Do you have good communication skills?

When I speak with young leaders, I ask them a simple question that tells me a lot about their ability to communicate:

What are the two most essential values you've learned from your grandparents? 

Most people respond quickly, and most people give more than two values. And when I listen to their answers, a common theme tends to emerge.

The values that most young people learn from their grandparents, and cherish the most, are based on two things: forming strong connections and showing leadership.

During one of my training sessions, a young person told me that his grandparents attended 43 of the 45 hockey games he played while growing up. By being in the audience, his grandparents connected with him in a way that goes beyond support.

They participated in his life.

And isn’t that what connecting is all about? People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Never underestimate the power of connecting. It will help you reach your full potential.

The Importance of Connecting in Communication

Connecting increases your influence in every situation. This is crucial whether you're trying to lead a child or a nation. In his book, “Everyone Communicates and Few Connect,” John Maxwell reminds us that to communicate effectively we must first connect.

The young hockey player also said his grandfather had a servant's heart.

Both of his grandparents put others first. They were always ready to lend a helping hand and they did it with joy. That is what true leadership is.

Modeling himself after his grandparents, this young man also has a servant’s heart. He connects with his clients daily and is a leader in his industry. This is what his grandparents gave him. His grandparents’ connection with him and his life has allowed him to build the communication skills which make him a great leader.

Yet his success doesn’t only depend on people. It depends on technology too. He uses technology to connect with his family and his clients, which increases his influence in every situation.

The Importance of Staying Connected Through Technology

Here's what may surprise you.

People and technology have something important in common. As with people, forming strong connections and showing leadership are the two most essential values to make technology successful.

One day I was in a restaurant. Right beside our table, an elderly couple enjoyed a meal with their twenty-something grandchildren. The family members laughed and hugged. It was a common scene.

But they did something new that wouldn't have happened ten years ago. They connected through technology.

While they waited for their meals, the grandchildren taught the older couple how to take a selfie. And they supplemented the experience with text messages. In the process, the grandparents learned how to text and share pictures. While this may seem trivial at first, the results are important.

Because of their willingness to connect with their grandchildren through technology, this couple now has a way to exchange updates with the people they care about.

They’ve learned a new and valuable form of communication which will allow them to better connect with their family in the future.

Everyone at the table experienced connection and leadership. And that experience will continue even when they are apart—because they have learned how to leverage technology to a human end.

One crucial and important thing we should all remember is whether you interact through technology or in person, what people will remember most about you is how you make them feel.

The way you make people feel can help you gain momentum in an organization and grow exponentially as a leader.

Have a servant’s heart, value other people, be helpful, and offer a caring spirit. This is how leadership is formed and sustained throughout our lives. Whether you're a grandparent, parent, uncle, aunt, or friend, people will migrate to you if you work hard at forming strong connections and have a servant's heart.

And that is how great leadership is born.

You can use our Personality Leadership Report to better understand your strengths and weaknesses as a leader. To learn more about your leadership style, click here.

The best is yet to come. It starts with you.

Your friends,

The UpCloseTeam

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