Great Leaders are Effective Communicators
Continuing the theme of Effective Communication Month, I want to address the importance of communication as a key leadership trait.
In every leadership development process, leadership assessment, 360 feedback report and leadership position analysis – communication is shown as one of the most important traits necessary for effective leadership.
So what is so important about communication and leadership? Here are some of the factors that influence the importance of communication:
Clear Vision statements – Leaders must be able to describe their vision of the future and how it relates to the everyone in the organization. The best leaders are capable of telling stories that allow others to see themselves in the story and learn how they can contribute.
Motivation – Leaders are capable of energizing their people to get extraordinary results from ordinary people within their organization. Being able to relate to all people is an important aspect if the leader is to be truly effective with everyone. Knowing how to flex to others when delivering important messages is a critical skill.
Productivity – Many leaders do not understand that poor or limited communication will limit both their productivity and the productivity of others. How does this occur? For the leader, it’s a matter of losing time repeating plans, objectives and outcomes for others to perform. For the staff, it’s a matter of either not understanding the importance of a project or task – or – more common, having to track down the leader to get clarity or understanding about instructions.
Emotional Buy-in – This can be a another critical piece regarding people buying in to the importance of a project or decision that impacts them. When people are emotionally buying in they are more focused on completion without excuses or blame entering the process. This is a unique ability, so leaders who have mastered this element made a choice at some point in their career to learn how to energize a team using rapport and trust.
We have assisted leaders in developing their communication skills using either a workshop method with their direct reports – see Effective Communication for Results – or we have used Leadership Development Coaching techniques to individualize the learning experience. Either method is available, just give us a call at 901-757-4434. It’s a great month to start – June is Effective Communication Month.
Voss Graham
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Tags: Effective Communication month, Emotional Buy-in, Leadership Development Process, Motivation, productivity, Vision
