Many young people have asked me to share the #1 professional skill I will ask them to acquire. To the geeks here, I will disappoint you. Yes, it is not computing or the regular tech stuff. The most important skill which has helped my career and professional life is Clear Communication Skill.
When I take time to write things (not the LinkedIn and Facebook posts which do not take more than 12 minutes), you will like to read them. My clarity on writing was the reason Harvard discovered me a decade ago. My blog then was named “Nkpuhe” [revelation in Igbo]. Then, it was purely an intellectual work of one article per week.
The fascinating thing is that you can deepen your communication skills through many paths. My classmate in FUTO and my teacher in the University Chapel where I was a teacher in Sunday school played a role. Now Professor Agam Iheanyi-Igwe [I gave him “Bishop” as his nickname] had an uncommon gift on communication; he could speak for hours and no one would get tired.
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When I became a TED Fellow, they paid for executive coaches to teach me verbal communication and public speaking skills. After 6 months, the transformation was magical: I could hold an audience for minutes. That improved the public speaking component.
The good news is that YouTube has free lessons on these things. Put time to improve your verbal and written communication skills. If you do not communicate well, you go alone. Clear communication skills will give you promotions at work and put you in positions to rise faster besides the typical technical or functional skills you may have.
I always give this gift to my supervisors: “Sir, after the meeting, I created this draft document to save you time as you prepare your management report”. You know what? In every company I have ever worked, my supervisor has always picked me to join him in meetings. Those came with many benefits as promotions followed. Improve your communication skills and thrive.
Warren Buffett, his generation’s finest investor, took a course on communication skills and that changed his life. The certificate issued for that course is the only one you will see in his office today. Do not underestimate the power of clear communication.
Comment on LinkedIn Feed
Comment: Spot on. I’ll add Listening skills aa well
My Response: Yes indeed. That is part of it. There is no way one can be a good communicator without being a good listener.
Comment 2: I can’t agree more prof. I’m writing a book for students in computing fields and a chapter is dedicated to communication skills – still work in progress though. The pillar on which technical skills rest is communication. If that pillar is missing, it’s like trying to build something on nothing.
Comment 3: Good one Prof. At the risk of sounding immodest, as a researcher in this domain, I am of the opinion that whether spoken, written or through other non-verbal cues, clarity of communication will not only ensure promotions but will stand one out in the crowd. I posted earlier today on Effective Communication, a paper I presented four days ago at a training in Lagos, Nigeria.
Do have a good week.
My Response: Please could you share link. Also, do you know any great course in this domain? The community has flooded me with requests on where one can get a good course.
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SUCH A NICE AND INFORMATIVE CONTENT.
This is great sir. I do appreciate this insight. Thanks
Everything collapses when no one is communicating well, so it’s not just in career advancement, it’s also the most important tool a leader has. All the wars and peace treaties are outcomes of communication or lack thereof.
To be able to write well, you must first think well, else everything will show on the words you put out.
Again, sound communication does not operate in a vacuum, to communicate wisdom, you must be wise; and to communicate confidence, you must be confident as well. In other words, if you don’t know a thing, it’s fruitless trying to communicate excellently there.