Hey, it's Rachel Cook, your modern mentor. I'm the founder of Lead Above Noise, a firm

specializing in retaining, engaging, and developing talent. So, big news on my end. I deleted a

social media app from my phone. Like, I open my phone now and the app just isn't there. And I got to say, I am feeling 10 pounds lighter.

And I now realize it's because in my time on this app, I was watching a bunch of stuff play out

that we were calling communication and debate and discourse. But really, it was a bunch of yelling

and name calling and finger pointing. Oh, and also, I've realized that this

isn't just happening in the apps. These past few years have been something of a doozy, and many of us,

on some days, myself, very much included, have gotten a little bit primal in our communication.

We've let the intensity of things around us get the best of us,

and we've made some missteps. But communication is one of the most important things we all need to do,

whatever our profession of choice. And I think it's time to reflect on some of the missteps we've

made and call them out and commit to doing better in the new year. How about I share mine?

And I'd love to hear what's on your communication to don't list for next year. The first one for me is losing sight

of where I'm sitting. Sheila Heen is the mastermind behind difficult conversations, a must

read for any leader or human who has to have, well, difficult conversations with some kind of regularity.

And I heard her tell this story once about driving around with her son when he was a toddler.

Every time they'd get to a red light, her son would say, it's green.

And as soon as it would turn green, he'd say, it's red now.

Fueled by concern that he was either

colorblind or really persistent at a bad practical joke, she finally turned around one day,

safely because the light was actually red, and she realized that the position of his car seat

had him seeing the light from a different angle. He really was seeing green while she was seeing

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