Mind your words…for words are all that you have

Gyanendra Kumar Kashyap

Why is it important to communicate with courage, innovation and discipline...

Sometimes in December 2007, Airtel chose to express itself differently. “Barriers break when people talk…fences fall when people talk…walls crumble when people talk,” is how Airtel communicated its philosophy. For those who were accustomed to the brand’s ‘Express Yourself’ campaign, the new communication was a mere extension keeping in line with the brand’s philosophy. Apart from students of advertising, the ad campaign has lessons as to how to effectively use the power of words to communicate. Be it a mere marketing campaign or an outstanding advertisement, or a powerful sales pitch, or for that matter an electrifying election campaign; what stands out in each case is the ‘power of words’ and yes the tone in which they were communicated. Words, by themselves, have the inherent power to move, inspire, uplift, give hope to the hopeless; on the contrary they can pull apart, demoralize, hurt, deflate, destroy and belittle. Words and how they are communicated are powerful instruments; they can show great wisdom and knowledge or utter stupidity. Communication, as they say is neither easy nor intuitive. True, it’s one of the most important skills that we have, but isn’t it equally true that it is this skill that we happen to screw up the most. Hence, when communicating, care must be taken to speak empowering and positive words; for negative words can trigger the fight / flight / freeze response which further leads to reactive, defensive thoughts and behavior. So much so, organizations have set up ‘corporate communication’ department and have hired PR firms for effective communication with both internal and external customer / shareholder.

Powerful communication in the political arena have  helped leaders build their political careers and have even helped a few swing the mood of the voters on the penultimate day; on the contrary there have been instances of leaders who have had to bequeath their chairs, or have had to bear the unwanted brunt of media criticism when their words are blown out of proportion (in the Indian context Shashi Tharoor and Narendra Modi are two such examples). In the organizational context, there have been instances wherein dialogues between management and employee representatives were unnecessarily prolonged because of the lack of clarity in communicating their stands. Nearly all of management issues arise due to lack of effective communication. Chances regarding misunderstanding and misrepresentation can be minimized together with proper communication system. Depending on the existing organizational dynamics an organization and its lead communicators can choose either of the four communication styles: the listener, the creator, the doer and the thinker. The listener is an effective communicator because he is steady, understands there is more than one way to achieve the same results and is willing to listen to other perspectives. The creator is another effective communicator because he is enthusiastic, creative and skilled in persuasion. The doer is assertive, goal-oriented, verbal and competent in problem-solving. The thinker is analytical, slow to react and contemplative.

Are there returns on investment in effective communication? A communication ROI report, ‘Capitalizing on Effective Communication’ by Towers Watson (2009/10) stated that, "Companies that communicate with courage, innovation and discipline, especially during times of economic challenge and change, are more effective at engaging employees and achieving desired business results." Further the report said that most effective communicators had 47 percent higher total returns to shareholders over a five-year span than the least effective communicators.

The success or failure of an organization clearly depends on how it communicates. If it wants the barriers of misunderstandings to break / crumble, it must communicate. Effective communication invariably depends on the choice of words; communicators on both sides of the table must realize that its words and words alone that they have to either make or mar.