Leadership and Media Strategies

 Wow! It seems like it was just yesterday that I was beginning the journey of pursuing my Master’s degree in Strategic Communication.  Nine weeks have already gone by!  How did I get here so quickly?  At the beginning of the course I can remember stressing over the fact that I had to crank out 1000 words in a blog every week.  I thought, oh boy, I have really signed up for the wrong class! Of course, I knew that there would be writing involved but 1000 words a week, plus two-three additional assignments? Who has time for that with work, planning a wedding, family, friends and life’s general busyness, I thought.  You can imagine my surprise that after the first two weeks or so I began to become more and more comfortable with the idea of posting my thoughts and opinions on various communication topics.  When I saw that the class was so very innovative and really provided great insight, my feelings quickly turned from feelings of stress and anxiety to feelings of empowerment and confidence.

What did I gleaned from Leadership and Media Strategies COM 6610?  Was the class relevant and did it provide useful information?  As I sit and reflect on the objectives of the class and evaluate the strategies that I have been introduced to from this course, I must admit that the leadership skills and media tools learned has influenced my communication skills and abilities.  The various readings on Leadership and Media Strategies shared so many new ideas and principles that support this new age of communicating while still infusing the more traditional era with the approach.  Effective Communication is still the ultimate goal and is so very vital to all organizational cultures and weighs heavily in building an effective leadership team.  It is the very thing that brings success and strength to organizational goals and objectives.

As I end this nine week term, my postings will become fewer in number but the blog will remain open for future use.  I hope you have enjoyed my BlogSpot and hope to hear from you again.  Thanks for reading.

 

Strategic Planning: Can You Measure Your Plan?

Strategic Planning: Can you Measure Your Plan?

Welcome back to my communication blog! I hope thus far the post have been relevant and interesting reading.  Our topic today will focus on what strategic planning is and the measurement of strategic plans.  Previously we have discussed what strategic planning is, we have mentioned that strategic planning is the process that describes an organizations strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and outlines strategies and directions for the years to come.  It is a tool that provides a diagram to strengthen goals, activities, address areas for improvement, and move the organization forward to new accomplishments. In an article written by the CDC it mentions that “Strategic planning is a process that results in decisions and actions to guide what your program is, what it does, and why it does it. Strategic planning is a practical process to help you adapt products, services, and activities to the needs of the population your program serves. The benefits of strategic planning include improved program performance, use of resources, understanding of program context, decision making, stakeholder communication, and political support for your program”.  All of this is very relevant as we discuss the measurement of strategic plans.

 Through the strategic planning process, organizations illustrate initial planning by using some sort of data to examine where the organization stands, where it can be, and the best path for getting there. The end result will be a strategic plan that outlines how your organization will achieve its goals during a specified period of time. This strategy will generally inform you of the content of the annual plans, including activities, staff resources, and evaluation measures necessary to accomplish organizational goals for a particular period of time. In general, organizations will use their strategic plan throughout the years to accomplish its goals.  Strategic plans may need to be adjusted from time to time as evaluations take place. 

Also, according to the CDC strategic planning can be categorized in six steps:

1.  “Preparation: The preparation step lays a foundation for the strategic planning process by establishing the purposes of the plan; identifying stakeholders; determining what information, roles, and resources are necessary for the process; and developing the timeline for it. The products of the preparation step are the formation of a strategic planning workgroup and the identification of data needed to inform the strategic planning process.

2.  Assess:  The Assess step is the process through which the strategic planning workgroup reviews and analyzes program-related data so the program can allocate resources and services in the most strategic way. In the Assess step you determine where the program currently is.

3.  Creation: In the Creation step, you will develop and write the five-year strategic plan. The strategic planning workgroup reviews the SWOT analysis and uses the findings to identify and prioritize strategies that the program intends to implement during the five-year cooperative agreement. You will then revise your program logic model and align your annual work plan with the prioritized strategies and the timeline to implement them. The main product of the Creation step is the written strategic plan.

4.  Communicate: The Communicate step involves sharing information about the strategic plan in ways that make the plan understandable and useful to stakeholders. The products of the Communicate step are the communication messages and products you disseminate each year about your strategic plan, including its creation, implementation, and evaluation.
 

5.  Implementation:   In the Implementation step, the strategies in your strategic plan are put into action as outlined in the strategic plan implementation timeline. You document implementation of your strategic plan in program progress reports.
 

