Introduction

The world today is hungry for good leaders and organizations thrive on leadership excellence to stay competitive and successful. Therefore the power to cast positive footprints in one’s life continues to fuel my passion for teaching and life-long learning. I derive a great sense of pride and purpose in being able to contribute to molding the future leaders of our world.

Global Readiness

We need to understand and accept the fact that the global economy we live in today promotes inter-connectedness from all corners of the earth and in nearly all aspects of business and human relations. The impact of the global challenge in business pushes workers to an unprecedented frontier of increased competition and continual innovation. Academia must strive to develop students who are global ready to meet the accelerated speed of change today.

With globalization, employers are increasingly seeking to hire workers who possess skills necessary for leadership roles with a future in international relations. Therefore the value of core skills such as Business Communication is incalculable as it shapes a learner’s career success measured by his/her ability to not only communicate effectively but also to cultivate workplace relationships embracing cultural diversity.

Pragmatism of Learners

With today’s Skills Future initiative, learners are pragmatic and are motivated by the realism of the contribution of skills and knowledge acquired to their career prospect and personal growth. Hence there is a need to create a pragmatic learning strategy for developing communication skills essential for future leaders to excel, lead, connect with and manage people at all levels.

For example, this may involve the ability to handle the question and answer session with tact and confidence during meetings. Using imagination based on vivid language, I work to bring to live practical applications of the learning concepts and ideas aimed at developing people skills for career success in a challenging business environment. I found that Mind Map is a powerful linking tool for this purpose because of its highly visual and stimulating structure that would allow learners to generate ideas with clarity in a multi-dimensional fashion.

Effective Communication Skills

No matter what profession learners choose to pursue, employers would expect candidates to be equipped with the ability to communicate effectively with others. When learners understand this fundamental principle, they learn to appreciate communication more. Hopefully this will drive them to become more self-directed and take ownership for their learning apart from excelling in grades alone.

Learners need to recognize how they can benefit from effective communication in their future job search. They would experience less stress in applying for a position if they stand out from the competition by demonstrating competency in their oral and written skills. This is because every aspect of a job search process relies on effective communication. The better one learns to communicate, the more successful he/she will be in landing interesting and rewarding roles. Similarly, the potential for job promotion and career advancement banks on these qualities year after year. Thus associating learning with such intent to connect one’s goal is imperative to developing a personal quest of ‘want to’ and not ‘have to’.

Relationship Building

Besides being a good orator and writer, I would continually emphasize the importance of relationship building in business and in life. This helps to synergize efforts and resources in any organization through collaborating with others to build on individual success.

A proven way to achieve relationship building is through networking. Fortunately today there are many networking options available such as through creating an impressive LinkedIn profile. All these would require learners to be able to write proficiently by applying the practical skills of business writing.

Other occasion may present opportunity to connect in an informal setting. For example, one may strike up a friendly conversation with another at the gym or even receive a job lead from someone at a friend’s birthday party. As long as we are engaged with other people, we are actively networking. Again, communication skills are essential in connecting with others and nurturing relationships.