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150 It’s Not a Glass Ceiling, It’s a Sticky Floor

wonder that (combined with the statistic I heard recently that 60 per-
cent of all communications at work are misconstrued anyway!) we
aren’t as effective in communicating as we’d like to be.
This chapter talks about how and why we as women might limit
our overall communications capacity and effectiveness, and it pro-
vides 10 guidelines for making your words count.

How Can You Make Your Words Count?

SHAMBAUGH’S WILL program and our Executive Coaches help
women leaders enhance and capitalize on their communication skills.
The first step in this process is having them assess themselves across
a full spectrum of skills and techniques. Surprisingly, we often find
that there are some aspects of communication that women are less
aware of and some simple but powerful techniques that they haven’t
considered using.
To explore how well you do in these key areas of communication,
take a moment to answer yes or no to the following questions.

Making Your Words Count Yes No

1. My voice and speaking pattern make it easy
for people to understand me.

2. I adapt my communication style to achieve
key outcomes or ensure people hear what I
say.

3. I balance making key points with sharing
details.

4. I actively listen by paraphrasing, sum-
marizing, asking open-ended questions, and
showing interest in what people are saying.