By: Alison Davis

Reach your employees by shedding bad habits like corporate speak and packaging.

Shared: From your friends #*@TechAutoCareers.com®* the online resource for the *Automotive Sales Fraternity™*

If you're a leader, I have two words for you: Nice car!

And I also have some advice. If you want to reach employees in your organization, you need to communicate like a human, not a corporate stiff.

One of the challenges I face in helping companies communicate with employees is convincing senior leaders that the ways they like to receive information is not the same as the preferences of everyone else who works there.

One example: Executives need a comprehensive, complete story, with every letter from A to Z covered. Most employees say, "Tell me the three things (usually just A, B and C) I need to know."

Two studies about leaders prove my point.

The first from Harvard Business Review, analyzed profiles of leaders in the top 10 roles of Fortune 100 companies to demonstrate how executives have changed over the past decade.

My interpretation: Leaders really haven't changed much. They're still very different from employees throughout the organization, especially those who work in such functions as manufacturing, retail, call centers and transportation.

For example, leaders:

• Have advanced degrees (or any degree) than employees. (65% of leaders in hold graduate degrees. And 24% of those with MBAs went to Ivy League schools.)
• Are male. More executives (83%) are still men.
• Are more "seasoned." Average age is 54.8 for men, 51.6 for women.

The second study, from CEO.com and Domo, asked CEOs how they stay informed. Again, leaders don't have the same habits or preferences as employees:

CEOs' favorite news source?

The Wall Street Journal, a publication whose readership skews older, more affluent and more educated--in other words, more upper management than rank and file.

CEOs care most about business topics.

The top 5: business news, market/industry trends, business insights/expert advice, technology trends and marketing trends. Senior leaders worry about the big picture, not the daily details.

CEOs like to read.

57% prefer text, as compared to graphics (18%) or video (8%). (This is so different than most employees, who are avoiding heavy reading by skimming, scanning and watching.)

Because leaders deal with complex issues, they tend to advocate for communication that's comprehensive and connects all the dots.

But to be successful at reaching employees, leaders need to shed their own preferences (and prejudices) and communicate to appeal to employees. Be simple. And straightforward. Eliminate corporate speak and jargon.

And communicate like humans do by quickly conveying what's changing and "what it means to me."

About I.C. Collins

I.C. Collins is grateful that he can pursue something that is both interesting and has value on several levels. For over three decades in the Automotive Sales Industry a bottom-line guy Collins doesn't shy away from telling the truth in ways that cut through the noise to deliver streetwise and corporate knowledge from someone who's been there and done that, many times over.

He aims to create “a long-lasting major brand that for generations is a company that is business-critical to the leading brands in the world. We are focused every day on creating something that’s valuable and has permanence.”

P. S. Urgent if you’re looking to optimize your interpersonal skills for success get your copy of " How to Succeed in the Automotive Sales Industry " today @TechAutoCareers.com. Then settle in for a satisfying read that will surely enhance your interpersonal skills for success this year, it is not just a book we are a service.

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