As we launch into another year of operations, I know many of us have had some time to think about our work styles and how we communicate with one another. I recently ran across this article by a woman who teaches at Duke and who helps people who are moving into executive roles…but that’s not what caught my eye. It was the fact that the article was about improving communication. Bottom line: no matter who we are (big wig executive in a large corporation or not) we can always get a little better at this!

Here are some highlights:

• Read people: look for nonverbal cues, especially eye contact
• Watch your “emotional thinking”: filtering out the positive and focusing only on the negative; black or white thinking where you don’t consider gray areas; over-generalizations where one event colors your thinking
• Honor promises: do what you say you are going to do
• Be open and value others
•  …but…pick one thing to work on!