The best leaders understand that effective communication isn’t just about talking; it’s about affecting people with their words and actions. Photo: Training Industry.
John Eades believes the best qualities of leadership fail if they cannot be communicated effectively. He has some advice for those who need to hone their communication techniques.
Communication is essential in every relationship, and since leadership is a relationship, a failure to communicate consistently and effectively is the beginning of the end.
However, just because it’s critical doesn’t mean most leaders are good at it. Some leadership skills are more critical than others for managers to master when improving productivity and performance.
Research by LearnLoft indicates that relationship-building, coaching, accountability, and communication make up the top four. However, communicating is the one where all the others meet. You can’t be an effective coach without communicating.
You can’t hold someone accountable without communication skills, and you certainly can’t build trust-based relationships without communicating.
Most managers think they are effective at communication because they are fearless when talking or having a difficult conversation. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The best leaders understand that effective communication isn’t just about talking; it’s about affecting people with their words and actions.
Said differently, communication isn’t about what you say; it’s about what others do with what you say. It’s one thing to say communication is essential; it’s another to quantify its business impact.
Leaders who communicate effectively are 50 per cent more likely to have lower employee turnover. Effective communication can improve productivity by up to 25 per cent. Organisations with strong communication practices are 3.5 times more likely to outperform their peers.
Despite these obvious advantages, the Harvard Business Review has found that 69 per cent of managers are not comfortable communicating with their employees and only 17 per cent of employees feel their managers communicate effectively.
Clearly, communication and the communication skills of managers are a problem. However, there are some simple techniques that will make you more effective as a manager.
Constantly listen and observe: What’s the best way to inspire and communicate with others? Most people would assume it’s about speaking, which wouldn’t be wrong.
However, effective communication isn’t just about speaking; it’s also about listening and observing. Knowing when and how often to talk is impossible without listening to your people. There has never been a more critical time to replace your judgmental mind with your eyes and ears.
One of my mentors always reminds me: ”There is a reason God gave us one mouth and two ears.” One of the best ways to do this is to distinguish between hearing and listening. The simple way to think about the difference is that hearing is with your ears, while listening is with your mind.
Be intentional, and create interactions that allow you to be present and truly listen to your people. You will be amazed at what you learn.
Be the ‘’CRO’’: For any leader to be an effective communicator, they must take on the role of the CRO, which stands for Chief Repetition Officer. Most managers complain about having to repeat themselves. If this is you, stop complaining and start embracing the challenge of saying the same things in different ways.
The key to effective communication is impactful words and positive body language laced with passion and emotion. There are many things competing for your team’s attention, and to assume that the manager’s voice is the only and most important one would be an awful assumption. Get creative, and keep communicating the most important things in slightly different ways.
Remind them of the reason: Everybody, whether they admit it or not, wants to be a part of something bigger than themselves and do meaningful work during their lives.
One of the biggest communication mistakes leaders make is forgetting to tell their team the reason ‘’why’’ whatever they are saying is important.
Long gone are the days where whatever you say goes. Getting in the habit of telling people what you want them to do and why you want them to do it is crucial in the modern workplace. By reminding people of the reason for their work, you’ll immediately raise the ceiling of what’s possible.
When things get complicated (and they will), this deeper reason will give your team a reason to continue, even through the most trying times.
Being an effective communicator is a lifelong journey. There will be times when whatever you say and do hits the mark. There will be other times when you know you should say something, but the words just aren’t there.
However, progress starts with understanding the positive and negative impacts of communication and then constantly evaluating the quantity and quality of your communication skills over time.
John Eades is the chief executive of LearnLoft, a leadership development company. He is also the host of the Follow My Lead podcast. He can be contacted at johneades.com. This article first appeared on John’s LearnLoft blog.
