are employed are actively looking for a different job. What's going on?

Whether you're discussing the terms of a high-stakes deal, forming a key partnership, asking for a raise, or planning a family event, negotiating can be stressful. One person makes a demand, the other concedes a point. In the end, you settle on a subpar solution in the middle—if you come to any agreement at all. But these discussions don't need to be win-or-lose situations. Written by negotiation expert Jeff Weiss, the HBR Guide to Negotiating provides a disciplined approach to finding a solution that works for everyone involved.

Communication expert and leadership coach Shawn Kent Hayashi has spent more than two decades studying how the things people say impact their business and professional lives. In her new book Conversations for Change: 12 Ways to Say It Right When It Matters Most, she not only identifies the 12 most important types of conversations people have, but shows readers how to reach their maximum potential by using these conversations effectively.

In More Time to Think, Nancy Kline demonstrates that the quality of everything we do depends on the quality of the thinking we do first. The leaders, entrepreneurs and business people who understand this are at the top of their fields and inspire some of the most successful and innovative practices and businesses in the world. In this audiobook, Nancy Kline shares 10 effective ways to help people think innovatively, and with rigour.

In The Storytelling Edge, the strategy minds behind Contently, the world renowned content marketing technology company, reveal their secrets that have helped award-winning brands to build relationships with millions of advocates and customers. Join as they dive into the neuroscience of storytelling, the elements of powerful stories, and methodologies to grow businesses through engaging and accountable content.

Best-selling author Bill George ( True North) and longtime corporate executive Doug Baker have participated for decades in a unique small group of peers dedicated to personal growth and leadership development. In this book they provide the first practical guide - including detailed instructions, rules, and resources - for anyone to start and manage such a group on their own.

Did you know that everything is negotiable? Unfortunately, most people are poor negotiators, and the number one reason why can be traced back to early childhood. This audio series can help you change that. Whether you are trying to influence or negotiate with your largest client, boss, spouse or even one of your children—you need to be skillful. Do you think it might help to be better at reading body language?

You already have a one-of-a-kind idea inside of you that will not only spread like wildfire but will also change minds, incite action, and leave a legacy you can be proud of. You just need help excavating it, shaping it, and launching it into the world. Drawing upon more than 25 years of both research and real-world experience, the author explains a simple approach to creating not only a message that grows your business 24-seven, but a movement that’s bigger than your business and takes on a life of its own.

Stories have power. They move people in a way that facts and figures can't. Many leaders use stories as a tool, but leadership development expert Tim Tobin says most have no idea what tale their own leadership is telling. He shows how, by thinking of your career as a narrative - with a plot, characters, and an arc - you can increase your awareness of yourself as a leader and become more effective, insightful, and inspiring.

No matter how old you are, there's a good chance that the word popular immediately transports you back to your teenage years. Most of us can easily recall the adolescent social cliques, the high school pecking order, and which of our peers stood out as the most or the least popular teens we knew. Even as adults we all still remember exactly where we stood in the high school social hierarchy, and the powerful emotions associated with our status persist decades later. This may be for good reason.

Leveraging. Strategizing. Opening the kimono. Unlocking human capital. Trying to nail that BHAG. All on a go-forward basis. These are only a few examples of the jargon-ridden language that is too often the mainstay of business communication. Jargon frustrates, confuses, and generally alienates listeners. Yet it's also everywhere, and using it can often seem like a mandatory requirement for anyone who wants to establish credibility in a professional workplace. To be an effective leader, you must be brave enough to be the first to drop jargon.

If you find yourself getting fed up and frustrated with a colleague whose incompetence is driving you crazy, a boss who gets angry when you're not a mind reader, or an employee who habitually challenges your authority, chances are you're caught in an emotional trap in the workplace. Quit complaining and do something!

Although successful women excel in every way, many resist the idea of seeking help due to fear of being viewed as weak or incompetent. Instead, they struggle alone and sacrifice their happiness and peace along the way. If you feel this way, you’re in the right place! In Get Over “I Got It,” author and podcast host Elayne Fluker shows you that this isolated mindset is the reason you are overwhelmed, depressed, and even unfulfilled.

People power your business - and success can hinge on your hiring, inspiring, and keeping the right ones. As a manager, are you cultivating this vital resource? Is there more you could be doing? Are you just winging it? Every HR executive has a laundry list of things they wish managers knew: best practices that would enable the entire organization to operate more effectively, transforming those managers into exceptional - and highly promotable - leaders.

People often convey intended and unintended messages in ways that extend far beyond the words they use. A gesture, a tone, a figure of speech - it's our unconscious biases that speak volumes. When you understand how they are manifested through “micromessages”, you operate a step ahead of everyone. This peerless guide has helped business leaders across more than 300 companies in 35 countries. Now, this new edition has been updated for a world where digital platforms and social upheaval have revolutionized the way we communicate.

From prominent communication coach Frances Cole Jones comes this indispensable guide in which anyone can learn how to make a spectacular impression in all aspects of their work life - from giving top notch presentations to dazzling a client to wowing at cocktail parties. It's the go-to handbook for achieving success by making a lasting impression.

You have to talk with a colleague about a fraught situation, but you're worried that they'll yell, or blame you, or shut down. You fear your emotions could block you from a resolution. But you can communicate in a way that's constructive—not combative.

Everyone recognizes leaders with "presence." They stand out for their seemingly innate ability to command attention and inspire commitment. But what is this secret quality they exude, exactly? Executive and CEO coach Kristi Hedges demystifies this elusive trait, revealing that leadership presence is the intersection of outward influencing skills and internal mental conditioning. Using her I-Presence model, the author shows how anyone-regardless of position or personality-can strengthen their impact.