Why Investment Guru Warren Buffett thinks you should study communication!

The easiest way to increase your net worth by 50% or more is to grow your communication skills! (Warren Buffett, as cited in Clifford, 2018)

Why Study Communication?

Besides inducing stress and costing money and time for you and your employer, communication barriers can delay projects or cause them to fail (44%) and contribute to "low morale (31%), missed performance goals (25%) and even lost sales (18%)—some worth hundreds of thousands of dollars” (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2018, p. 2).

According to a study of over 8000 employers, faculty, students, and alums from 31 universities, communication skills are the most vital skills needed for professional success. The skills they reported as most important (and most-often deficient) include the following:

• effective listening

• accuracy and conciseness

• pleasant and professional communication

• effective writing

• asking good questions, and

• appropriate and professional use of social media

• effective relationship-building

• positive teamwork

• sensitivity to diversity, and

• constructive conflict management (Crawford, Lang, Fink, Dalton, & Fielitz, 2011).

One reason these skills are so prized by employers is the sheer financial cost for them when employees are lacking in communication skills. According to Integrity Solutions (n.d.), communication barriers cost companies more than $26,000 per employee in productivity losses, and that’s just the beginning. These skills can help prevent injuries and contribute to personal and professional resilience, well-being, and even physical health (Hunter, 2021).

How to begin:

First: Start by developing what Dr. Carol Dweck calls a Growth Mindset. See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiiEeMN7vbQ

Second: Ask yourself the following 4 questions:

Question #1: Is it possible that my past sense of my own interpersonal skills may have been inflated?

Question #2: Could a fixed (versus growth) mindset be standing in the way of my growth?

Question #3: Have I missed opportunities to develop my communication skills due to a emphasizing only trade-specific skills?

Question #4: Could my communication suffer from an overemphasis on digital media?

(Hunter. K., 2021)

Clifford, C. (2018, Dec. 5). Billionaire Warren Buffett: This is the ‘one easy way’ to increase your worth by ‘at least’ 50 percent. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/05/warren-buffett-how-to-increase-your-worth-by-50-percent.html

Crawford, P., Lang, S., Fink, W., Dalton, R., & Fielitz, L. (2011). Comparability of soft skills: What is important for new graduates? APLU Academic Programs Summit. Indianapolis, Indiana: Association of Public and Land Grant Universities. Soft Skills Survey 2011 Crawford Lang Fink Dalton Fielitz.pdf (aplu.org)

Economist Intelligence Unit. (2018, March). Communication barriers in the modern workplace. https://d2slcw3kip6qmk.cloudfront.net/marketing/pages/chart/ebooks/FINAL_EIU_Lucidchart_March2018.pdf

Hunter, K. (2021). Interpersonal development: 21st century skills for the real and virtual world. Kendall Hunt.

Integrity Solutions. (n.d.). Organizations pay a high price for poor communication skills. https://www.integritysolutions.com/insights/blog/organizations-pay-a-high-price-for-poor-communication-skills#:~:text=The%20High%20Cost%20of%20Poor%20Communication%20Skills&text=In%20another%20study%2C%20SIS%20International,more%20than%20%2426%2C000%20per%20employee.