Communication is a core leadership function and is closely aligned with effective leadership. There is no escape from growing your communication skills. Every relationship requires skilled communicators, whether in casual groups, formal organizations or within communities.

Leaders are expected to express ideas and share information with various audiences; bosses, peers, employees, customers, partners, stakeholders and influencers.

Communication is giving, receiving or exchanging ideas, information, signals or messages through appropriate media, enabling individuals or groups to persuade, to seek information, to give information or to express emotions.

The Shannon and Weaver Model of Communication is a mathematical theory of communication that argues that human communication can be broken down into 6 key concepts: sender, encoder, channel, noise, decoder, and receiver. A later version of the theory by Norbert Weiner added a 7th concept (‘feedback’)...

Amanda Gorman is an inspirational and charismatic leader.  At a five feet, three inches, she stood tall on a stage with luminaires during President Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony on January 20, 2021.  

It was awe-inspiring watching his and Vice President Kamala Harris take their oath while being surrounded by their loving families, Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama arrive in their show stopping attire and dazzling performances from J.Lo, Lady Gaga, and Garth Brooks. 

However, all eyes were on poet Amanda Gorman as she recited her poem ‘The Hill We Climb’.  

Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman spoke at the inauguration of U.S. President Joseph R. Biden on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2021. The 22 year old Harvard alumna is now the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history.

Five poets, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Miller Williams, Elizabeth Alexander, and Richard...

Want more committed and invested team members? Walk it like you talk it or in other words, lead by example. The fact that you may have a well deserved and well earned title does not equate to effective results or an extraordinary level of commitment or investment from your team members. 

“The three most important ways to lead people are:… by example… by example… by example.” Albert Schweitzer

Ideally you are self-aware and understand that its not your impressive title that earns you respect, its your behavior. Think about it. Your team members are working in their current compacity for a myriad of reasons. Their reasons may be as simple as putting food on the table for their family. Your fancy title, although impressive and important to you and your esteem, does not inspire some of your team members to produce quality work or to invest in your vision. 

People who say one thing but do another eventually lose credibility.

A few insights

I'm inspired and intrigued by the ease in which powerful women show up in their work spaces. If as they have the script that that most of us are struggling to read and follow. 

In light of the historic Biden/Harris administration, let's' take deep dive into two of the most visible women on the world's stage in January 2021; Vice President Kamala Harris and Dr. Jill Biden, our First Lady of the United States.

Vice President Kamala Harris

Kamala Devi Harris is an American politician and attorney who is the vice president-elect of the United States. 

She is the United States' first female vice president, the highest-ranking female elected official in U.S. history, and the first African American and first Asian American vice president.

Harris, 55, who is the daughter of immigrants — her father is Jamaican and her mother is Indian — has been leading as a public servant for decades: She was the district attorney of San Francisco and the attorney...

A mindset refers to whether you believe qualities such as intelligence and talent are fixed or changeable traits. ... People with a fixed mindset believe that these qualities are inborn, fixed, and unchangeable.

Mindset is defined as the established set of assumptions, methods, or notions held by someone. 

What we believe impacts how we think about our abilities and potential, therefore fueling our behavior and predicting our success. 

Fixed Mindset and Growth Mindset describes our relationship with failure. Whether we avoid it at all costs or we understand that we’re all capable of evolving and learning from situations and circumstances.

The “growth mindset” creates a passion for learning rather than a hunger for approval.

Three Mindset Hacks women leaders should consider as we move into 2021 are: 

1. Gratitude
2. Determining what you’ll Stop, Start and Keep
3. Identify your big audacious goal

Write or document six things for...