An Essential Skill for Life and Life Sciences

Guest post by simon@needtobreathe.co.uk  t: 07917191123

Leading diverse multidisciplinary teams, building trusted relationships with partners in science, establishing working collaborations, problem solving, generating new ideas, delivering complex projects, working toward a shared vision, having an environment where people want to come and work. Strong communication sits at the core of all of these things.

I’d like to share with you a piece of research that I find immensely useful when delivering leadership or communication development programmes, it will assist anyone who is interested in improving their communication and/or leadership skills. By educating yourself with some of the research on the six styles of leadership/communication you’ll be guided toward better self-awareness, social awareness, self-management and relationship management.

Read through the background of this publication [1] for some context on Goleman’s six styles of leadership [2] within a healthcare system. The semi structured interviews in Phase II of the results exemplify how leaders worked with these styles to meet specific situations within their roles.

The challenge here is to intentionally evolve your communication style through experimentation to reach one that feels authentic and allows you to meet your desired objectives. Your career success is fundamentally dependent upon your everyday interactions, of course knowledge and technical expertise are vital in life sciences, but never underestimate the value of investing in the essential skill of communication.

1.Saxena, A., Desanghere, L., Stobart, K. and Walker, K., 2017. Goleman’s leadership styles at different hierarchical levels in medical education. BMC medical education17(1), pp.1-9.

2. Goleman D, Boyatzis R, McKee A: Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press; 2002.

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