Common Communication Breakdowns: Ion Farmakides Of Pearl Lemon On The Most Common Communication Breakdowns In Corporations And How To Avoid Them

An Interview With Cynthia Corsetti

Being Unable to Be Direct and Concise. When you keep on going in circles during a conversation and that makes the exchange of ideas longer than expected — communication will break down because you slowly become irrelevant and confusing to converse with. People should practice becoming more confident in what they know and what they need to say.

In the dynamic world of business, where rapid decision-making, seamless collaboration, and innovative strategies are critical, effective communication is essential. Yet, we find that even in the most successful corporations, communication breakdowns can become a regular occurrence, leading to misaligned goals, misinterpreted strategies, and missed opportunities. In this series, we are talking to CEOs, COOs, CTOs, and other C-Suite leaders, to discuss what leads to communication breakdowns, and more importantly, how they can be avoided. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Ion Farmakides.

Ion Farmakides is a seasoned Sales and lead generation expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. He has worked with major brands, including Coca-Cola and KFC, and has led successful campaigns that have resulted in significant revenue growth.

As the Managing Director of the award-winning Pearl Lemon Group, Ion is responsible for overseeing the agency’s operations and ensuring that clients receive top-notch service. His insights could be helpful for your audience since he’s someone that directly deals with our various clients all over the world.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion about communication, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

It started years ago, before I had my first corporate job. Thinking back on it, I was always involved in sales one way or another. When I played music, I still had to sell my band — I had to get sponsors, I had to get us into a gig. Any odd job I had or if I worked at a shop, it was still sales. I also sold advertising space before in a local newspaper for a summer job.

It was always about speaking to people. So even before the corporate stuff, I suppose, I think it was just always geared towards communicating with people and finding out whether what I have is a good enough fit for what they need.

But then when I moved to Barcelona, I got a job working at an events company as a salesperson, and then I grew from there. So, from sales to then team leader to manager to senior manager. And it was always just, I suppose, becoming better at what I was doing. And yeah, I just organically and naturally grew into the first actual corporate sales role.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

To be honest, there are so many different things. I think one of the best is how in a lot of sense we are very “startup-y”, but then we can work with world leader companies. We’re very, very fast, super nimble, and our decision making is precise. The decision-making process is practically non-existent. It’s like because we know what we do, we have the answers immediately and that helps our clients a lot because it saves them time.

There’s also zero bureaucracy. One might think because we’re a medium enterprise, strict systems are in place — but here, creativity and openness is our living culture. There may be pros and cons to everything, but I personally prefer us being this way. I like the fact that if we are to work with a prospect, soon-to-be client, we’re flexible enough to meet them halfway and try out what they think is good. A lot of companies are like: “Well, this is what we have.” Whereas for us, if we can do it, we will find a way.

And I like that about us a lot. I like our character. I like how we work with people We’re good at finding good people. And even though we’re fully remote, there’s good conversations during team meetings, between the communication levels that we have with one another. It feels as though I know people even if we’re a screen apart.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

A character trait of mine that I think would be instrumental is the attitude that I need to see things through. I think it’s a good thing to have that sense of responsibility of making sure that things end well. For instance, if I speak to somebody, then they need to receive information, I need to send the information, and I need to do it in a timely fashion because otherwise if they don’t get the follow-up, the sales process doesn’t conclude itself. And to me, I have this thing. It’s like a ticking thing in my head where all this must happen. If not, it just won’t work.

Another trait that’s helpful is my pragmatic attitude — the idea that, “if it doesn’t have need to happen, why should it happen”. Perhaps it’s because I grew as someone that cares about other people’s time, their effort, the amount of work they put in. So, if it’s not necessary to have an issue about it something — why should I fret about it? To elaborate, I don’t like situations where negative things happen to people. I want people to be as happy as they can be while doing what they’re supposed to be doing.

Lastly, I hate the idea of being a burden. I want to make sure that if I can help or if I can contribute, I want people to know that I’m always going to be available so that people do feel that way. That’s very important to me. I always want to make sure that I’m never in anybody’s way. If you want to do something and you have your own way of doing it, if it works, amazing. If my way is different and it doesn’t work for you, but you can produce anyway, super. I don’t know everything so if someone has a better way, I’m also open to it.

Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two apparently good paths. Can you share a story with us about a hard decision or choice you had to make as a leader? I’m curious to understand how these challenges have shaped your leadership.

One scenario I can think of is when somebody doesn’t do what they’re supposed to do, but they don’t do it purposely. Let’s say somebody screws up, and they’re a great person, and they’re great in general. How do you communicate that effectively, efficiently, and tactfully?

For instance, you do PR outreach, and you send the wrong thing. I need to speak to you in a way which demonstrates that, “Hey, this wasn’t done the way it was supposed to be done. We’re not going to get the result we wanted. But I don’t want you to lose faith. I don’t want you to be demotivated, and I don’t want you to end up hating your work.”

