What are you saying? Are you being heard? Is what you are saying being understood? Many of us are surprised to learn that what we have said is not what was heard. How can that be? The communication was crystal clear, spoken without hurry, and it appeared that the listener was listening … so what could have possibly gone wrong? Well, we have all played Telephone, the parlour game where we all sit in a circle and someone starts the “call” with a message whispered in the ear of the person to their right. Then the message is passed from one person to the next around the circle (each time whispered in the ear), until it comes back to the person who started the call off. By this point, the message has been completely lost in translation and is shared out loud, along with the original message, and everyone marvels at the hilarious outcome. True warriors know that this can happen to them when communicating, and the outcome often times can be far from hilarious. It can be life threatening, destructive, or devastating … and have completely unintended consequences. This is one of the reasons that true warriors do not speak without thinking first, and then (once having decided that speaking is the correct course of action) they will verify the accuracy of the communication by asking the recipients for their view of it. What exactly did they hear? The true warrior will not be satisfied until both parties have consensus on the communication. This is the only way you can avoid an inadvertent game of Telephone. Verify your communication. Make sure that your message is heard or don’t waste your breath.

The true warrior understands that the written word also seems to be subject to interesting interpretation, shading, colouring, and complete misunderstanding. So putting things in writing without verification is no better than speaking without comprehension. Do you understand me? Are you getting the message? If you don’t let me know when I ask you, how will I know that you have heard me? One caveat: don’t tell me what you think I want to hear. Please tell me what you actually comprehended.

You are warriors. Be clear in your communications. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Verify your messages, confirm your content, and ensure that your data stream remains uncorrupted. The word is more powerful than the sword. Use the right words and you will turn it all back around to the way it should have been. So it has been written.