Better communication requires you to get up and sit in a different seat. Literally.

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Since I moved into my new office (10+ years), I’ve had a unique ritual.

Roughly once a month, I will get up from behind my desk and take the seat my clients normally occupy. In this spot, I’ll look around the room and see what I notice.

• Is the desk messy?
• What books do I see on the shelves?
• Are there random cords lying out?
• Is the sun in my eyes?  

This simple exercise is designed to help me see the world from someone else’s perspective.

(Empathy doesn’t come naturally to me. I regularly forget that people see things very differently than I do.)

Looking at life from a slightly different vantage point reminds us that effective communication is less about what message we’re trying to get across and far more about what others perceive. 

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—CJ McClanahan

Speaker | Advisor | Recovering Overachiever

CJ McClanahan