So how do you communicate that to anybody the right way? And the answer is you need to focus on the positives. I mean, sometimes it can be a huge internal debate on what to say. But then how do you communicate it so that the person feels like, “I screwed up here. I see what I should have done differently, but I’m now so motivated to do it well the next time.”

The answer is you focus on the person’s, the pros. You acknowledge what has happened. You demonstrate that you understand why it’s happened. And then you volunteer to say, “Hey, I see what you’ve done here. I understand. What do you think would happen if we do it this way instead?”

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Let’s begin with a basic question. Why is communication within an organization so essential? Can you recall a specific situation where effective communication within your organization led to a significant breakthrough or success?

Well, communication is important, period. It doesn’t change whether it’s in a relationship, whether it’s outside of work, inside of work. You always need to be able to not just voice your opinion, but also connect with your colleagues or your boss or anybody, really, in a way which allows them to understand what’s going on, what you’re dealing with.

And it all just works towards you being a more effective, efficient, and a happier version of yourself within. In this case, the workforce or within the virtual office environment. It’s crucial to me. Communication is how I know someone. Why? Because we’ve communicated. It’s not just about senior work and say, “Oh, he does email copies. The other girl does PR.” It should be “I need to speak to her and get to know her — but what should I say? How do I do it?”. That’s what’s important. Because not everyone speaks to one another, and there are different ways on how people treat the people around them. And that’s all down to communication. And in terms of what is it done or how is it made, it’s endless.

A good example for what communication can do was when a leader of ours had a personal circumstance he needed to face. While he was away, being able to communicate directly with the lead generation team made things less complicated. I just have started a new group, communicated, had a call, and it was done. The communication was straight, easy, super, and transparent. Then, when I ended that call, I felt relived because everybody was cool with my request.

Is there such a thing as overcommunication? Have you ever faced any challenges or backlash due to overcommunication, and how did you address it?

Yes, I think there is. It’s a version of not being able to read the room. So, if I ask you a question and you reply, I should be able to know when a conversation should start ending.

For instance, I asked, “Hey, do me a huge favor and send me a list of X things but only if you have it already or if it’s easy enough to produce. I don’t want you to do more work.” And to which the other person replied, “Okay, I have it.” And they send that list. But then then I ask you a question about it again, and they reply, and then I just keep on asking questions, but I can tell from the other person’s answers that maybe they’re busy or don’t have the time to chat. In that scenario, I should say, give my thanks and bid goodbye. Versus just continuing and just sending messages, because that’s overcommunicating in that respect.

However, there are situations where overcommunicating is necessary. For example, I need someone to give me a response about what I need to tell the client because the client is chasing me, I will overcommunicate like crazy. On the other person’s end, he’s going to think “Oh, another message. That’s the 5th today.” But technically I’m overcommunicating because the other person is not communicating at all.

In the end, it all comes down to reading the room.

How do you strike the balance between over-communication and under-communication within the organization? What guiding principles do you follow?

If you want to have a balance between the two, you should always set clear communication goals and know how the other people communicates. Communication is a two-way thing — so knowing how the other person is when in conversation, makes a big difference. It also helps if the workplace is an environment where people can voice out their opinions and be confident in what they do.

The rise of hybrid work has brought new communication dynamics. How have you found this shift affecting communication within your organization, and what innovative methods have you implemented to adapt?

Well, nothing really changed for us as far as communication goes, because we’re a remote business and we’ve always had our business chats on digital channels. We communicate with one another through WhatsApp, emails, Zoom Meetings, and so on from day one. So, navigating through the remote setup during the pandemic wasn’t new to us.

In an era of specialized roles and departments, how do you ensure that different parts of the organization are not working in silos, and what mechanisms encourage cross-functional dialogue? Similarly, how do you maintain a sense of unity and shared purpose among teams in a hybrid work environment?

Well, I encourage people to work on their own when necessary. I think it’s also a good exercise. You should be able to do stuff on your own when and where necessary, especially when you’re fully remote, if people know that they have a support system or that they can reach out to several different people, I think that’s what’s important.

I’m not big on strict process or stringent rules when it comes to this stuff. I just want things to be efficient, and I want people to be happy doing whatever they’re meant to be doing. So, if you encourage people to communicate with each other, be resourceful, figure stuff out on your own, and ask for help when needed, you’ll be good.

I also always tell people, to find a way to become indispensable. How do you do that? You should always win. It doesn’t mean anybody else has to lose. It doesn’t also necessarily mean you need to get a billion-dollar deal. Just small wins that give a big impact on the business. And how does that relate to communication? Well, because your wins would also be built with the help of people around you.

For instance, I need to know about the X things that increase customer engagement because the client wants to know about it. What do I do? Text, email, or call somebody if I must. I’ll go to all resource points to know about it.

Since people know that all these virtual doors are open for everybody in our organisation, they are also following that culture. I think that’s very important. And that goes back to one of the previous questions about why it’s important to have communication. It’s like the same thing.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “Five Most Common Communication Breakdowns In Corporations And How To Avoid Them”?

