The Skill You Need to Sharpen | The Violet View, Sept. 2024

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THE VIOLET VIEW

September 2024 | ISSUE NO. 3

Here's your September issue of The Violet View—a monthly newsletter bringing leadership insights, straight to your inbox.

A Note from our Co-Founder and President, Stefanie

"It doesn't matter what you know, if you can't effectively

communicate what you know."

Read that again and let it sink in for a moment. What are your reactions?

This is how we kick off our skill-building session on communication skills—with a thought-provoking, yet weighty and rather accurate insight.

We're typically met with many nodding heads, a few skeptical looks, and some disagreement. (Psst... that's exactly what we're going for. It engages our audience in the learning process right from the start).

Communication is messy, complex, and critically important—at work, in personal relationships, and in life.

Research shows that we spend about 70% of our time at work communicating—through emails, meetings, quick chats, and feedback. Through verbal, written, and nonverbal means.

This means that we have plenty of opportunities to get our communication wrong. Stop and reflect. Can you think of a recent moment where you missed the mark, lost your audience, or said something you wish you hadn’t? I certainly can.

Reflecting and asking ourselves "what will I do differently next time?" is part of the growth process.

Here's the bright side: because we communicate so frequently, we have countless opportunities to practice, experiment, and improve—this is exactly why we focus on teaching this skill.

In the past month, we've delivered several skill-building sessions on communication skills to diverse audiences — from earlier career technical experts to more seasoned managers and leaders — and one thing is resoundingly clear:

We all have room to sharpen our communication skills.

It's a lifelong effort, with endless opportunities for feedback and refinement.

Here are two places to start:

Start getting intentional about the purpose of your communications. Are you informing, inspiring, giving feedback, empathizing, deciding, or soliciting input? Discern your purpose and let that guide your structure.
Stop leading with superfluous details and jargon. Lead with your 1-2 most critical headlines, and offer more detail only when needed. Imagine: Your audience has 20 seconds to listen—what do you REALLY need them to hear?

Where do you have immediate opportunities to improve your communications?

Here's to continuing to lead and learn each day,

Stefanie

When you travel together a lot...

Stefanie and TVG team member, Catherine, recently showed up to a client session in matching outfits—striped shirts, black pants, black heels—the works!

Our client joked that TVG must have uniforms.

Talk about a 'tell me you've worked together forever without telling me' moment!

TVG's Guide on Executive Coaching

We've had the pleasure of coaching hundreds of leaders, from new managers to seasoned C-suite executives—most of whom had never worked with a coach before.

Read on to discover how executive coaching can accelerate leadership development and offer trusted, expert guidance to thrive through challenges.

Learn More

What We're Teaching 🗣️

Our team developed a 4-part framework to help you develop and use your most powerful voice.

We had the pleasure of leading a session on this very topic with the Junior League of Chicago. Our framework focuses on:

Identifying key moments where using your voice matters most
Clarifying core, non-negotiable values
Preparing for a stress response
Communicating with impact

What We're Reading 📖

Give and Take by fellow Organizational Psychologist, Adam Grant, teaches us that professional success isn't simply about individual achievement.

It describes 3 types of people—givers, takers, and matchers—revealing that givers, when intentional about their generosity, build more productive, innovative teams.

This is essential reading for leaders seeking to build high performance teams and drive long-term success for themselves and others.

Give it a Read!

TVG Team Spotlight: Meet Catherine Savage, Ph.D.

We love showcasing The Violet Group's amazing team!

Courtney, our social media manager, interviewed each member to share their stories, skills, and highlights of the year.

Let's spotlight our Senior Consultant and Executive Coach, Catherine Savage, Ph.D.!

Learn More About Catherine

Inclusive leadership isn’t just a nice-to-have – it’s a powerful enabler of performance.

The Violet Group is in the process of delivering two virtual sessions on Inclusive Leadership, where we're equipping members of a professional community organization to better understand themselves, implement strategies for inclusive leadership, and identify unconscious biases—all with the goal of moving toward conscious inclusion.

Research shows that diverse teams make better decisions, drive innovation, and anticipate change more effectively. In fact, the most gender-diverse companies outperform the least diverse by 48%, and inclusive companies are more likely to make bold, impactful choices.

Join us next month for deeper insights into sustaining inclusive practices for long-term success!

Until then...happy listening, learning, and leading, TVG community!

Have feedback for us or want us to feature a specific topic in an upcoming edition of The Violet View? Simply respond directly to this email – we’d love to chat and hear your insights.

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