What comes to your mind when you think about the world’s great leaders? Often, it’s how they inspired people or organizations to achieve greatness. Or a stirring speech that delivered a compelling message. The fact is, many great leaders are also great communicators. 

When leaders call us for help with any type of communication, our first step is to understand what’s going on. We need to assess the audience and current state to identify key issues or opportunities before making recommendations.   

Typically, this involves using some type of communications measurement tool or method to guide our solution. And we often hear, “We already know our communication is poor, why measure?” 

It’s a paradox that every leader faces: Create teams that work well together but embrace conflict. Also, drive consensus but encourage individual points of view. Discomfort is emotional. Feelings can be complex and multi-layered. But stifling expression can inhibit a team’s performance and lead to poor decision making.

Every leader experiences transitions in roles and responsibilities at one time or another. This is true whether the leader is new to the organization or moving up within it. The most successful leaders figure out how to transition as quickly and effectively as possible, minimizing – or even eliminating – any disruption to the business.

My neighbor down the block is the classic Gladys Kravitz from Bewitched. She knows the comings and goings of just about everyone in the neighborhood, and proudly overshares what she knows with anyone who will listen.

For leaders in today’s business world, effective communication is a differentiator. With so much information flying around from so many places, the ability to ensure you’re understood and employees are prepared to take action on your path forward is critical to your individual and organizational success.

And yet time and time again I’ve heard the excuse, “Communicating effectively is too tough.”

You might have the most compelling vision for your organization, but if you can’t get it out of your head and get others to see it and believe in it, it might as well not even exist.

Just because the strategy makes sense to you doesn’t mean it will take only an instant for others to see it like you do. We often think that others think as we do, that others see the world as we do, but it’s more likely that there’s a lot of ground to cover between their perspective and yours. Employees come to their jobs with their own context, and it’s the leader’s job to help them understand the collective context, including how you see the marketplace today, and how that led to your strategy.

I heard an interesting comparison recently. When you see people on the street talking to themselves, they are often classified as “insane.” Yet what do we call it when we talk to ourselves inside organizations? “Marketing or communications.” 

Speak WITH Your Employees to Ensure Your Strategy Resonates

The “communication vacuum” fills whether you want it to or not. Some call it the grapevine or the rumor mill; others call it hearsay. No matter what you call it, it can be problematic and distracting.