While solo travelling across Australia in my early twenties, I had the absolute fortune of meeting and adventuring with a wide variety of people from across the world. It was during this time that I really noticed how communication can be vital to connection, identity and all types of relationship building. A Scottish man by the name of Thomas travelled with a group of us for a few days, and he would often stumble when trying to add to our interactions. Thomas was awesome – brilliant, funny and interesting but he had a hard time expressing himself or jumping into a conversation. So he stayed quiet. Great one–on-one interactions but never so much as a comment to the larger group.
After a few social occasions, I noticed he would go to speak but stop himself. A few times. I felt the need to help, making sure his point was heard by inviting him into the conversation and to contribute. His words were always insightful, valuable and appreciated. It is often those in groups who don’t know what to say, how to speak or how to connect with their audience that can provide the greatest amount of value to a conversation.
I have spent the last few decades trying to help any “Thomas” I have the good fortune to meet. Those who want to communicate and connect but may not know how. This can show up as a leader trying to connect as a presenter, a team finding meaning in their corporate vision and purpose, a podcast needing to set the right tone or an organization building trust with its customers.
My passion lies in effective and meaningful communication to build trust. Whether with your coworkers, customers, employees, managers or leaders, Relationships at Work matter. And it’s the name of my blog. Good or bad, this is the culture of your organization.
I’m a Surrey, B.C. boy who has navigated his career in leadership roles through the service industry, broadcasting, strategic communications, change management, government public engagement, social media, professional speaking, voice acting, podcasting and more while travelling when I can from Germany to Australia, Bali to Malaysia, and beyond. And in every area, I find myself working to help “Thomas” do more with L.E.S., to better connect, be heard and build relationships.
This website is where I’ll be sharing my experience, knowledge and learning so far and along the way.
