In the September 24th issue of Business Week, the magazine had listed 95 corporations as "Best Places to Launch a Career."

Of these top 95 companies, they also listed what skills and traits employers are selecting for (see below).

What's interesting about the results, is that when one adds both leadership and communication skills together, you have over 45% of the total employers.

It's interesting to note that many employers are looking for leadership skills even in new hires strait out of college. Unfortunately, the top two skills are not classes or course of study most college students take.

A man was out driving, when he came across a flock of sheep. He got out of his car, and walked over to the shepherd tending the sheep. He asked, "Are you a betting man?" "Why do you ask?", said the shepherd. "I'll bet you $20, to one of your sheep, that I can guess the size of your flock.", he said. "You're on", said the shepherd, "How many sheep have I got?" "367", came the answer."That's amazing," exclaimed the shepherd, "You're absolutely right! go and pick yourself a sheep." Having claimed his prize, the man was walking away, when the shepherd called out to him. "How about another bet- double or nothing.", he challenged."What's the bet?", said the man."I'll bet you that I can tell your occupation, and who you work for." "That's a bet." said the man. "What do I do?" "You're a financial analyst who studies the banking industry.", said the shepherd. "That's amazing," said the man. "How did you figure that out? "The shepherd smiled. "Put down my dog, and I'll tell you."

Morale of the story: The numbers never tell you the whole story

The mind is like a TV set, when it goes stops working, it is a good idea to shut off the sound.

Unknown

Every ass loves to hear himself bray.
Thomas Fuller

Husband and Wife

A little girl and a little boy were at day care one day.
The girl approaches the boy and says,"Hey Stevie, wanna play house?"
He says, "Sure! What do you want me to do?"
The girl replies, "I want you to communicate."
He says to her, "that word is too big. I have no idea what it means."
The little girl smirks and says, "Perfect. You can be the husband.

What Not to Eat

The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.

*The French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.

*The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.

The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.

CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Lunch On Jesus

An old nun who was living in a convent next to a Brooklyn construction site noticed the coarse language of the workers and decided to spend some time with them to correct their ways.

She decided she would take her lunch, sit with the workers and talk with them. She put her sandwich in a brown bag and walked over to the spot where the men were eating.

She walked up to the group and with a big smile said: "Do you men know Jesus Christ?"

They shook their heads and looked at each other One of the workers looked up into the steelwork and yelled "Anybody up there know Jesus Christ?"

One of the steelworkers yelled down a "Yea. Why"?

The worker yelled back "His wife's here with his lunch."

For More Information

Human Communication , 10th Edition
by Stewart L. Tubbs ,Sylvia Moss
List Price about : $75.00

This is a college text—one of the very best when it comes to really learning the massive amount of research driven principles and guidelines to understand the nature of this art. One can also access additional resources through the web site.

In this area you have a number of different skills that enhance leadership. They include:

Self-Talk (Intrapersonal Communication)

• It's long been known by psychologists that the is internal dialog occurring within the mind is incredibly important. Yet, most of us pay it no mind

Interpersonal Communication

• Surprisingly, even this fairly simple form of communication is fought with many types of problems such as encoding and decoding bias on both the sender and the receiver side.

Listening

• People are terrible listeners. But we do know how to fake it pretty well. Leaders cannot afford to develop a reputation for not listening—it's ruinous. Still, one of the more common complaints in many organizations is, "My boss doesn't listen to me."

Feedback

• Despite it's importance, few leaders want to deliver it, and most followers do not want to receive it. You also have different types of feedback such as positive and negative; subjective and objective, etc.

Small Group

• Group communication is a very different animal compared to interpersonal communication. There are many more complexities and opportunities for failure embedded in group dynamics.

Persuasion

• Long the study of sales people everywhere, leaders also need to develop this vital skill.

Nonverbal Communication

• Body language contains meaning--sometimes more than what is embedded in the words. Yet, few individuals pay much attention to it.

Public Speaking

• It's been said that the most common fear in America next to being sued, is speaking in front of others. It's an important aspect of leadership in both government and business.

Interviewing

• Despite it's importance, interviews are not a good predictor of job performance. Its importance lies more in learning how to act so one can get a job.

Asking Questions

• Any idiot can state an opinion, but it takes a creative mind to ask the right questions. Without this skill, effective counseling and group facilitation is essentially impossible.

Intercultural

• Individuals in business and government need to learn how to adapt their communication patterns to take into account cultural differences.

Organizational

• It's been said that the first job of a good leader is to establish a system of communication. Sounds easy, but it is surprisingly difficult.