We all know how vital communication is to the success of companies and organizations, but sometimes it’s the little things. On today’s episode of the “Can You Hear Me?” podcast, co-hosts Rob Johnson and Eileen talk about how doing those little things can have a big impact on those who work for you because “Keeping Colleagues in the Loop Costs Nothing.”
We all know how vital communication is to the success of companies and organizations, but sometimes it’s the little things. On today’s episode of the “Can You Hear Me?” podcast, co-hosts Rob Johnson and Eileen talk about how doing those little things can have a big impact on those who work for you because “Keeping Colleagues in the Loop Costs Nothing.”
Recommended Reads:
The Economist Intelligence Unit - Communication Barries in the Modern Workplace - LINK
NorthStar Leadership Training - Statistics on why effective communication is important in the workplace - LINK
Rob Johnson: [00:00:18] Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Can You Hear Me? I am Rob Johnson, president of Rob Johnson Communications. [00:00:24][5.6]
Eileen Rochford: [00:00:25] And I'm Eileen Rochford, CEO of the marketing and strategy firm The Harbinger Group. The purpose of Can You Hear Me is to help you guys, our listeners, navigate the complexities of leadership and specifically through the lens and use of effective communications. So as communicators who work closely with lots and lots of clients, our own coworkers, etc., Rob and I, we both know the value in keeping those lines of communication open and the internal breakdowns that can always, in my opinion, occur when that does not happen. Open communication. Frankly, it's crucial to the success of every team and every organization. And that's exactly what we're going to discuss today on the show. Keeping colleagues in the loop costs nothing. [00:01:11][45.8]
Rob Johnson: [00:01:12] And we often talk about Eileen, you know, all the communications, the internal communications between, you know, people that are the bosses and the people that are reporting to them and managers and things of that nature. But this feels a little bit different, only because it's just this is really about self-awareness. It's not about necessarily major strategy. It's just about having the self-awareness, even with people that are in your employ or people that aren't. And we'll get into the consultant piece, you know, a little bit later because, you know, communication's the backbone of any successful workplace. So let's give you some perspective. First, to make the business case for this concept. Many employees believe that ineffective communication is the root cause of workplace failures. Research by the Economist Intelligence Unit shows how poor workplace communication can undermine the performance of a company, leading to a 52% say, more stress for employees, 44% say failure to complete a project, 31% say low employee morale, 25% say missed performance goals and 18% say a loss in sales. So there's plenty of reasons here to be talking about this issue today. [00:02:21][69.9]
Eileen Rochford: [00:02:22] And I can easily see the 44% that you mentioned, the failure to complete projects. That makes so much sense to me, like instantly. And I read those stats and I thought, well, yeah, that happens more than you like and certainly more than you think that, you know, the missing of deadlines and such stems, so much from whether you're using a project management platform and whether you're an in person entity, you know, there's fewer and fewer of those these days. But, the ability to keep your team members up to date on your own personal contribution to that project, and vice versa. That's at the crux of whether or not you can meet a deadline. Right? That's a pretty interesting thing. [00:03:02][40.7]
Rob Johnson: [00:03:03] Yes. And there's certain people that may be listening that are very sales-centric, like, you know, sales team go, you know, and so the 18% loss in sales, that's also very glaring for people who are trying to, you know, trying to bump up their sales by fractions. And if you think about 18%, say loss in sales, that's big. So please do those little things. And that won't be the last time that we say that. [00:03:25][22.5]
Eileen Rochford: [00:03:26] All right. So when you think about that list that you just read, and you know what they have in common, you know what, what's different amongst them? It's clearly not just about the big announcements. It's those everyday little interactions that matter just as much. I mean, let's look at some of that. The low employee morale, you know, just touching base with folks. Right. That has a big impact on how people are feeling. Just a quick call, maybe an email or even a text. If you do that, Slack, whatever platform you use for messaging, that kind of thing. If you go several days without interacting with your folks, how do you think that's going to make someone feel? It's just like when you're in a relationship or you know, a family member, if you're leaving them alone, you know, without any care and attention for days or weeks on end, then, of course, are relationships going to devolve right? [00:04:13][47.3]
Rob Johnson: [00:04:13] Sure. [00:04:13][0.0]
