COOTS, SWANS AND COMMS
Sounds a bit like a 60’s folk song, don’t you think?
Anyway, watching the wildlife on our local pond today made me think about communication styles.
I know. I need to get out more.
But in my defence, I was out. It’s just that I think about this stuff. Sad, I accept.
Moving on. Let’s talk about coots.
One minute you know where they are. You can see them. Then they dive to feed, and you have no idea where they are. You can try guessing where they’ll come up. Good luck with that.
And then they reappear. Over there? How’d they do that?
Some people in organisations communicate like this. Like coots.
You think you know where you are with them. You think you know what they’re thinking. Then they disappear from view. Some of them can disappear for a long time, particularly in these days of remote working. Perfect for coots.
And then they reappear, and they’re thinking something completely different.
If these people are also leaders, their teams really have little chance of keeping up with them.
Frustration all round is the result. On the part of the leaders, who don’t understand why everybody else can’t keep up. On the part of the teams, who aren’t being let in on the journey, and therefore don’t “get it”.
But then there’s swans.
Swans don’t dive and disappear. They seem to move serenely across the surface of the water, everything under control, no alarm bells.
Under the water? Who knows? Might be a very different story. Maybe they are paddling like crazy to maintain this apparent state of serenity. I’m guessing the other swans are in on this secret. But to us non-swans it all looks pretty impressive.
Hopefully we know people like this as well. Maybe they too are leaders. Leaders who’s communication conveys a constant sense of “I’ve got this”. Or maybe “We’ve got this”.
If we are being led by them, we may not be in on the secret of what’s going on under the surface. But we have confidence in them. And they remain visible. They don’t disappear for long stretches of time.
Of course, there’s other sorts of birds. Just as an example, there are some who mostly appear to flap around causing chaos. That would be a metaphor for another communication style. Constantly changing direction, making a lot of noise, leaving chaos in their wake.
Choices to be made for us all in our communication style then.
Coots. Swans. Or flappers. What’s it to be?
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