6.  Evaluation:  In the Evaluation step, you evaluate your implementation of the strategic plan and your program activities. Your program develops evaluation questions and collects data to inform the annual work plan for the coming year. Evaluation data are used to monitor how the plan is progressing.”

Processes, measurements and accountability are key to the success of organizations and many business leaders recognize the importance of strategic planning, but some may lack making their strategies come to life in organizational results.  Could the reason for this be that in many companies, more attention is paid to coming up with strategies rather than to carry them out.  In some cases business strategies become somewhat worthless when members of the organization misinterpret it, don’t receive it or simply don’t know how to process it.  Research says that there are three signs of organizations that are poor strategic planners:

 

1. “They lack strategic alignment at every level. To translate a business strategy into action, the organization must link it clearly to departmental, team and individual goals. Everyone should be able to answer the question, what does the strategy mean in terms I can act on? When companies fail to provide the necessary linkage, employees don’t know how to support the strategy or, worse, tend to view it as something that doesn’t apply to them.

 

2. They misallocate resources. Effective strategic planning dedicates resources to making improvements in those areas of operation that are critical to a company’s competitive advantage. When an organization doesn’t establish and clearly communicate these strategic priorities, resources may be spread too thin to make a real difference in any one area of the business or may be allocated to improvements that have no real impact on strategy.

 

3. They maintain insufficient operational measures. In addition to traditional financial and customer satisfaction measures, companies need appropriate measurement systems at the operational level to successfully implement a strategy.”

 In an effort to avoid these common downfalls, companies and organizational leaders should realize that it is not just enough to formulate and communicate a business plan. The employees must also be empowered to implement.

An effective strategic plan focuses on making the improvements and assessments that are important to the organization and its customers.  It utilizes the market analysis and capitalizes on performance indicators. It involves making choices about which processes to improve, what measures to use to monitor the success of those efforts and who is accountable for implementing process improvements. 

 

Social Media: How Were They Formed?

Social Media: How Were They Formed?

Welcome back my fellow bloggers!  This week’s topic will focus on the formation of Social Media sites and their impact whether good or bad.  Let’s begin our discussion with defining what social media is.  According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word social is “of or relating to human society, the interaction of the individual and the group, or the welfare of human beings as members of society.  The word media means a medium of cultivation, conveyance, or expression.  Media is also a plural form of medium and a medium is a particular form or system of communication.”  Communication and interaction with others are very vital to us as a community.   To sum it up, social media refers to the interaction among people in which they create, share and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks.  The systems depend on mobile and web-based technologies to create large interactive platforms through which individuals and communities share, converse, and modify user-generated content.  Social media gives you the ability to influence and or communicate whether positive or negative, whether good or bad, whether deserving or not deserving.

Let’s take a moment to examine the history of some of the most popular social media sites. 

Facebook

Facebook was founded in 2004 and is one of the top social media networks around.  It was initially formed for a group of students at Harvard University but later the website was opened up to anyone over the age of 13.  Prior to using the site the user must register and create a profile.  Facebook currently has over one billion active users.  

Twitter

Twitter is another on-line social networking service that allows users to send “tweets” which are just like text messages.  You also have to be registered for this site in order to read and post tweets.  It was created in March of 2006 and currently has 500 million registered users. 

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is more of a professional networking tool for those people in professional occupations.  It was launched in 2003 and has 259 million users.  It has been noted as one of the most successful startup companies through cultural impact and growth.

Pinterest

Pinterest is used for discovering new things and is utilized to collect ideas for different projects and other stuff that you love or your interest.  This site is also used to build, cook, organize and share the things you love.  You can also plan trips and projects, organize events or save articles and recipes.

Google Plus

Google Plus is the second-largest social networking site in the world after Facebook.  As a matter of fact, Google Plus is a lot like Facebook but with many more features.  It was reported as having 540 million monthly active users.

Tumblr

Tumblr has blogging capabilities and is also a social networking site founded and owned by Yahoo.  The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a “short-form” blog. Much of the website's features are accessed from the dashboard interface, this is mostly where the option to post content and posts of other followed blogs will appear.  Tumblr was reported as having over 170.2 million blogs.

Instagram

Instagram is an online photo-sharing, video-sharing and social network service that enables its users to take pictures and videos, apply digital filters to them, and share them on a variety of social networking services. Users are also able to record and share short videos lasting for up to 15 seconds.  Instagram was launched in October 2010. The service rapidly gained popularity, with over 100 million active users during 2012.

