I spent many years working with executive clients on developing their communication skills. It’s amazing how many different ways my senior level clients communicate to their many differnt stakeholders around the world.

Before we start the next series of blogs on breakthrough communication skills, let’s do an assessment. On the following questions, rate yourself between 1 and 5, with 5 being the best and 1 means you may be in the doghouse for the next several nights. Answer the questions quickly and don’t spend to much time overthinking your rating.

1. Do you have a clear vison and goals before you communicate with other people?
2. Do you clearly define your expectations in your initial communication?
3. How long does it take for you to complete written communications?
4. How do you do when you communicate orally?
5. Do people trust what you say?
6. How creative are you when you communicate with other people?
7. Do your communication skills nurture other people?
8. Are you decisive when you are asked to do something?
9. Are you comfortable when making appropriate interventions?
10. How do you rate your active listening skills?
11. Are you comfortable when you need to become assertive?
12. Are you good at delegating critical responsibilities to other people?
13. Do your communication skills impact who wants to work on your teams?
14. Are you comfortable advocating other people’s ideas?
15. Are you good at providing appraisals and feedback?
16. Are you comfortable providing coaching for other team members?
17. Are you getting the right information from others?
18. Are you comfortable mediating problems among other stakeholders?
19. Do people understand what they need to do during a crisis?
20. How do communicate with technical and subject matter experts?

Now add up your score. Are there any questions that you found confusing? What was your total score?  Did it surprise you?  Which questions did you score yourself high on?  These are the places with the most opportunity to improve.  Surprised?  Don’t be.  Most of us try to get better at things we’ll just never be good at.  Building on your strengths provides breakthrough opportunities for high impact communications.

Want to learn more about communication mastery? You might enjoy How Do You Build a Great Communication Strategy?

Stay tuned, starting next week I begin sharing insiders’ secrets and ideas that take your communications to the next level!  See you then.