Why Leadership is all about Communicating?
One of the most critical factors for our success as a leader will be how do we communicate, not with our bosses or peers, but with our teams. On a primary level, communication is all about exchanging information, whether that means brainstorming as a group, assigning tasks, setting expectations, or alerting others to the problems.
The completeness, accuracy, timing and form of our messaging is going to directly affect how our plans are carried out. Beyond that, how we communicate can play a massive role in the morale of our teams. How we treat our employees will have a direct impact in how they think about us, respect one another and ultimately perform their jobs.
So, let’s discuss here what is it that makes successful leaders good at communicating at all levels? What strategies do they employ to get this done and be seen as leaders?
1. Select Medium with Care
First, let’s ensure that we’re considering our medium(s) carefully. Being able to send out a mass text or an email or a voice message to our employees is of immense significance. Let’s be mindful which communication channel to choose, e.g., the above mediums are appropriate for notifying our teams of a last-minute meeting change but wouldn’t be for sending out the scope of a new project.
Similarly, email isn’t the best way to start a long back-and-forth conversation — especially if it concerns a sensitive subject. Learn to read the situation and decide on the appropriate medium; in the right form, our message’s effectiveness will spread.
2. Tone & Expression is Everything
This is especially important when speaking to our direct report face-to-face. When delivering messages, we must ask ourselves as what are we trying to accomplish and how it should be done? E.g., if an employee is underperforming or has missed out a critical deadline and as a leader, we sincerely want him/her to improve in future, our way of dealing with employee has to be very subtle.
Our tone and expression have to be chosen wisely so that the message gets across and understood well. Frame the phrases to achieve this goal; instead of scolding or reprimanding, let’s use a friendlier and firmer tone with corrective directions. I am pretty sure we will accomplish far more, make our intentions clear and preserve morale this way.
3. Stay Crisp & Concise
A common question I get from coaching clients is: “How do I become a more concise communicator?” It’s no surprise because concise communication is more important now than ever before. Consider this:
- The average human attention span has fallen from 12 seconds in the year 2000 to eight seconds today.
- Each day, the typical office employee receives an average of 120 emails.
- Every time a person is distracted, it takes over 23 minutes for them to regain focus.
Given these realities, it’s no wonder that studies rank good communication skills as twice as important as good managerial skills. That’s because, in this age of oversaturation, there’s little margin for error. In fact, 86% of employees blame lack of good communication for workplace failures.
4. Stay Proactive
Reminding someone about something isn’t effective if that someone is already halfway through the job. Try to be as proactive as possible by telling employees early on what we expect from them. Set expectations long before any actions are taken; and when something comes up, let the team know about it as soon as possible.
One easy way to put this into practice is to set more alerts on your phone and make use of calendar apps; this will force you to consider the timing of your messages, especially for things like follow-ups.
5. Remain Accessible
More than 90% of CEOs believe their companies will change more in the next five years than they did in the last five. Having a workforce that’s ready and able to harness that change will make the difference between success and failure.
Leaders at every level need to embrace and model how to engage in and affect change. Personal leadership and engagement, however, is not enough. For change to be operationalized, one needs to inspire teams to be creative and enable them to innovate. But innovation only happens when people are able to work in the gray space — where ambiguity is okay and business principles, rather than hard and fast rules, apply.
Final Word
To sum it up, if someone wants to be an effective leader, s/he needs to first excel in communication. In fact, the success of one’s business relies on it. According to a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (pdf), poor communication can lead to low morale, missed performance goals, and even lost sales. Another study found that inadequate communication can cost large companies an average of $64.2 million per year, while smaller organizations are at risk of losing $420,000 annually.
We must realize that effective communication impacts more than just the bottom line. For leaders, it’s what enables them to rally their team around a shared vision, empower employees, build trust, and successfully navigate organizational change. Precisely, communication is at the core of effective leadership. If leaders want to influence and inspire their teams, they need to practice empathy and transparency, and understand how others perceive them, through their verbal and non-verbal cues.
Suggested Reading:
1. Why Nonverbal Communication Matters in the Workplace?
3. When and How to share Constructive Feedback?
4. 5 Communications Mistake we all make
About the Author
Muhammad Sajwani is the Founder and Managing Director of Evolve HR which aims at transforming, enriching and evolving Human Capital of Pakistan, Evolve HR thrives in challenging assumptions that hinder organisational aspirations, by creating innovative solutions that yield maximum impact, scalability & benefit to a wider base of stakeholders. As a Business Coach and Organisational Consultant, Sajwani knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.