Flickr

Flickr is another image hosting and video hosting website, In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by photo researchers and by bloggers to host images that they embed in blogs and other social media.

VK

VK is the second biggest social network service in Europe after Facebook, of course.  It is available in several languages, but particularly popular among Russian-speaking users around the world.  VK allows users to message contacts publicly or privately, create groups, public pages and events, share and tag images, audio and video, and play browser-based games. As of January 2014^[update], VK had at least 239 million accounts.

Myspace

Myspace is a social networking service with a strong music emphasis owned by Specific Media LLC and pop music singer and actor Justin Timberlake. Myspace was launched in August 2003 and as of June 2013^[update], Myspace was ranked 303 by total web traffic, and 223 in the United States.

Tagged

Tagged is a social discovery website founded in 2004. It allows members to browse the profiles of other members, play games and share tags and virtual gifts. Tagged is reported to have 100 million members.

Ask.fm

Ask.fm is a Latvia-based social networking website where users can ask other users questions, with the option of anonymity. The site was launched on June 16, 2010. Founded as a rival to Spring.me.  It has since overtaken it in terms of worldwide traffic generated. Ask.fm was created in June 2010. The service rapidly gained worldwide popularity, with 80 million registered users in 2013.  Ask.fm is now one of the 200 most visited websites in the world.

The presence of Social Media is certainly very popular these days and can be a rich and insightful boost to your social media marketing plans and goals.  It has the power to influence and can either be a positive impact or negative impact on you or your organization.  Not all social media is driven by the same purpose, most of these sites are very different but all have the power to influence the reader with whatever niche it aims to.

Media: Communication Trends and Habits

Welcome back to my blog! Today’s topic will focus on Media and Communication Trends and Habits. 

As technology continues to advance so does the world of media and communication.  In the old days of conducting business, people wrote letters to clients and face to face meetings were held with each other.  Today’s world of communication has changed drastically.  In the ever evolving world of communication we have a variety of communication trends and devices being introduced into society.  These rapidly advancing technologies are already dramatically changing how we communicate with each.  Along with this variety of communication trends comes a large demographic of users most of which are technology savvy.  Let’s take a look at the generation z for a moment.

Today’s high school age group have grown up with computers and cell phones and most don’t remember not having them.  This age group are the ultimate digitized consumers.  Most of this age groups communication is though text messages, cellphones, tweets, and instant messages.  This group lives in the social media world.  More communication habits are leading toward text, Facebook messages, video chats, twitter, DM, etc. rather than the old traditional email.  This generation is using technology in a way that is smarter and more innovated that ever.  They are engaging, contributing, sharing and learning on open platforms in pursuit of greater potential and connectedness. 

Communication is an integral part of life and being able to communicate effectively is very important.  Good communication is the key to all human activity.  It is necessary for learning, exchanging information, and generally taking care of each other.  Our views on reading of the paper or doing research have basically become very different largely because of the internet and other resources available to us.  And so do our views of communication in general.  Continually advancing technology is bringing about dramatic changes in the communication trends all over the world. The message from these new and innovative communication trends is that society is always seeking more effective ways to communicate and to get their message across.

Increasing social medial platforms such as Google, Google Plus, Pinterest and Linkedin are becoming really mainstream these days.  The future is set to be big for social media users and those that are savvier with advertising across all platforms and markets.

In a recent study conducted by Adobe it shows that social media marketing remains very vibrant in most marketing areas for years to come. That study had five social media marketing trends to focus on for 2014: Facbook vs. Twitter, Snap Chat Marketing, Google Plus, Collaborative Mainstreaming, and Videos.  The study went on to say:

1. FACEBOOK vs. TWITTER

“Is Twitter better than Facebook with its 1.18 billion users, of which close to 58% are active daily, with an average of 20 minutes per day, Facebook is certainly not disappearing anytime soon but it has reached a certain plateau, with some decreases within the younger generations.

Twitter has become a public company that will send the 7 year-old platform into the limelight.  A study by Pew Internet & American conducted earlier this year found that more and more teenagers were jumping ship from Facebook to Twitter and Instagram, in great part “because there is less drama”. It’s also easier to push pass parents’ radars and have a more secretive approach on Twitter.  

