Here we are after Labor Day, which means it’s football season! College football just kicked off this weekend (Go Blue!), and now we’re getting ready for the NFL season.
In the spirit of football season, I want to talk about communication. There are three forms of communication that I want to talk about today.
- Verbal
As you can tell, I prefer to communicate as I do here, which is verbally. I am not a written communicator. If you put me in front of a group of people with a microphone, I’ll talk fairly easily. I can go off the cuff and cast my vision since I’ve done it for so long.
- Written
Some people prefer written communication. If you put me in front of a blank page or ask me to write an email, suddenly, I can’t get my ideas out. All the things I could communicate verbally, I can’t get into a written format very well.
Some people are great verbal communicators; some are better-written communicators. To describe the third form of communication, let’s talk about Dan Campbell, head coach of the Lions. If you’ve been watching Hard Knocks, the behind-the-scenes look at the Lions on HBO, you’ve seen a lot of Dan Campbell. Here’s how I’d classify his form of communication.
Dan Campbell’s communication style
You don’t really know what he’s saying and what he’s saying doesn’t actually make sense, but you know what he means.
During Dan Campbell’s first press conference, he talked about the kind of team he would build. He said that if they got knocked down, they’d bite you in the kneecap on the way up. By that, we all knew he meant they’d be gritty, tough and never give up. What he was saying didn’t really make sense, but we all understood.
This season on Hard Knocks he says, “To me, [grit] means we’ll play anywhere. We’ll play on grass, we’ll play on turf, we’ll go to a f****** landfill. It doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter if you have one a** cheek and three toes. I will beat your a**.”
We don’t know what that means, but we get his point.
I have not met Dan Campbell, but he seems like a good verbal communicator. Maybe he can write too. He’s one of those people where even though what they say doesn’t make sense, you know what they mean. We’ve had leaders with this communication style here at Service Express.
As a leader, a key part of communication is how you make people feel. Do they get what you mean, and are they willing to go out and execute that vision? Communication doesn’t have to be perfectly said; it just needs to be perfectly understood. I think Dan Campbell has that down.
I’m ready for the Lions season and excited to see what they do. It’s time to support your teams. I look forward to a great season and all the lessons it can teach us!