For example, there’s a great story about a janitor at KSC back during the Apollo days who really loved his job. When someone would ask him why he loved his job so much he would say “I’m sending men to the moon.” That was his context for his janitorial work, which occured to him much differently than most of us would expect!

I’d suggest that we all communicate with other people within certain contexts. Think about it for a minute… when you’re about to talk to someone, what is really going through your head? “I can’t stand talking to this guy.” “I need him to agree to my proposal.” “This conversation is going to be so much fun.”

I’d propose that this “context” actually matters more in communication than the content of the message. It defines how people listen, and if people aren’t listening, the content of your message doesn’t make any difference. Leaders (and great communicators) know how to shift the context for other people so that they hear what is being said. They also know how to shift their own context so that they can hear ANY communication from ANY other person.

I am a little confused by what you mean by “context”. It kind of seems like you are talking about the unwritten rules that any culture or society has. Could you please explain further? I think that it is an opening to something really interesting.

thought it might be worth reading