How Well Do You Communicate as A Leader
Carrier pigeons, pagers, and even MySpace. New forms of communication pushed out the obsolete in the face of innovation and iPhones. However, did our initial messages get lost along the way? It’s never been easier to reach someone than it is now, but the amount of communication can be overwhelming. Amidst the rise of technology, the art of simplistic, clear-cut communication has been lost.
Leadership is about communicating clearly and creating effective processes for developing new ideas and opportunities as well as setting shared expectations, evaluating progress and providing feedback. Each of these key areas need their own specific amounts of attention and meticulous care by a leader.
1. New Ideas: Empires are built on ideas. Good leaders inspire an environment that will not only accept but nourish and value a great idea, no matter whom it comes from. An idea can be the very spark that ignites a new era for your company or organization, so don’t be the one to kill it! When a team member approaches you with an idea:
- Practice active listening
- Hear them out all the way through before offering feedback
- Encourage open brainstorming
- Thank team members for their ideas
2. Opportunities: Ideas become opportunities for growth in an organization. Many employees keep those great ideas that empires are built on stashed away in a notebook somewhere. If you become the leader that inspires both leaders and team members to chase after their goals and recognize their own value, then new opportunities will flourish.
3. Shared Expectations for New Opportunities: Every miraculous building had a detailed blueprint it was derived from. Similarly, you can communicate and collaborate with each of your leaders to establish and measure shared expectations. This can be communicated using a four step process:
- Identify shared goals
- Outline 3 to 4 milestones for each goal
- Assign responsibilities for each milestone
- Track monthly progress on each milestone
4. Measuring Progress: Transparency can be just as important as shared expectations. Trust doesn’t just start with the consumers/customers, but rather within your own team. Communicating business results on a timely basis is key to building trust and in measuring progress. Establishing clear and accurate reporting as well as setting up systems of accountability are key in your communication and evaluation progress.
5. Providing Clear Feedback: Focusing your leader and teams to think about what is going well and what is not going well is very important and constructive. Feedback is not something that should be handled carelessly. People will always vary in sensitivity, so knowing your team and what motivates them individually is key in communicating your feedback. Remember the golden rule… praise in public, criticize in private! Lastly, also open the floor for feedback on your own performance too.
While we are well past the age of typewriters and telegrams, good communication and collaboration will never become obsolete. In the heart of any business is true human connection, so set your leaders and teams up for excellent communication!