2. SNAPCHAT MARKETING

Snapchat, is a new and trendy mobile application that sends out messages (text, photo or short video), called “snaps”, that auto-destruct after a short moment of time, between 1 to 10 seconds depending on how the snap was set up. As of April 2013, its 5 million active users were uploading over 150 million photos per day. The mere fact that snaps get deleted from the server after their time limit explains why so many people are embracing this new app.

3. GOOGLE+

A study published on emarketer found that Google+ had now over 540 million active users, making it number two worldwide after Facebook. Google+ remains a very important part of the digital world. The question that lingers is whether Google+ will gain more mainstream attention, i.e. get folks to stick around longer, and that much sought-after time spent on the platform in order to draw advertisers and marketers attention.

4. COLLABORATIVE GOES MAINSTREAM

In the past decade, with user-generated content platforms such as TripAdvisor or Yelp, individuals have had the ability and power that comes from bypassing traditional channels to voice concerns and feedback. But now, one can truly observe how the collaborative economy is truly a disruptor in the travel industry, among others. New technologies now make it so much easier for people to deal directly with other people, in what some also call the peer-to-peer movement.

In the travel sphere, we are already seeing guided tours, transportation alternatives, home-cooked meals hosted by locals and of course the very lucrative business of renting out rooms, apartments or unique accommodation outside of traditional channels. But this trend is not unique to travel & hospitality: folks can now borrow working tools from peers, rather than buying them from local known retailers.

5. VIDEOS

 

Videos should continue their upward ascent in the social media marketing toolbox hierarchy. In particular short videos. YouTube shows no sign of fatigue, all the contrary in fact with its 100 hours of video uploaded every hour. Videos (along with blogs & podcasts) were indeed already identified as the hot marketing trends to look out for. And we are now seeing more and more companies embrace these short videos as quick, inexpensive and efficient ways to tell their brand story. Without a doubt, this is one trend we can expect to continue to grow in 2014.”

This article really put such a great perspective on the trends in today’s media and communication arena.  As we have discussed in previous posts and other assignments these areas are definitely the focus of current and future trends.

Hope you enjoyed today’s post and as always your comments and feedback are welcome.

 

Vision: An Element of Leadership

Week Five Blog:  Vision an Element of Leadership

Welcome back to my blog! Today’s topic will focus on organizational visions and whether or not a vision is considered to be an element of leadership? 

When I think about a written vision and how visions are given as a blueprint for the future, I am quickly reminded that there is an old biblical scripture that says “where there is no vision, the people shall perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he” (Proverbs 29:18).  And, the bible goes on to say “write the vision, and make it plan upon tables, that he may run that reads it, for the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie; though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Habakkuk 2:2-3).  In bringing this into perspective as it pertains to leadership, these scriptures give us the foundation that we as individuals, organizations, groups, teams and councils and use to help us model our vision with a leadership focus.  So, these scriptures also tell us that whether organizational vision statements, professional vision statements or personal vision statements there are three important functions to glean: (1) those in which you lead need the vision or their efforts will fail to achieve anything of long-lasting value (2) Your vision must be written in clear, plain language so that your team of people will be able to run with its meaning and (3) a vision refers to some appointed time in the future and through it appears to be delayed in coming, it will eventually become your reality.  Visions hold up the mirror of the future and enable people to see potential.  It has to have a strong foundation in order to have a chance of future success. 

What is a Vision?

The vision is the way we see the how, the when, the where and the what.  It is the vivid description of a desired outcome that inspires, energizes and helps you to create a mental picture of your target.  While most leaders engage in several critical processes, the vision is probably the most valuable within the process.  Although shared vision is clearly a critical element of effective leadership, visionary leaders provide a glimpse into the future.  Within organizations the vision is first developed through some type of dialogue and in most cases is shared in many forms.  Communicating the vision is a key to instilling shared meaning and purpose.  Communicating regarding the vision is used to excite, inspire, motivate and unify both followers and leaders.  The communication is a two way sharing process of elevating the purpose of the vision, building relationships and shaping the culture of the organization. 

Why is Vision Critical?

The vision is critical and required in order to achieve results.  It is dependent upon communication, building relationships and developing a supporting organization culture.  According to the Leaders Direct newsletter, it is thought to be necessary for leadership because we tend to idealize leaders.  That is why we always think of the greatest leaders we can image in when we are asked to define leadership.  We typically don’t think of the front-line supervisors as prime example of what it means to lead.  Why do we place so much emphasis on the larger-than-life heroic types?  Because our concept of leadership is driven by our needs to leaders, not by what leadership really means.

