In this episode, Sam Shriver, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at the Center for Leadership Studies, asks Jim Duncan to share his thoughts on developing communication skills in leaders.
Episode Transcript
Introduction
Welcome to The Center for Leadership Studies podcast, an exploration of contemporary leadership issues with experts from a variety of fields and leadership backgrounds. In this episode, Sam Shriver, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at The Center for Leadership Studies, asks Jim Duncan to share his thoughts on developing communication skills in leaders.
Sam Shriver
Communication and leadership go hand in hand. That’s pretty much a given. From your perspective, can you teach communication skills?
Jim Duncan
There are two things that come to mind. One is somebody that’s working on a team. It may not be the person that speaks out often, but the particular problem they have an expertise on. If that person is given permission or gets some training so that they can speak up, they in turn, can become a leader in that moment where they can say, hey, time out. I know about this. Sometimes people need that permission.
The other example that I’ve seen is I took acting lessons in New York for the purpose of improving my communication and listening skills. And I saw unbelievably talented people who, when not on stage, were people that you thought were doing experiments in the corner, all right? And then they go on stage and oh, my goodness, they transformed. And their communication, their ability to sing or to go through a dialogue, was unbelievable. It was like night and day. So that stage gave them permission.
In a good organization, a leader knows how to create that stage for each person so that you maximize their skill set so that when it’s time for them to be on stage, they’re willing to take that role.
Conclusion
After receiving a business degree from Marist College, Jim Duncan honorably served in the New York State Army National Guard for five years. With his eye always on solving problems, Jim worked to find a place in the emerging high-tech industry. In his career as a senior executive in the high-tech equipment leasing and disaster recovery industries, Jim helped grow Comdisco Incorporated from a $60 million organization to over $4 billion.
He spent 30 successful years there, building meaningful relationships with and solving challenging problems for some of America’s most legendary corporations. In October of 1987, Fortune magazine named Jim as one of America’s top salespeople. Jim is a cofounder of a grassroots organization, the Coalition for American Principles.
Thank you for listening to The Center for Leadership Studies podcast. Through its innovative leadership development programs, The Center for Leadership Studies has helped millions of individuals across the globe become more effective leaders and has helped thousands of organizations build more productive and engaged workforces. For additional information on our services and products, please visit Situational.com or call 800. 330.2840. At The Center for Leadership Studies, we build leaders.