The Importance of Authentic Communication

Proper interaction is one of the most fundamental keys to anyone’s success in business or their personal life. The ability to create an environment where people feel they can express their ideas and feel valued is a crucial characteristic of a leader.

Sheryl Sandberg is the COO of Facebook and former VP of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google. She learned the importance of these skills from MIT professor Fred Kofman. He taught accounting, but told her that accounting was easy compared to interaction. He laid out two fundamental tasks to creating this environment: 1) be authentic, and 2) be a player, not a victim.

In Sheryl’s opinion, being authentic means understanding that truth is objective. People who understand there is no one truth are far more open to letting others voice their opinions.

Being a player, and not a victim means taking full responsibility at all times. When we can own own what we do, we become empowered.

Only once we master these two rules can we can have a better understanding of interaction. And hopefully this understanding can move us one step forward to having the impact we desire.

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