Leadership does require vision which means having a complete understanding for the big picture of where the leader wants to be.  A leadership guru by the name of Stan Slap “says that the vision should be a better place that where we are today.  It should be a clearly communicable picture of the future, steeped in value, and philosophy, as well as structure.  A clear vision provides direction and established purpose”.  I find this to be a valid point of view which might even be very similar to the scriptures that I previously referred to. 

A written vision is produced by a leader to instruct and often time reveals the legacy that a particular leader wants to leave behind.  It is basically the heartbeat of the leader and it shows those that come after the current leader, an idea of the focus that was trying to be reach.  Vision statements are often time written and infused with passion which inspires others.  It is blueprint of the leaders thought process and considered to be the best possible outcome a project or goal.   When we become familiar with what is possible, we begin to realize that dreams can be achieved and challenges can be overcome and most of all problems can be solved.  A vision puts words to a leader’s passion in whatever capacity that may be and causes action to occur. When a leader writes a vision they want to ensure that it is there for future generations and that it is something others are able to glean from.  A vision is also a teaching tool that will help future generations to not repeat past mistakes.

In conclusion, I believe that I have shown that research supports the opinion that vision is without a doubt an element of leadership. Although, utilizing the vision as a leadership tool can be a little challenging at times, but if the main focus is depended upon you can promote a desired change and align those within your organization to line up within the scope of your vision.   So as you can see vision and leadership provides the destination for getting to the end result.  Effective planning is impossible without the vision. 

Hope you enjoyed today’s post, as always your comments and feedback are welcome.

Communication and Effective Leadership

Welcome back to this week’s blog!  Today’s posting will focus on Communication and Effective Leadership. Does a leaders communication skills affect his/her leadership abilities?  And, how and why is it so important? In most cases the lack of communication skills negatively affects a person’s leadership abilities.  Leadership is important for many reasons because it helps develop, inspire and strengthen the core or organizations.  Leaders have impacted the lives of many people whether they know it or not, whether good or bad.  Where can we focus our leadership development? By increasing effective leadership skills and improving performances more leaders may be ready to meet the difficult challenges of effectively leading.  The ultimate goal and voice of leadership is to learn how leaders inspire, influence and achieve results.  Leadership and communication goes hand-in-hand with success.  In preparing for leadership roles we must remember that our goal is to motivate others to achieve.

In today’s demanding and critical work environments, CEO’s, President’s, managers and other frontline supervisors are constantly challenged to find new and innovative ways to promote a cohesive working environment that fosters an atmosphere for effective communication.   In working to find this common ground, leaders can sometimes hinder the communication process if their leadership skills and abilities are lacking.  Many of the communication pitfalls that wreck relationships come from poor leadership abilities and the inability to influence people.  We tend to be slow to listen and quick to speak our minds, which often results in confusion.  In these tough economic climates good leadership traits are essential for organizational success.  Focusing on internal and external communication skills could prove to be vital in achieving communication goals and objectives.

How Do We Communicate?

One of the most important elements of any successful team is open and honest communication with each other.  The sharing of opinions and information are certain to open the air ways of communication.  Excellent communication between employers and employees is an important channel of communication.  Communication is more than just our ability to talk, but also our ability to listen.  As we communicate with each other, the first part of the process is listening and in order to fully understand the communication process, we must be diligent in seeking understanding and learn how to become active listeners.  We should also examine the manner in which we communicate with each other.  Our forms of communication should always be presented in a professional manner.  We should also be aware of our body language and facial expressions as we communicate to others.  These areas are often time responsible for the breakdown in communication. We should develop a certain level of awareness where this is concerned.

Let’s talk about the different ways we can foster effective communication within a team or organization. It is very important that we cultivate an atmosphere where individuals feel at ease and we inspire them to commit to better communicating.  Taking the time to schedule regular face to face meetings with the entire team or organization, encouraging communication between other employees, listening to what each other has to say and encouraging questions are some techniques that have been incorporated within my organization.  We must provide an example to others to aspire to and allow the atmosphere to break down barriers.  Encourage honest communication for the purpose of correcting what isn’t working, create anonymous ways to gather data, so people will feel comfortable in coming forward with important information.  Reward employees who can communicate problems intelligently.  All of these techniques have been suggested within an organization that I am affiliated.

