“By languages, in all their facets, we can live in peace or go to war. We sing songs in harmony, or shout insults in anger. We experience connection or disconnection. We work together in peace or in pain. The choice is ours.”—Anna Kendall
Every so often, we meet people with whom we find it difficult to communicate. For one reason or another, we don’t seem to be on the same wavelength—it’s as if we’re speaking different languages. It’s frustrating when we try to discuss something with them or understand their point of view.
The late renowned management consultant Peter Drucker claimed that 80 percent of all management problems were the result of faulty communication. Poor communication also causes strife in many relationships.
Fred and Anna Kendall set out to discover how different people prefer to communicate and what methods they use to do so. The result is the Kendalls’ Life Languages program, which has been used successfully by tens of thousands of people around the world.
In Communication IQ, the Kendalls share information about three communication intelligence categories—kinetic/action, emotive/feeling, and cognitive/thinking—and the seven Life Languages—Mover, Doer, Influencer, Responder, Shaper, Producer, and Contemplator. Each Life Language has a filter through which one views life and communication, a need that provides feelings of acceptance and love when it’s met, a key character strength, a learning style, and other traits. The Kendalls’ goal is to empower people to learn how to use their Life Language to better communicate with others in their personal lives, their careers, and the world at large, while also gaining a greater self-awareness of their own strengths and passions.