1. Loss of Words Leading to Non-Accomplishment of Task. For instance, something needs to be communicated to the client, but somebody doesn’t know how to do it, so they just avoid doing it altogether. How do you avoid that? You just face it. Because the sooner you can address these things, the sooner you can try to solve them, then the happier most people are.
2. Not Communicating Boundaries. Most people have the ick on other people not being quick enough to respond to stuff. But that person’s capacity depends on also what they’re doing. If I’m on a call that lasts 52 minutes, I will likely never respond to anything while I’m on the call. Sometimes if there are more people in the call and somebody else is talking, I’ll check messages. If they text me and I’m super in the call, I’m not going to respond to anything. If the pitch is going like this and there’s a bit of a gap, I can say, “Hey, on a pitch, chat later.” I can do that in space of one second. But most people just don’t respond at all, and people won’t know that they’re busy because they didn’t communicate that.
3. Different Time Zones. We’re a global company, so different time zones are to be expected. So, when somebody should be around or available and they’re not, that breaks the communication between two people. How? By not responding, a conversation isn’t happening. If I need an answer for something, it’s not because I just want an answer. It’s almost always because a client needs to be happy, or you told me that you’d give me something on that moment. But time is just tricky. What do we do to avoid that situation? We mitigate it. You can ask for that thing beforehand.
4. Being Unable to Be Direct and Concise. When you keep on going in circles during a conversation and that makes the exchange of ideas longer than expected — communication will break down because you slowly become irrelevant and confusing to converse with. People should practice becoming more confident in what they know and what they need to say.
5. Technical Device and Digital Malfunctions. Since we’re remote, it’s a common breakdown in communication for us when someone loses their internet for a moment, or there’s a black out, or maybe there’s a storm. How do we avoid that? Well, it’s out of our control. But we can mitigate it by planning ahead.

What role do you see for yourself as a leader in fostering a climate where employees at all levels feel comfortable voicing their opinions and concerns? Can you share an example where this openness led to a positive change?

I don’t consider myself to be anybody’s boss. We have different roles, we’re all in this together. It’s like the ship is still going in the same place, which means that if you must cook and I must fish and somebody else has to clean the deck and somebody else has to raise the sales or whatever, we’re still going to the same place.

The way I see it is I will try to do my part, and then if you do yours, then it’s going to work. And if people know what their part is, they shouldn’t need anybody to tell them to do it. And if they don’t like it, then they should just do something else for a living.

I’m also quite the joker. I try to use humour to make it so that everybody just feels comfortable. And I think the more comfortable you feel… the more you become more vocal about who you are.

Navigating the complex terrain of corporate communication must certainly present unique challenges. As a C-suite leader, what thoughts or concerns, related to this or otherwise, often keep you awake at night? How do these influence your approach to leadership?

Mostly it’s all about clients for me. How do we communicate effectively with the client? How do we keep them as happy as possible? And if there’s something that needs to be shared, how do we do it in a way which lands the safest? If there’s something we haven’t delivered for a client, how do you communicate that?

Another thing is when you need to let go of someone. How do you tell that to the other person? I’d like to think I know where people are coming from. That’s why communicating something like that is one of the things that makes it hard to sleep at night. But of course, that doesn’t happen daily so I can still sleep soundly on most nights.

Can you share a piece of feedback or advice you received that significantly altered your leadership approach or philosophy?

Probably the what’s in it for me concept. It’s about trying to at least look at things from the other person’s perspective. If you know that you’re getting paid to do something that is very helpful and satisfying — wouldn’t you want to do it?

So now that I know what’s important to you, and we focus on that, then the communication is different because you can never really force people to do things. Something’s going to break at some point if you force things on people they don’t like.

But if people do things because they find it valuable or you help them find it — what they stand to gain from that (could be money, it could be time, it can be the satisfaction of accomplishing something, it can be growth, it can be learning, it can be a number of different thing) — it’s much easier to communicate and have people do things because they want to, not because they have to.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

There are too many companies that do very similar things, and there are too many people who need jobs. So, to do something business-wise, I’d say everybody have a job that is super fulfilling, but it’s unrealistic. My movement would be, even if I said find something that you’d love doing the whole thing, and then you’ll never work another day in your life, blah, blah, blah, blah, it’s not going to work because there are too many people who could do the same thing whose dream is to do the same thing. It’s a tricky one.

I want people to just be as happy as possible. So something which is realistic is once you find something that you’re good at, which you’re also drawn to, and it doesn’t have to be your dream job, something that fulfills you, then try to find small, medium, even big-sized wins within that relationship situation so that if you can enjoy most aspects of the job, then the majority of the day goes well.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

You can check some updates about me on my LinkedIn its https://www.linkedin.com/in/ionfarmakides/, or on our website https://pearllemon.com/

Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

About the Interviewer: Cynthia Corsetti is an esteemed executive coach with over two decades in corporate leadership and 11 years in executive coaching. Author of the upcoming book, “Dark Drivers,” she guides high-performing professionals and Fortune 500 firms to recognize and manage underlying influences affecting their leadership. Beyond individual coaching, Cynthia offers a 6-month executive transition program and partners with organizations to nurture the next wave of leadership excellence.