Communicate with Mastery

6Tailoring Your Communication to Your Identity

Our personal identities are not just an accessory to our communication; they inform our unique perspectives, leadership styles, and goals. We may perceive elements of our identities that we don't think twice about when communicating as leaders (for example, my well-known love of caffeine rarely comes up), but often we will need to reconcile core elements of who we are with best practices for how to communicate the ideas that matter to us.

In this chapter, we cover some special topics that arise when you are leading in your non-native language, when you are an LGBTQ leader, when you are a woman or female-identifying leader, a veteran, or a rookie leader. We urge you to review these sections even if you don't consider yourself a member of these groups. You may find that some of the best practices we offer will serve your communication, but more importantly, we hope they will broaden your perspective on the communication challenges that your colleagues, mentees, and direct reports might face. Our identities exist in constant conversation with our environments, so as always, use these suggestions as a starting point for how to navigate your personal identity within the context where you lead.

Leading in Your Second (or Third, or Fourth) Language

In our increasingly global world, many of us may find ourselves presenting, speaking, negotiating, writing, studying, or working in a language that is not our native tongue. When you are leading ...