Eileen Rochford: [00:04:14] So here's some more data for you. According to North Star Leadership Training, 85% of employees say they are most motivated when they are kept up to date on company news and information. 72% of employees don't understand their organization's business strategies. That's appalling. Just between you and me, that's appalling. [00:04:33][18.9]
Rob Johnson: [00:04:33] I'm working, I'm working, I'm working. And, I don't know why. What are we trying to do here? [00:04:37][3.8]
Eileen Rochford: [00:04:37] And how am I supposed to contribute toward this outcome that you're wanting? Okay. Many employees don't understand their own goals and how their goals link to the company's goals. That's also, you know, central to an organizational success. In less than 6% of them communicate goals with employees on a daily basis. And finally, only 23% of CEOs state that they're effective at connecting employee goals with corporate objectives. I wonder what that outcome would be if we asked, you know, just managers and, you know, department leads. How many of them think that they're effective at making that connection? That would be. I'm very curious to learn that. [00:05:20][43.0]
Rob Johnson: [00:05:20] But do you think that number would be higher or lower? [00:05:22][1.9]
Eileen Rochford: [00:05:23] I think it would be higher. And I also think that 23% is pretty low. I don't think that's reflecting a lot of self-awareness. [00:05:30][6.8]
Rob Johnson: [00:05:31] No it isn't. And that's, and again, that's what I was talking about a minute or two ago about that. We're sort of teeing this up with stats that should make sense to everybody, but it really is a self-awareness exercise that we're urging everybody to do. So it's not like, all right, we're going to blow up our communications, strategy for our company. We're not talking about that. We're talking about when you have a chance to communicate a little bit, it goes a long, long way in allaying concerns, making sure people are clear on what their objectives are and really just giving them an extra, a little extra pep in their step, frankly. [00:06:07][36.1]
Eileen Rochford: [00:06:08] Yeah. No doubt about it. The pep in the step for sure. Like I was saying, that whole regular interaction cadence, you know, that you want to establish. But we're a remote company. You guys have heard us talk about that a lot listeners. That's, that's how it is at the harbinger has been for almost 20 years. And to have an effective team when you're completely remote, which more and more people are now familiar with, if you don't communicate with everyone every day, on some level, certainly as a manager or a director, you that trust, you know, bank, the deposits in your trust bank will erode or sorry, not erode. They will diminish. They will, you know, very quickly be spent, shall we say, and there won't be anything for you to dip into. And so I always, it's funny, like I have told my team, I've told, especially those who are managers. When I first started doing this in a remote capacity long ago at this company, I would actually keep a little tick. And I did this for years. I probably did this for a decade. A little tick list on my desk of every person's name, who was part of our team and our clients, and I would put little hash marks next to them. Or how often have I communicated with them this week, you know, whether it was back then, it was, you know, largely phone calls versus a whole lot of email. And we had lots and lots of in-person meetings. But if I hadn't had an interaction with someone for, you know, two days, then that warranted picking up the phone and having a conversation because there's nothing worse than people feeling disconnected, even in a small team. And it's just it it has all kinds of kinds of negative repercussions. So we recently instituted something that I wasn't sure that we would ever do. And I know we're going to get to this, in some of these practical tips I'll talk about in a sec, but I'll just mention it. Now, the morning huddle, the daily huddle. Lots of different companies have them. The stand up meeting, they take on different forms. Right. But we recently instituted the daily huddle. 15 minutes. You know, it's there's 5 or 6 people who are on and that team goes through. These are the hot things by priority, by person, by priority. What are any blockers that, you know, they individually have and they're flagging the blockers. They're not discussing blockers. The purpose is never to solve. It's to create awareness. When the team breaks from the huddle, that's when you move into solving mode and you do that within. We use Asana for project management. So within Asana, that's when, you know, folks have been following along in the conversation and maybe they go look at that task and they start to move kind of, you know, the ball forward, if you will, on, taking away the barrier or the hurdle that was flagged during the huddle. But that's all is for the huddle is just to report on these are my priorities and what are the things standing in my way? But it does create excellent awareness. It also gets you super focused. All right, this is the stuff I have to get done. And the sooner I get started on it this morning, the more likelihood I have of my team member being able to contribute in the capacity that I need them to while we still have this business day in front of us. [00:09:14][185.7]
