Embracing crystal clear communication in a leadership role

When Bill recollects his time working with Jim, he sounds like he's talking about an old friend.

He's got a decade's worth of memories. As he reminisces, he can tell you about Jim's uncanny ability to read people, assess situations, and deliver his observations in a clear, to-the-point manner. Bill laughs as he recalls when Jim prefaced one of his assessments, "Sorry to be blunt, but…." That bluntness, Bill says, is precisely what people should pay Jim for.

Bill met Jim as a recruiter ten years ago. Like many, he gravitated towards a coaching relationship. Jim has a way of seeing through the haze of complex situations and adding clarity. Darryl respected his opinion and found himself coming to Jim for advice. In the early days, Bill held a management position in the finance world. Over the years, he worked his way up. Today, he's a top executive at a major organization.

These days, Bill's relationship with Jim is two-pronged: Jim advises him one-on-one, but he's also available as a coach for those in the entire company. When Bill realized the value that Jim could bring to the lives of members of the organization, he hired him.

As Bill says, Jim has always been a trusted voice of reason. That bluntness he spoke about is actually what Bill most values. The way that Jim communicates is clear — there's no room for interpretation. That clarity was something Bill himself aimed to emulate. He knew that he couldn't afford to be responsible for wires crossing or for his messages getting muddled. Frankly, his role is busy enough without having to iron out miscommunications.

In working with Jim, Bill learned why he is such a strong communicator: he says what he means, but he also sees things from the perspectives of others. Jim showed Bill how to put himself in other people's shoes. He better understands that what motivates one person won't be the same as what motivates the next. He sees that everyone comes to a situation with their own life experience and point of view. As a team leader, he says, if he doesn't see things through the eyes of others, he's barking up the wrong tree...

One of the biggest rewards Bill has taken from his coaching with Jim is working with someone who has an astounding ability to take an overwhelming, multi-faceted issue, extract the crucial components and decide what the top priorities should be. By offering his coaching services company-wide, he's ensuring that people-oriented matters are taken care of and that employees have an unbiased third party to confide in.

The reason why Bill has worked with Jim for ten years is simple: his advice works. He says there's no better validation of the value that Jim brings than the fact that he decided that his advice and coaching was so practical that he didn't want to keep it to himself. Bill continues to work with Jim because he needs support. He realizes that if the top elite athletes in the world need coaches, executives do too.