We should also be aware of our verbal communication, “which is used to express emotions, to teach and to inspire.  Verbal communication is the exchange of messages using orally spoken words.”  Verbal communication strategies can help to ensure clarity and accuracy of messages being exchanged.  Think about what you are going to say before you say it because often time the message can be unorganized and lacking in clarity without some thought, which results in more confusion.

Multimedia Communication

In today’s advanced and tech savvy society, the concept of multimedia is very present in the communication arena.  People communicate through a variety of ways through multimedia.  What is multimedia communications? It is referred to as communications through media, such as phones, email, television, magazines, newspapers, web, podcasts, blogs and text and any other format of relaying information.  Basic multimedia communication is the technology that covers a wide range of multimedia devices, such as sound cards and graphic cards that permits users to create visual presentations that output sound and/or images.  Multimedia usually means that combination of two or more continuous media namely audio and video. The role of multimedia in communication is to combine text, audio and video to communicate a message. 

Internal & External Communication

Internal communication involves the communication that exists within an organization.  It is the function of responsibility for effective communication among participants within an organization.  Why is internal communication so important?  Effective internal communication is one of the key enables of employee engagement and key to the success within.   Most experts on organizations, management and leaders say that there cannot be too much communication. 

External communication is the process of exchanging information and messages between organizations, groups or individuals outside a structure.  The goals of external communication are to facilitate cooperation from outside groups and to present a good image to potential customers.

How well we listen to others and what we say and what we don’t say can strengthen or damage the very relationships that we try to mend.  As we strive for better communication we have to work on understanding others and being understood, which may be the essence of good communication.  The leadership skills of management attract a stream of criticism and are often not forgotten.  Different strategies are required to cope with the ever changing social climate which requires new, fresh and innovated ideas.  As times are changing and new and younger leaders emerge the focus on social change is greater.  This generation of communicators recognizes the diversity needed to make a difference and embrace the constant change. 

Effective Listening

Effective Listening

Welcome back to my blog! This week’s post will focus on an interesting subject "Effective Listening".   Have you ever found yourself to be in a position where you felt as if there was a breakdown in communication with someone you were trying to communicate with? Is it possible that the breakdown came because of the lack of ones listening skills?  Most of us believe that we listen well but studies have shown that this skill is one that we lack the most.  Effective listening is a very important aspect in effective communication.  They both go hand and hand in the communication process.

Let's examine what we mean by effective listening.  Effective Listening requires us to put forth an effort to acknowledge and to understand what others are trying to communicate to us.  It allows the receiver to understanding the content and the emotions behind what is being said.  Is listening a natural skill or does it require some work and nourishment?  Some say it is a natural skill but can be cultivated and improved upon.    We listen to gain knowledge and understanding or even to just acquire some kind of information. Expressing our feelings, wants, needs and expectations clearly and effectively are only part of the communication process.  The other part is listening and understanding.  

There are benefits to listening effectively, you will get more information from the people you manage, may increase the amount of trust your employees have in you and reduce conflicts and misunderstandings.  It builds trust, it brings about credibility and support.  Why does effective listening matter? To some degree effective listening can be closely related to effective leadership.    Within this whole spectrum of communication and leadership many facets work together to form this entire process.   How do we become a better listener?  Become interested in the conversation, involve yourself by responding to what is being said, evaluate the message and most importantly neutralize your feelings about the matter at hand.

So does how we communicate effect how we listen?  I believe so, sometimes there are barriers that hinder us from actively listening to what someone else has to say.  Those barriers can include hearing your point of view or your side and no one else’s, trying to think of rebuttals to what is being said or even just not being engaged in the conversation. 

In my opinion, effective communication and listening exist between two people when the receiver interprets the sender’s message in the way it was intended.  Developing good listening skills will encourage success and speaking from personal experience others tend to respect those who listen well.

 

Opinion Leaders: Who Are They and How are They Developed

Opinion Leaders: Who Are They and How are They developed?

Welcome back to my blog!  This week’s topic will focus on Opinion Leaders.  Let’s define who or what an opinion leader is: An opinion leader is one who sifts through ideas and information in order to provide guidance to the public.  The people that business leaders turn to or look for guidance to as things change according to a particular industry.  They are agents of change who more than likely are active, savvy media users.  According to the Washington Post, “Opinion Leaders shape business and industries, influence study and debate, spread ideas, expand the conversation and affect policy decisions”.    

