COMMUNICATION: FOR LEADERSHIP

Essential communication skills for leaders

Communication is an umbrella skill that has many skills helping in effective communication. Some of the important communication skills are mentioned below-

 

1.   Ability to Adapt suitable Communication Style

A single communication style cannot be suitable for all purposes. Communication styles include formal, informal, sober, tough, plain, etc. A leader should adapt different communication styles for different situations. Otherwise, it will destroy the message and listeners will be confused. Things will be unclear and it will lead to stress. The communication skills of a leader must match his leadership style-whether it is authoritative, lenient, derogatory, etc.

2.   Active listening

Effective leaders know when they need to talk and when they need to listen. Whenever any team member shares his ideas with a leader, he must listen patiently. He must show that he cares. From time to time he must ask their opinions, ideas, and feedback. And when they share, he must actively engage in the conversation. For example- he should ask questions, encourage them to elaborate, and take notes.

3.   Transparency

Transparency in an organization means sharing openly the company's goals, opportunities, and challenges. If a leader keeps transparency, he can build trust amongst his team and create an open environment. Team members feel empowered to share their ideas and then they contribute to the company’s progress.

Every individual should understand the role they play in the company's success. Transparent leaders encourage team members to connect to the goal of the company.

4.   Clarity

When communicating with team members, clarity is one of the biggest communication tools. A leader must define the outcome of a project and be clear about the goal. The message should be simplified and supported with additional words to avoid any confusion. Team members will understand the project, their responsibilities and feel more engaged in the process.

5.   Ability to Ask Open-Ended Questions

A leader must practice asking open-ended questions If he wants to understand employees', thoughts, and goals better. Some open-ended questions are-

a)   Tell me more.

b)   Explain what you mean.

c)   Define it for me.

d)   Elaborate your concept.

Such questions help a leader to get more thoughtful, thorough responses. This also helps to understand their expectation for a leader.

6.   Empathy

Empathy has been ranked the top leadership skill needed for success. It helps a leader to acknowledge and understand team members' feelings and experiences. In turn, team members feel that they are heard and they'll feel valued.

If a leader wants to improve his communication and build a stronger, healthy culture, he must practice responding with empathy.

7.   Open Body Language

Communication doesn’t mean only speaking; it also includes ‘how to say and carry yourself’ while speaking.

The maximum communication impact comes from nonverbal cues. A leader must focus on his body language if he wants to convey the right message. He should make eye contact to establish interest and rapport. He should flash a genuine smile to convey warmth, positivity, and trust.

8.   Receiving and Implementing Feedback

A leader must ask for feedback, from time to time from his team members and also implement it in the best possible way. It builds trust among them. They'll feel that their views are valuable.

If a leader takes feedback from his team but doesn't implement any changes, then the team members lose faith in his abilities. they'll feel as though you value their perspective and improvement.

Communication Skills for Leaders 

A leader is someone who inspires positive changes by empowering team members to work toward common objectives. A leader’s most powerful tool is communication which includes verbal (Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing) and non-verbal (body language, paralanguage of voice dynamics, proxemics, and chronemics). Though all communication skills are very important for a leader; listening and then responding to a query are the foremost. Being a great leader is not just about speaking and doing, it also involves listening to others and then responding accordingly.

Importance of Communication Skills

Effective communication is very important because Communication skills 

a)   improve productivity in a project.

b)   help to gain trust. 

c)   help a leader to motivate team members through speeches.

d)   inspire positive change. 

e)   Create good impressions on team members.

f)   Doubts are cleared through communication skills.

g)   Help to develop strong relations among team members.

h) Reduce barriers for smooth function among various departments.

Communication has four important sections-listening, speaking, reading, and writing. A leader must be good at all communication skills.