Rob Johnson: [00:09:14] So a couple of questions or comments. First of all, with the huddle, which I think is a great way to sort of set the tone, oftentimes you hear from people like, gosh, we have too many meetings and this and that and standing meetings and that sort of thing. Do you ever get any pushback or do you ever think about, oh, is that too much? Because it really feels like you're setting the table for the entire day, which I think is a great idea, and you're communicating with people that you know, you might not normally communicate with on a, you know, hourly basis or something. [00:09:40][26.0]
Eileen Rochford: [00:09:40] Right? And you know, I'm anti meeting like that's just- it's which is probably one of the reasons why I resisted the daily huddle for a while. But we had a situation where a key team member was going to be gone and family leave for about 12 weeks, and it meant that we had to tighten up, as those of us who are kind of pulling everything together in their absence. And doing it to the best of our abilities so that when they returned, they would walk into a good situation. We owe that to them. It was kind of the mindset that we had. So I thought, we need to have huddles. And I've, you know, I've always been kind of fascinated by the concept, but I also have this like anti meeting, you know, push pull thing going on in my head. So I read about them as much as I could from different productivity experts and they consistently they all said this: 15 minutes. No more. [00:10:34][53.8]
Rob Johnson: [00:10:34] Good, get to to it. [00:10:35][1.2]
Eileen Rochford: [00:10:36] Everyone reports. Yeah. And here's the format. My highest priorities for today in order. What are my, obstacles. You know, that I need to flag. That's it. Even to the degree of many said no, chitchat like this isn't about warming up the day. Do that in Slack or wherever, but because you get to it, which is interesting. Like that doesn't also feel that great. But to your point about too many meetings, you know, obviously, that's why I was kind of reluctant to institute a huddle. [00:11:02][25.8]
Rob Johnson: [00:11:02] Well, you gave it a lot of thought clearly. [00:11:03][1.1]
Eileen Rochford: [00:11:04] Yeah, I think what we've done is we've actually reduced the need for meetings as a consequence of or a product of this, approach, which is very surprising to me. But I knew there was value in it, but it was a bit of an experiment, like, let's see how this happens, you know, kind of in a smaller team. It turns out that people are just getting so squared away at the start of the day and realizing, oh, I haven't been paying attention to that. Or yeah, it's been five days in a row where I've said, I'm going to do that and it's not done now. So I need to, you know, get with so-and-so and figure it out so I can remove, you know, these barriers that exist or whatever the case may be. Or for in my case, you know, I have a very different role, in this organization, me being a part of that, I could see how my not having, you know, paid attention to something, maybe a new business presentation to the degree that I needed to, you know, the day prior when it was in my workflow was impacting someone. And so, I mean, you know, I'd make it the first thing I did that day so that they could move forward. Just that's just an example. So, you know, there's benefit, I think, in that for people of all, you know, levels, if you will, in an organization. [00:12:08][64.4]
Rob Johnson: [00:12:09] Let me also say, while we're talking about Asana, it works. Just, when I get on there for purposes of this, the Can you Hear me podcast, I think I got like, 50 emails one afternoon last week. [00:12:22][13.1]
Eileen Rochford: [00:12:23] And all the tasks are set up. [00:12:23][-0.1]
Rob Johnson: [00:12:23] All the tasks are set. And I was like, oh my God, there's someone, oh my gosh, there's somebody. So it works. [00:12:28][4.6]
Eileen Rochford: [00:12:29] That's us planning for the year right there. That's what you got. You got inundation of the emails that say you have a task. [00:12:34][5.3]
Rob Johnson: [00:12:35] Let's get way ahead on this podcast. Right. So we've planned pretty far out. And then all of a sudden it works. It works. I that's I can I can definitely, you know, confirm that. So this isn't just about the productivity statistics that we've shared with you here. There is a human component that we don't want it to get lost in. And I know hitting you with stats sort of feels like, you know, it's very, you know, quantitative and tangible and that sort of thing. But imagine being in a position of authority. You're pulled in many different directions. Sound familiar Eileen? Probably. Taking a moment to communicate can actually save time in the long run because misunderstandings are avoided, miscommunication is avoided. This is also about efficiency. So when we keep our colleagues in the loop, it allows them to focus on the real issues instead of speculating and creating unnecessary stress. Even when the news may not be its best, you are allowing employees to focus on what is real and what is imagined. And I feel so strongly about this because. And