Have you ever thought how and why some people have the influence that they have?  What makes these individuals highly sought after for their opinions? Is it because they are good sales people, or have they been trained and groomed to highly influential? Or, perhaps do they just believe passionately in everything they promote?   But what makes a person so valuable? What qualities does a person possess to make them this esteemed opinion leader?    These are all questions that come to mind when I think about how an opinion leader becomes who they are.  Simon Sinek said it best when he said “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”.  He says that you inspire organizations on how they think, act and communicate from the inside out, not the outside in. Meaning that people buy into your purpose, your cause and your beliefs.  These things are major factors in becoming an influential person. All and all there must be a certain level of integrity, trust, and reliability in a person to even begin to be seen by its peers as an opinion leader.

Because this study is so interesting to me, I asked some of my co-workers what characteristics or qualities they thought an opinion leader should possess?  It was very interesting to hear them respond with such qualities like the following: have strong charisma, they must be forward thinkers, visionaries, have people skills, be persuasive, be risk takers, like to talk, be self-confident and in general be innovative people. Another important quality of an opinion leader is they must have a lot of exposure to different things.  The more you are exposed to the better and wider the range of choices you have or broader view you have to the worldwide.   

Looking back over time, I have always been intrigued by individuals who have this skill or this innate influential trait and ability to lead and influence a group of people. I ask the question, are these people born with the ability or is something that is learned and cultivated over a period of time? Some say this ability you are born with and others believe that it can be a learned behavior.  I personally believe that this is something that can be learned.

There are different types of opinion leaders in various business and industries.    Let’s examine some examples of opinion leaders like pastors, mayors, governors, other elected officials, principals, president’s and others.  Thinking back on the position that each of these individuals hold, what did they have to influence the people? In my opinion it is so hard to actually put this ability into words.  I feel that you can’t describe it but you know it when it’s in your presence.  Before entering into a class on Media and Leadership, I didn’t actually know that this group of people were referred to as “opinion leaders”.  I referred to them as leaders in general and as I think about the definition of opinion leaders what better category to describe them.  I value being connected to this type of individual, not because of materialistic reasons, fame or fortune but because of their ability to inspire change and cause action.  Not all people know or even care about inspiring others to make a change and be present in life decisions. Being an influential member of society should be a goal for the average person.   An opinion leader reaches a mass number of audiences and has a major impact on decision making.

In an article I once read it stated that one reason organizations or other entities have such an issue with getting people to listen to them is because the audience doesn’t believe in them. We should remember this as we strive to be leaders.

Are you an opinion leader? How do you get good people to listen to you?

Introduction & Background

Wow! Me a blogger, I never would have imagined in a million years that at this point in my life I would add yet another skill to my resume…Blogger…

Welcome to my BlogSpot, I am Shearese Gipson, graduate student attending Troy University majoring in Strategic Communications.  My plans are to complete the program by fall 2015.  I received my undergraduate degree, several years ago, in Human Resource Management from Faulkner University, Montgomery, Alabama.    

I am currently employed at a local technical college and hope to utilize the knowledge gained from my graduate studies as a stepping stone to impact organizational communication with my organization as well as improving my communication skills as a whole.  I am also a licensed Realtor for the State of Alabama and will use the knowledge gained as an intricate part of my marketing strategies.  Somehow, after school and work I find time to be an active member of my church where I serve as the Marketing and Public Relations leader among other duties.   I feel that my studies will definitely enhance my ability to effectively serve in that capacity.  I have a passion to connect with others, to effectively reach individuals where they are and to learn how to strategically promote ideas. 

My blog will focus on strategic communication, what it means exactly and the ever changing media outlets from radio, television, print, email, twitter, Instagram, Facebook, IM, PDA’s, etc. and how the trends are constantly changing.  I believe these trends have heavily influenced how we connect with others.  We will definitely elaborate more on this as we move through the course.  I plan to post weekly regarding this and other related topics to leadership and communication.

I welcome your feedback and constructive criticism, as this is the very first blog I have ever created.  My blog address is shearesegipson.blogspot.com.  I look forward to conversing with you throughout this term and others to come.  I truly hope that there is something said on my blog that will help cultivate effective and strategic communication as we consider new ideas.