Importance of listening for a leader

 

• One of the important communication skills is listening. It is the most important but tough skill, a leader must practice. Being a great leader is not just about speaking and doing, it also involves listening to others. Active listening is an essential leadership skill and a core component of emotional intelligence. Team members want leaders who listen to them. It is a very effective way to inspire and motivate them. Listening helps a leader to develop his knowledge bank so that he can respond sensibly.
• A leader should listen before speaking. If a leader listens more; it means he is getting more knowledge. The knowledge, and facts about the speaker help a leader to see reality. Knowledge of perspectives increases leadership capacity. Being open to feedback and new ideas from the team helps a leader learn and grow as a good leader. Being open to feedback and new ideas from the team helps in learning and growing as a leader. Effective listening helps to get knowledge about the speaker, facts, and perspectives that increase leadership capacity. 
• It is the base of so many other skills and traits that make up a leader. It requires mental presence, attentiveness, engagement, openness, and flexibility. Surprisingly, good listening skills are becoming rare due to a lack of attentiveness and information overload. A leader must preserve (save) it.
• Generally, leaders don't listen to what others have to say because they remain so busy formulating their reply to a speaker. Listening also involves using nonverbal cues, appropriate to speech.
• A listener must listen not only with the outer ear but also with the inner ear. He must listen with the intent to hear and understand the unsaid things.
• To understand the situation completely, a leader must listen carefully. Without understanding, a leader kills others' time because he cannot find the root cause of any problem.
• Listening is the skill of the future because listening is a core communication skill and fundamental for effective leadership.

 

 

1.  Listening increases your capacity as a leader

Effective listening gives knowledge and perspectives that increase leadership capacity. Knowledge and wisdom are gained by listening. Leaders must accept honest feedback, new ideas, and differing opinions of the team members. It leads to personal awareness and also helps him learn and grow as a leader. If there is no listening, there will be no growth. For success, a leader must stay in touch with fresh opinions and perspectives and must welcome honest feedback.

2.  Listening shows you care

Listening forms the foundation of good relationships because it shows that the listener is caring and empathizing with their feelings. This creates a work environment of trust. Having the trust of team members gives you greater influence over them. At the same time, it makes them motivated and committed to their work.

3.  Listening helps you comprehend the situation

If a leader fails to pay due attention to what team members say, he will not fully understand the situation. Failing to comprehend the situation may lead a leader to ineffective leadership.

4.  Listening helps you better understand your Business

Listening to your team members is the best way to understand the needs of your clients and business. This helps you plan effective strategies that are oriented to the demands of your business.

5.  Listening gives you a vision of the reality on the ground

Listening gives you knowledge and insights into the day-to-day reality of team members. It's essential to create an atmosphere of trust and encourage your coworkers to speak openly about their daily challenges.

6.  Listening helps in establishing Trust

Team members want to be heard and respected. Listening provides that kind of respect; hence, builds trust. When a leader listens, the speaker feels that his point is valuable; hence, the speaker trusts the listener. This leads to more motivated and committed team members.

7.  Listening Motivates Team members

Listening allows the team members to share their difficulties with the leader. Whenever a leader finds that his team members are feeling stressed or need his guidance, he motivates them by listening to their problems carefully and then motivating them on the basis of his listening.

8.  Listening Drives Innovation

If a leader is a good listener then he welcomes every thought to analyze it. Good listening encourages a new approach to solving a difficult issue very easily. Team members suggest new ideas openly in front of a leader with good listening skills.

9.  Listening Helps in Better Understanding

Empathy and listening go hand in hand. One can't show empathy if he does not listen. Listening helps in understanding others' points of view in a much better way. Listening allows a leader to peep into others' situations and this helps him to see a problem with different perspectives. The quality of listening determines the quality of the impression of a leader on team members.

 

Importance of responding for a leader

Responding means giving an answer or feedback to the speaker. Responding is the response to a query. Whenever a leader listens to a speaker he collects information about the topic. A good leader believes in collecting more and more information so that he can use that information when he gives a response to someone. Responding is equally important as any other communication skill. Responding is important in the following ways-

a) Leader can justify his point by responding.

b)   Responding completes the communication cycle

c)   helps to continue the conversation.

d)  Responding may bring satisfaction to the team members.

e)   Many difficulties are solved when a leader responds to the team members.

f)   Responding increases the trust in a leader.

g)   Timely responding to problems brings positivity.

h)  Decisions are communicated through responding.