If you want to succeed at your small business or just want to climb the ladder at your job, you’re going to have to become a master communicator. One way that I’ve found works for me is by recognizing the varied ways that different people communicate.

I hate talking on the phone. I feel it’s intrusive and so I don’t like people calling me and I consequently don’t like calling other people because of how I know it makes me feel.

I - am an email guy. I love email. I check it very often…so often that if you’re fast at responding, it’s like chatting on Yahoo! Messenger with me with a short lag.

But! I recognize that not everyone likes email. There’s a good friend of mine that I work with that if he can’t get you live on the phone, will simply not communicate with you. If I send him an email, he’ll respond with a phone call. He doesn’t have any IM accounts either, so don’t bother. Voicemail? Forget it, he’ll hang up.

Now, you might be thinking that this person is a technophobe and just hates technology….here’s the kicker…he’s a brilliant software engineer and has worked in high tech forever. So, what gives?

Everybody has their own peculiar way of communicating that they are most comfortable.

Your customers, your co-wokers, your partners, your suppliers…they all have their preferred ways of communicating with you. I attribute a large part of my career success to being a bridge - a communicator that facilitates dialogue were none existed before. Many times, that’s 90% of what it seems I do - bringing people and ideas together in meaningful ways….

Getting coworkers to understand each other and coordinate what they are doing better

Getting customers to understand how I can help them

Getting partners to see my vision

Business cannot happen without people making connections somewhere and communicating. It’s uber basic. If you’re going to be that master communicator, you need to pay attention to the ways people communicate best and meet them there.

My friend that prefers live phone conversation when I hate it? I just have to tell myself not to feel guilty about interrupting him with a phone call because I’ve learned that he prefers this.

Welcome back again!