I even did like a reel on it on social media last week, because I remember when I first started as a consultant and I would be communicating with a client and they may not be hitting me back right away. And I was like, well, that's not I'd always been an employee, right? And now I'm a consultant. And it's not to diminish the importance of a consultant. It's just to say that a boss has a lot going on, or the contact that your particular company with your client, as it were, might be doing other things. And so all of a sudden you'd be like, well, why isn't that person contacting me back? And then it's like, oh, I did I do something, I mean, something wrong? And all of a sudden you and your thoughts get going, and that's wasted energy. And what I've learned in almost my five years of doing this, I can't believe it's been that long and almost five years. I've learned that when they get to you, it's never bad. It's never like, oh gosh, I thought it was going to be that. It's that they are busy and they have other priorities as well. And I respect those. So what I'm suggesting is after all these years of doing it, I don't spend time worrying about things. Now, if somebody doesn't get right back to me, I'm not like, oh, what happened? What went wrong? But that's part of human nature for people. And so I'm trying to share that experience as an entrepreneur with why didn't they get back to me? And then they finally do. And you go, oh, I was nothing. They were just super busy. And they had 87 things going on. And, and that, that took their, took a lot of their attention and energy. So it's just a little bit of advice that I wanted to share with people because I felt it early on. And I see it happen a lot to people. But it's also it's also an opportunity for the person who is that busy person, pulled in all those different directions to maybe find two minutes here or two minutes there, email, text, call, and all of a sudden you're like, oh, okay, we're good. [00:15:24][169.7]
Eileen Rochford: [00:15:25] Interestingly, I'll share a perspective that, might come up, say it's my perspective, not, clients per se, but, you know, I obviously we have a team here, and we have lots of clients. Sometimes my input is really needed on certain projects, but often it's the team kind of running things. But in those moments when my input is going to be, you know, super helpful in one way or another, I always tell our team, I'm probably one of the most accessible people you know, around. Meaning, if someone brings it to my attention that I'm an impediment or, something's changed and, you know, my attention is needed, right and right then or in within a short period of time. If if my attention is brought to that, I will immediately get on it and help, you know, in any way that I can. And I think that's the case for so many people who are in kind of, you know, organizational leader positions. They want to know if they're not helping, you know, and things that are very important. So the point is, even if you sent one email, even if you sent one text, if you know time's ticking away and something is crucial, then you're you are responsible for sending that text and making sure you know, they know or that, slack message or whatever the case may be. You just it's a two way street is what I think is what I'm trying to explain and take that initiative and feel, you know, as responsible for moving the work forward. So it's that, you know, different, up, down, back and forth, you know, levels of communication. You just got to keep that in mind, too. It's really important because I don't think anybody who's a, you know, a very responsible, good leader would ever want to, drop the ball, screw things up if communication could have helped avoid it. [00:17:13][107.2]
Rob Johnson: [00:17:13] And that's a whole other level of self-awareness that you're bringing up that I hadn't even considered. And it's so important to talk about that where you have enough self-awareness to say, okay, I'm going to help the situation. But if by chiming in or doing, am I going to calm the situation, I mean, that's a whole other discussion. But it all centers around self-awareness. [00:17:33][20.2]
Eileen Rochford: [00:17:34] Yeah. Very good point. Yeah. That reflecting on, you know, your role in the success and even your communication on your leadership style, you know, taking that kind of inventory, the more awareness that you have, I think the more effective you can be and asking for what you need to be able to contribute and other people, you know, doing the same to you. That's that's all. It all comes down to sharing of information amongst each other and making sure that you're communicating about that. [00:17:59][24.9]
Rob Johnson: [00:17:59] That's really good stuff. [00:18:00][0.5]
Eileen Rochford: [00:18:00] Absolutely. So are we ready to share some practical tips? I know we did talk about one. That huddle thing is super practical. So I hope everybody, thinks about that and we will post some great ideas. Actually, on that note, in the show notes about running an effective huddle and how you can do that because it is it's easy. And I'm now a convert. I'm a fan. [00:18:21][20.6]
Rob Johnson: [00:18:21] And again, this is no small thing, Eileen, because you were saying, meetings, more meetings. You're like, hmmmmm. [00:18:26][5.3]
