3 ways to become a more complete, influential communicator

Exceptional, edifying communicators are hard to find.

What separates the great from the good, the phenomenal from the pedestrian?

Here are three ways to become more than a replaceable, uninspired, word-slinging copy jockey:

1. Put others before yourself, but don’t be a pushover. “Empathy” is perhaps the hottest workplace topic right now. It’s no wonder why. Empathy is vital to morale and retention, and it’s the lifeblood for a compassionate culture that values and empowers workers.

Empathy for your colleagues should fuel and form your messaging, and their tastes and preferences should shape your overall strategy.

Adopting a more empathetic approach compels you to speak with a broader range of employees, which can provide opinions, suggestions, feedback and insights that pave the way for communication success.

However, empathy does not mean being a pushover. Empathy is not just being friendly, and it’s not merely doing whatever people ask you to do. You can be empathetic and still enforce job request procedures. You can still say no to requests that are either ridiculous or last-minute (or both).