The Power of Conversation

by Amanda Borichevsky, Vollmer Public Relations Dallas

I’ve reflected often lately, with peers, friends and family, about the somewhat lost art of live communication, the value of a conversation, the priceless worth of a live voice. While I know to some I may sound more and more like an ancient generation, but it truly amazes me to reflect on how drastically communication has evolved (or in some cases DE-volved) over the past 10 years. The unquestionable convenience of e-mail, instant messaging, text messaging and social media does come with a price. Perhaps that price is a level of disconnection from the world around us, though under the guise of being more closely connected.

As a professional communicator, I sometimes find myself sliding down the slippery slope of constant electronic communication, lost in my love affair with the “convenience” it provides me, the time it appears to offer me and the accepted simplicity of its nature. But I’ve been reminded of something priceless that it can rob us of if we allow it to…the value of depth, the wisdom often found in anecdotes, the energy of camaraderie.

I was asked several months ago to forge a managers’ roundtable of sorts, Vollmer’s Leaders Lunchbox series,  that would allow an opportunity for leaders throughout the company to connect on issues important to us and to actually….talk. There are no rules, no bosses, no formal reports and, for the most part, no boundaries for discussion topics. It’s a chance to share experiences, learn from one another, help each other and, ultimately, make ourselves better professionals. Over the course of the past several months, it has reminded me of several valuable realizations that I (and we all) often lose sight of. And what’s perhaps most amazing, as is often the case, is how seemingly simple these realizations were:

• Lesson One: Nothing can replace the power of conversation. In my humble opinion, it creates the unique opportunity to gain more insight than any other means of communication.
• Lesson Two: Your peers can sometimes be your best resources! Mentorship does not ONLY have to come in the form of a “boss.”  It’s amazing what you can learn from those around you when you stop to ask and listen.
• Lesson Three: You can learn just as much from sharing stories of mistakes made as great victories achieved…sometimes more. I have the following quote in my office: “Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure.”
• Lesson Four: No one has ALL the answers, but together we can uncover a heck of a lot of them!

More lessons learned to come…