Eileen Rochford: [00:18:27] Antimeeting. Yeah. Like I said though, it ended up needing. We needed fewer, longer meetings. And in the long run, it's kind of an interesting thing. So I bet there's a whole science. If someone's done research on this, I'm certain of it. [00:18:40][12.5]
Rob Johnson: [00:18:40] Oh, I'm sure. [00:18:40][0.5]
Eileen Rochford: [00:18:41] But okay. Some other practical tips. Simple things like your regular check ins. You know, your one on ones, frequent status updates, or even, just. Hey, how are you doing? Everything okay today? How are you feeling? You know, maybe you heard somebody was sick. You want to just check in and say, how are you feeling? Better? [00:19:00][19.0]
Rob Johnson: [00:19:01] Sometimes that's a loaded question too the how are you doing? And then somebody's, like, oh, well, now that you asked. So just be ready. It's it's important to ask, but just remember somebody might have a really long answer for it. But that's still communicating though. [00:19:12][10.8]
Eileen Rochford: [00:19:13] And it's important to listen. Yes, absolutely. Because you'll learn something if you take the few minutes and just let them talk for sure. Yeah. But all of that can make a huge difference. And I just mentioned active listening. Let's just be sure everybody knows, it's not just saying oh oh that's okay. And then jumping in to your your work assignment, you know you're not checking a box when you're asking people. [00:19:34][21.7]
Rob Johnson: [00:19:35] You're like right, right I hear I hear you, I hear you, because then you're waiting to chime in with what you want to say. [00:19:40][4.5]
Eileen Rochford: [00:19:40] Yeah. That's right. So because I think it's important to underscore what's that about right? We talked too I think I mentioned trust earlier. Right. So when you're asking people how they're doing again, it's like in any relationship the dynamics of any relationship require caring, empathizing, listening, sharing all of that. So, you got to make sure that you build in some time for those types of exchanges just as much as the daily huddles that are all about get right to it. [00:20:10][29.4]
Rob Johnson: [00:20:11] But also, and we've talked about this in other podcasts, too. It's the safe space thing. It's like you were talking about trust and openness and things of that nature. It's like it's okay to put yourself out there if this is the environment or I'm putting it out there. And so that's, that's once you once you telegraph that as the leader and people see it, it's going to be far more collaborative because they're like, oh, it's okay if I put myself out there in that way. So definitely some food for thought. Now, I also want to share with you, and I think it probably goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. This principle extends beyond the workplace as well. It could be sports. It could be business. We're talking about business today or even our personal lives. The importance of staying connected is universal. So for instance, in sports, a team needs constant communication to perform well so that everyone understands their roles and expectations. The same goes for personal relationships. Keeping each other in the loop strengthens the bond. So we talk. We're talking about sports and personal here. Kind of moving off the business case for just a second. Just think about when a coach doesn't communicate with you. Think about when your spouse or your significant other isn't communicating things and you're like, what are they doing? What's going on? And then you start thinking about what? What? I wonder what they're thinking I want. And then you spend all that energy wondering about what might be the case. And again, it rarely is, but it does speak to the need for you to be a better communicator. Whether you are that coach, whether you are that spouse because you don't want people wasting energy wondering about what's going on when something may not even be going on, you know what I mean? [00:21:49][97.2]
Eileen Rochford: [00:21:49] Yeah, for sure. I was just thinking about, one of the fun things or ways that, my family on my husband's side stays connected is I don't even don't know. I think this is like been going on for 4 years. So however old Wordle is. [00:22:04][15.2]
Rob Johnson: [00:22:05] Oh, yeah, it's like 3 or 4. Yeah. That was during the pandemic, wasn't it? Got really popular. [00:22:09][3.2]
Eileen Rochford: [00:22:09] Yeah. I was going to say 3 or 4 years. Yeah. Yeah. Wordle when it became a thing, my family and my husband's side got really into it right away. Like boom. And they love board games. They just love that kind of stuff so much. And someone instantly, I think within like days of them realizing that it was a shared passion, created, a gigantic group text that every single family member in it, and it's so active, like every day, every member of the family is posting, you know, their Wordle success or maybe not, you know, but most of the time these are really smart people, so they're great at it. But it's so funny. But the my Mike my husband laughs at me sometimes because I had to silence notification from this really fun group chat because. [00:23:00][50.5]
