Values › Community › Communication
Core value · Community family
Communication
Sharing ideas clearly and listening well
What does communication mean as a core value?
Communication as a core value means exchanging ideas clearly and listening properly, making sure what you say lands as intended and what others say is genuinely understood.
Misunderstandings bother you more than they bother most people. When communication is a core value, you feel the cost of a vague email or a meeting where everyone left with a different idea of what was agreed. You care about saying things plainly, but just as much about listening properly: checking what someone actually meant. For you, a challenge is often half solved once people have actually talked it through.
What does communication look like in practice?
- You rewrite a message to cut it in half before sending it.
- You repeat back what you’ve heard to check you’ve understood.
- You give people bad news directly, so they don’t hear it second hand.
- You put your phone away when someone starts telling you something important.
- You end a meeting by confirming who’s doing what and by when.
- You explain the reasoning behind a family decision as well as the decision.
When is communication overplayed?
Overdone, communication turns into over-communication. You send the follow-up to the follow-up, talk a disagreement through when the other person needed space, or assume every problem can be fixed with one more conversation. Some people experience that as pressure. There’s also a risk of polishing the message when the thing itself needs to change. Good communication includes silence and brevity. Before the next follow-up, a quick question to ask yourself: does this need more words, or some action?
Often confused with
Communication vs Honesty
Honesty is about whether what you say is true. Communication is about whether it lands: clear, well timed and properly heard.
Communication vs Transparency
Transparency is making information available. Communication goes further: making sure people understand it, and listening to what comes back.
Communication vs Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is reading and handling feelings. Communication is the craft of exchanging ideas, which emotional intelligence helps but doesn’t replace.
Questions to sit with
- What’s the most important thing someone has told you recently that you only half listened to?
- Which message are you putting off because you haven’t worked out how to say it?
- Where are you explaining something again when what the situation needs is a change?
More values in Community
Being part of something bigger than yourself.
About the author
Matt Rutherford is a Career and Leadership Coach. The Values Finder is the same exercise he uses with his coaching clients. He also writes Stuff that MattRs, a weekly newsletter with practical ideas to help you think clearer and work better.
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