In my morning walk with Trixy (my wife) and Jordan (our dog), I was reflecting on basic communication: message sent; message received; and a feedback loop. That was the message I sent to Trixy and she received my words and gave me feedback – that of affirmation and examples; which I in turn affirmed in my own words back to her.
My Bachelor degree is in Mass Media with emphasis in Radio/TV Broadcasting and Radio/TV/Film production. I have with me as a resource “Foundations of Communication Theory” Sereno and Mortensen; 1970. I also recently picked up “International Communications Strategy” Cambie and Ooi; 2009.
Before cracking the books, I think I need to think a bit more about where I have been and where I am going.
As mentioned, I hold a BA in Mass Media. My M.Ed, while focused on Global Leadership looked at Communication. Now, for my PhD I am digging deeper still. Each experience has specific foci: Mass Media communication; Educational leadership/teaching communication; and now, I want to recapture the big picture and focus on my future: inter/cross cultural communication.
My career is steeped in communication. I critiqued scripts and needed to communicate (succinctly) pros and cons of a given script. As a grunt on sets or in the post production suite communication was essential to survival. Networking fails without positive communication. As a distribution (junior) executive I needed good relationships internal and external from my companies. As a writer/director/producer of TV programs to finish on time and close to budget requires good (effective) communication. To work as a freelancer and retain clients requires effective communication. To collaborate with faculty and administrators in building up an online program; to facilitate student learning outcomes, requires effective communication. Marriage has probably been the most demanding on my communication skills.
Communication builds relationships, relationships build networks. Thus the message communicated isn’t only what we want or need, but the essence of one’s self. Thus, “Leadership”, as defined as entering into relationship and having influence, communication must be assumed, for without effective communication one cannot have influence.
Now, the question is this: what is effective communication? The easy is answer is: that is what I am studying right now! Yet there remains for me a basic flexibility in the word “effective”. Even before digging into studies and texts “effective”, for me, isn’t a definitive list of “dos and don’ts”.