Rob Johnson: [00:23:01] Sometimes group chats can get out of hand. Not that this one is. I'm just saying some can. Yes. [00:23:05][4.4]
Eileen Rochford: [00:23:06] But I will say it's a great example of, you know, a means of communication that might seem distracting or superfluous, but it's not. It's this beautiful little thing that makes us all feel somewhat still connected to each other. It's not always about Wordle all the time. [00:23:24][17.6]
Rob Johnson: [00:23:24] Right. [00:23:24][0.0]
Eileen Rochford: [00:23:26] But you know, of course I do have to filter it. I have trouble with distraction. Hey, you know, that's, that's just an affliction that I've had, you know, basically my entire life. So, there are some things that I have to tune out. But when I dip in and out of this group chat, it always, you know, just brings a little warm and fuzzy. Makes me feel like, oh, that's cool, you know? [00:23:46][19.5]
Rob Johnson: [00:23:46] So Wordle is not a new thing on the block, right? Are they still doing it? And they still do it to this day. [00:23:51][5.3]
Eileen Rochford: [00:23:52] Oh yeah. [00:23:52][0.3]
Rob Johnson: [00:23:53] That's incredible. [00:23:53][0.2]
Eileen Rochford: [00:23:54] Yeah. Everybody every day. Yeah. It's funny. [00:23:56][2.1]
Rob Johnson: [00:23:56] You know what else you're talking about here too with his family. With Mike's family is shared experience. So it's not only staying in the constant contact with one another. It's like, oh, you got that in two out of six. I got it in three out of six. Oh, man, I thought it was. And so all of a sudden you tell these probably stories that don't amount to much, but they kind of do, even though they're anecdotal and even though they may be seemingly, you know, frivolous, but that's just sharing that thing, that's just sharing that experience. And so that's why that I would say is so important. [00:24:24][27.6]
Eileen Rochford: [00:24:24] I think you're right. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It feels, nice, especially for us because we're the only kind of out-of-state family. So, for you, even for our kids to just, you know, see grandma and grandpa and how they do at wordle today. You know. [00:24:37][13.1]
Rob Johnson: [00:24:39] I love that, I love that, yeah. [00:24:41][1.6]
Eileen Rochford: [00:24:41] Yeah. So I was thinking about sports. I just wanted to ask you, because I know your family. If, you know, with hockey and everything else and your own experience with sports, what's any, or any observations that you have about great ways that, teams, you know, you've either been on the sidelines observing or a part of that you've seen, you know, just great communication in a sports team. [00:25:04][22.9]
Rob Johnson: [00:25:06] Without naming names for the times that people have fallen short, I think there's an old school way to communicate. We talked about in business all the time, right? There's an old school way to coach, and it's sort of tough love and, you know, stiff upper lip and this and that. And I would say that kids don't respond to that. Kids this day and age don't respond to that sort of tough love. It's not that you need to coddle them, it's just that maybe communicating with them and showing them respect is more important than it used to be. I will mention, Jaden is committed to the University of Maine, and he hopes to go there soon and play hockey. But there head coach Ben Bar, I've seen him. I saw him coach back in November when we happened to be in Boston, and I always knew this about him, but it was nice to see it again. Like a guy would come off the ice and he'd hit the crossbar. He almost made a great play and he was just whatever. And he's just sitting there patting on the head or patting him on the back and kind of doing this like all the little things, like the positive reinforcement, even when something didn't per se, you know, didn't go well, per se. He was he was injecting positivity in everything. And I was like, you know what? That doesn't cost anything. That cost nothing right to do that. That makes everybody feel better about themselves. And of course, if somebody succeeded, did something great. Well, gosh, you know, everybody was excited. Right? But in those moments where somebody maybe didn't do what he expected to on the ice, this guy's there just pumping his tires. That's a hockey thing, too. That's a hockey term. Pumping his tires like lifting one. [00:26:30][84.3]
Eileen Rochford: [00:26:30] Oh that's great. [00:26:31][0.9]
Rob Johnson: [00:26:32] And so I would say that costs nothing. And this guy's built a great program. And they're now like a top five team in the country. And he's building that culture. And it's all built around communicating being straight up and you know, in the moments where, oh geez, it didn't quite go our way. How do you find something good about it? So that's my observation on that front since we spent a lot of time, in rinks. [00:26:56][24.3]
Eileen Rochford: [00:26:57] That's good. I really like that nice insight. Yeah. And this theme of it, you know, costing nothing. And the good things he can do to stay and verbal and nonverbal, you know, you were just talking about, you know, nonverbal and you know, both actually. And that's a great reminder too. [00:27:12][14.7]
