Why do innovative companies like Apple and Google spend considerable time and effort on effective communication? The answer is remarkably simple, to bring innovation to the forefront of their companies, communicating effectively with supportive approaches captures the hearts and minds of their people. Indeed, people are organizations’ most valuable asset and not just a mission statement on their “about us” page on their company website.
To move innovation forward, leaders need to embrace supportive communication approaches that help them share information accurately and honestly without jeopardizing the interpersonal relationships they have created. The purpose of supportive communication beyond building healthy and sustainable relationships also allows for a more agile, flexible, and innovative organization.
During these uncertain times, and through the recovery, leaders will need to work on increasing the chances of success towards innovative outcomes. The use of positive psychology and communication approaches, combined, provides an opportunity to improve the innovation cycle from idea creation to implementation. To be successful in driving innovation, leaders need to be transparent, honest, and open with everyone in compellingly sharing their stories.
Supportive communication underpins every facet of innovation and innovating. In turn, unsupportive communication will cut short the process of idea generation and blur the activity of creative exploration. Being unsupportive, especially during times of crisis or uncertainty, will contribute to implementation disasters and wasted resources.
It is Time to Change
We are all human beings with a wide range of behaviors, cognition, and emotions. We have to accept the risk of experimenting with new leadership behaviors to reinforce a new positive perspective. During this transformation, leverage your strengths while developing other areas can help continue the practice of leadership while evolving into a new perspective. Learning new complex behaviors of being self-led and leading others cannot be achieved quickly; instead, it is a commitment to improving yourself through the gift of a life of learning to be better.
Research over the last few years has proven what everyone already sees in plain sight; an environment that is accepting of others and allows relationships to flourish positively is also beneficial to other’s well-being. The following behavioral strategies blend a positive psychology approach along with supportive communication that will enable you to be more open towards building and sustaining healthy working relationships.
- Get into the “flow” of providing supportive communication, which is the zone where you are super engaged, authentic, and connected to the needs of others with the absence of damaging behavior. You are communicating with a genuine approach combining your thoughts and feelings. Through this flow, you are discovering practical ways to cultivate relationships with supportive communication as transformation takes you from a “have to” mentally towards a “want to” behavior in your connections.
- Identify and build on your strengths while developing other areas. The use of positive psychology approaches will allow you to feel more energetic and improve your performance towards achieving. A recent study identified that people lead with their key strengths to find new ways to exercise their abilities and significantly increase wellness.
- Magnify your gratitude as it will assist you in dealing with adversity while building healthy relationships with your friends, family, and coworkers. Validating communication helps confirm and accept the value of others. It is essential to leverage gratitude as you validate others and their contributions. Shifting your attitude towards being grateful will open up your perspective of being optimistic about your future of work.
- Enhance your ability to recognize and celebrate the small wins by taking ownership of your day through the technique of focusing your attention on the present moment as it will shape your view moving forward, enabling you to achieve and build strong relationships. Own the statements you make and focus on taking responsibility through ownership and take account of those wins.
These approaches will open up the opportunity to achieve greater creativity in a more sustainable way allowing your healthy relationships to take greater risk-taking and incubate ideas that can be developed. Your personal growth and connections with others need to be unlocked to be able to innovate. The blended approach of positive psychology and supportive communication will help in fostering trust and empower others to engage more creatively, shifting to a collective mindset of sharing and achieving together.