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Impressive Communications Skills Makes A Good Leader

“Developing excellent communication skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership. The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others,” says Gilbert Amelio, President and CEO of National Semiconductor Corp. Effective communications skills is necessary for the development of a great leader. Here are some impressive communications skills to acquire to be a good leader: 1) Well versed in interpreting nonverbal communication: Verbal communication and nonverbal communication plays an important role in communication but usually nonverbal communication will reveal the true feelings of the communicator/listener or in other words nonverbal communication are more truthful and genuine. Nonverbal communication such as body gesture, posture, facial expressions and eye contact play an important role in understanding the state of being of a communicator. It is important for a leader to make sure his/her body language i...
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The need to stay CALM and SENSIBLE in times of CRISIS

The word ‘crisis’ when written in Chinese appears as two characters that spells out ‘opportunity’ and ‘danger’. Hence, the Chinese always believe when a crisis strikes, it is best to stay calm and think of ways to turn it around. Instead of turning defensive, we need to learn to turn the situation around to a positive situation or at best an opportunity. When a crisis or issue strikes, there is not a single moment to lose. Many organizations turn into panic mode due to a tarnished reputation. In today’s quick cycle of news where verification and ethical news sharing continue to be lacking, many companies, organizations and governments are affected by fake news that can lead to not only financial losses but create a negative image amongst stakeholders, employees and even general public and damages their    reputation built over many years. Let’s take a look at a local issue back in 2017 which affected a well-known brand, Bata, a shoemaker company which lost about RM500...
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Media Ethics in the Age of Citizen Journalism

We live in the world of digital media where news has transformed in form, function and delivery. As much as the traditional media houses have embraced digital platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, the harsh truth is news no longer breaks in the newsrooms. It happens through viral videos, FB complaint rants, Twitter polls and often times through whom we call citizen journalists. Opinion and judgements are instant and louder and easier to disseminate. A smartphone with stable Internet connection creates dozens of self-appointed reporters, influencers and thought leaders. While this burst in freedom of speech and space for opinions is by far a historic change in the information landscape, there are still glaring issues that should and must be addressed. The main focus here is ethics and why it should be practiced.   Ethics are values that are applicable to the common person in ensuring credibility and integrity especially while sharing news. The media are bound ...
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Trust is Earned when Action meets Words

I was recently asked by a young manager who manages bloggers, how do I keep my customers. And what do I do if a customer is not happy with the outcome. I ask if he set the right expectations with his client before taking on the job. He said no. To him, he wanted to try and agreed to his client’s demands just to close the deal. In the field of communications and I believe in the world of business development and sales, such scenario is very common. And if one does not set the right expectations with one’s client from day one, the moment we take on the job, we are already at a trust deficit. There is a saying ---” A relationship without trust is like a car without gas. You can stay in it for as long as you want but it won’t go anywhere.” If a person think long term, no matter how small the project or sale amount is, the moment we take it on we must do all we can to meet our clients’ expectations and perform to the best of our ability. It is indeed a MUST to first and...
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Tips to manage crisis on social media

STRATEGY 3: ENGAGE             There are many type of crisis that may happen in the life of an organisation or business. Here are some examples of the more common ones that may occur: Natural crises Technological crisis (downtime or breakdown on network) Confrontational crisis Crisis of malevolence Crisis of organizational misdeeds Crisis of skewed management values Crisis of deception Crisis of management misconduct Workplace violence Workplace accidents which resulted in death/injury Rumors In reality, of course there a lot more types of crisis that may occur. So, generally how does one know if a crisis has occurred? Essentially, crisis management is the process by which an organisation deals with a major event that threatens to harm the organisation, its stakeholders, or the general public. Three elements are common to most definitions of crisis: (a) a threat to...
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Tips to manage crisis on social media

STRATEGY 2: NEUTRALISATION Many organisations have found their reputation in a compromised position when fake news or untruths are spread pervasively on the social media. The consequences can be damaging and some impacted not only their reputation but loss of finances as well as having to address trust deficits amongst their stakeholders, their employees and the public at large. With the proliferation of the internet and social media, negative news about the affected organisation is now more pervasive than ever. The virality of the news reaches a wider spectrum of audience. Most companies or organisations find themselves unprepared, and hence suffered the consequences. However in reality, there are ways for a crisis to be better handled or pre-empted. A company or an organisation can prepare themselves to address any crisis in quick time by first and foremost develop a good communication infrastructure which includes the following: a)     ...
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Tips to manage crisis on social media

STRATEGY 1: DROWNING Our expectations in this digital world today are getting higher as days go by. We expect instant response, transparent and truthful news as well as information on the go because social media platforms are in the trend now. Social media is no longer just a platform for the millennials only, but every one of us young and old, regardless of age groups are now using it for various reasons. When a crisis hits, there’s not a moment to lose. According to Cerebra social media crisis survey, more than half of the businesses had experienced crisis on social media before, and 58% of the respondents rated that the crisis has given critical impact to their businesses.  On top of that, Everbridge study finds 58% of organizations lack social media strategy during crisis. Anger is the emotion that spreads easily over social media. Even a small issue will have the potential to go viral.   As business owners, reputation means a lot to us. We cannot afford...
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