Rob Johnson: [00:27:12] But it spoke volumes. You even if you were sitting across the rink and you happen to be looking over the non-verbal spoke volumes, you can see it from a mile away. [00:27:20][8.0]
Eileen Rochford: [00:27:20] Yeah. That's so true. Oh my gosh. We've been watching a whole lot of live college basketball recently, as you know. [00:27:27][6.6]
Rob Johnson: [00:27:27] Yes, you have! [00:27:28][0.7]
Eileen Rochford: [00:27:29] First time season ticket holder, for Marquette men's basketball. Yeah. I've paid very close attention to Shaka Smart and his team's behavior this season, too, and I hear what you're saying loud and clear. He has lots of concepts, but one of his is, energy generating behaviors. And I think that is a lot of what, it's related to what you're just describing with them, the coach and that, you know, pat on the back and things. Because that's what these guys do. They're the players who are not playing, don't really sit on the chairs. They're slapping the floorboards there, you know, whooping it up patting each other, jumping up and down like they're like just as much a part of creating an energy as the coach, as the five guys on the floor. [00:28:14][45.2]
Rob Johnson: [00:28:15] Probably the leader, probably the coach. Set that tone. [00:28:18][2.6]
Eileen Rochford: [00:28:18] He totally did. Yeah, he totally did. Yeah. From the minute he walked in, But anyway, those those things are really cool too. So. Yeah. So someday we'll interview Shaka Smart. Yeah. That's going to happen. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Do I want that? Maybe in the summer when these guys aren't as busy. [00:28:35][16.7]
Rob Johnson: [00:28:35] I don't want to get ahead of myself. But I was like, this guy is totally locked in until at least April May. So yeah, I was thinking maybe, maybe when he can exhale all that. [00:28:44][8.4]
Eileen Rochford: [00:28:44] Yeah, I think that would be cool to actually talk to, both of the coaches we just, named and others just like this concept of coaching and how that transfers into, business communications. I think there's such as everybody, you know, it's been books written about it for decades, but today it feels different. In younger, team sports, it's just as being done in such a inclusive, respectful way. And that's why I'm intrigued. I want to talk to coaches who are doing that with, you know, players who are 18, 19, 20. [00:29:16][32.0]
Rob Johnson: [00:29:16] Think about all the executive coaches we have on who've been excellent, excellent guests. Right. What if we get, you know, actual coaches whose teams are at the top of their league or their whatever it is, their high performing teams, different sports, whatever. And I think it's fascinating to hear what they have to say because it does go beyond sports. It goes it does speak to sort of the leadership that is required of CEOs who are also running their own teams. [00:29:43][26.5]
Eileen Rochford: [00:29:43] Totally. All right. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to put it out to our listeners in a LinkedIn poll and ask them what questions do they want to ask of, these coaches who we want to bring on and see what we can pull together for a great show and hopefully, their availability will line up later this summer. And if not these guys, maybe there are a couple others. [00:30:03][20.0]
Rob Johnson: [00:30:04] I'm sure. I'm sure there will be. That's a good thing for us to do. That's a great thing to look forward on. [00:30:08][4.0]
Eileen Rochford: [00:30:08] I agree. Yeah, that'll be really interesting and a great connection to just hope how, you know, great communications and keeping their folks in the loop. Totally costs nothing. And how do these guys do it? How do these women do it? We'll find out, it'll be interesting. So I think that's going to do it for another edition of Can You Hear Me? Yeah. [00:30:25][16.1]
Rob Johnson: [00:30:25] Yeah, I think we're good. [00:30:26][0.9]
Eileen Rochford: [00:30:26] Am I still Eileen Rochford? I think I am. [00:30:28][2.2]
Rob Johnson: [00:30:29] You still are. [00:30:30][1.1]
Eileen Rochford: [00:30:31] I still sound like her. [00:30:32][0.8]
Rob Johnson: [00:30:32] 30 minutes later. I think you are. Yes. [00:30:34][1.9]
Eileen Rochford: [00:30:35] All right, everybody. So we just talked about the poll, and I just want to reinforce that we would love to hear from all of you. So when we put out this content on LinkedIn, please chime in and tell us what you're liking. Tell us what else you want to hear from us, because we have a really robust, show content plan for 2024. And we want to be sure that we include everything that you want to hear us talk about. So reach out to us. Of course, on the Can you hear me page that is now on LinkedIn. [00:31:00][24.8]
Rob Johnson: [00:31:00] It's awesome. Can You Hear Me podcast? Check it out. And I'm Rob Johnson. We thank you for listening as always. And if you like this show, please consider giving us a review on any of the platforms where you can find Can You Hear Me? We're talking about Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts and much more. Your reviews help other smart folks find our show. Thanks for listening. [00:31:00][0.0]
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