"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." George Bernard Shaw. Unlike medical doctors who get hear about people's physical ailments, I get to hear stories of people's communication conundrums, mostly their frustrations. With communication breakdowns come broken relationships, drama and a lot of wasted time. Inaccurate communication can also cost you a lot of money, trust me. Let's look at the 3 basic reasons people don't get what you're saying:

1. They're not listening...to you.

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That handsome man in the photo is my dad. It's Father's Day again (not sure how mid-June got here so fast) and today Ruben and I are celebrating 23 months of marriage. Dads these days tend to get a bad rap, or no rap at all. They're often portrayed as buffoons or absolute idiots on television and the object of blame by the very-tired women who are still doing 95% of the housework and childcare and bringing home 88% of the income (these figures are estimates and may not be entirely accurate). Even if your own dad didn't measure up to your expectations, I'm sure you've benefitted from dad energy shared by special men in your life. But I'm about to share a major breakthrough on male/female relationships. (Warning: what you're about to read is not politically correct.)

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"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly." Buckminster Fuller 

Although we never met, Buckminister Fuller is a personal hero. Inventor of the geodesic dome and recipient of 44 honorary doctoral degrees, as a freshman in college he was booted out of Harvard. Several years later, when his infant daughter died, Fuller contemplated committing suicide but decided to continue his life, but as an experiment. He called himself "Guinea Pig B." Read more »

If you're like me, you may find it grossly unfair to realize this rather large inconvenient truth: doing your job to perfection, helping others get their work done and being the one to stay late, come in early and put in some time on the week-ends is a clear path to complete career failure. Using this strategy may (perhaps) allow you to keep your job, but definitely it puts you off the map for promotions and juicy assignments. Doing what is expected of you takes you nowhere. I sensed the truth of this early in my career, in my first corporate job in the 6th largest bank in Venezuela many years ago. Being somewhat dense, it took me a couple of decades to figure out what it really takes to gain recognition for your talent and contribution. Read more »