Leadership Communication

Something I often hear from leaders is, “I don’t have time to communicate.” It seems this statement comes from a perception that either there isn’t enough time to draft a plan or that more could be done in the time saved from drafting or sharing a plan. As a communicator, you likely hear this too.

If your leader believes that there’s no time to communicate, you may hear him or her say things like:

Sharing feedback with colleagues is a critical part of working together successfully. Yet many people I talk with feel they could do a better job giving feedback, whether by being more prompt or direct, or simply by ensuring a conversation happens. Giving feedback can feel uncomfortable, maybe even more so when it has to be delivered virtually.

Personal discomfort aside, the truth is that most of us could be significantly more effective at work with regular input on what we’re doing well and what could be better. Timely, frequent and specific feedback helps everyone improve. We can better recognize blind spots, know what to keep doing and when to change course, and benefit from building relationships with those who give us the gift of their advice.

So how can we give feedback that gets results?

Leadership is personal, and in focusing on business goals, leaders can detach themselves from the human element in the workplace. Yet building trust and making a personal connection are key to motivating and engaging employees, which in turn are essential to delivering business results.

A recent study published in Harvard Business Review found three elements necessary for leaders to build trust among employees: positive relationships, good judgment/expertise, and consistency. Positive relationships ranked most important.

The answer here might surprise you.

Both can be effective communicators, if they understand the implications of their preference, and flex their style. The variables to consider are about the quality and quantity of communications.

How to Be a More Effective Introvert

Over the last several months, we’ve all faced discomfort in new ways – from navigating the unknowns of the pandemic and making (and communicating) difficult business decisions, to facing unconscious bias and having important conversations about race – there’s no doubt we’ve gotten out of our comfort zones in new ways. If you’re like me, I’m committed to taking these lessons forward and pushing myself to embrace discomfort even more. If you were to commit to some additional chutzpah in your communications, where might you focus your energies?

Here are 9 ways to build more courageous conversations:

It’s no secret that employees look for – and want – more meaningful communication and interactions with their colleagues, teams and leaders, especially given the recent events. Research shows that better communication leads to higher engagement, which is linked to increased employee motivation, productivity, sales, and – on the flip side – less absenteeism, turnover and injuries in the workplace.

How do development programs, such as the skills of influence, significantly impact participants and business long term, for the benefit of attendees and their organizations? Changed human behavior is hard to measure but people recognize when their own changes have positive results. Many participants, who went on to be senior leaders, have shared the lessons they learned, from courses I had the opportunity to facilitate earlier in their careers. Not only did they value their own personal results, but as leaders, the new approaches they used cascaded down through their organizations for better culture and business results.

In today’s world, we’re faced with a number of new challenges both in the workplace and at home – whether it’s our new working arrangements, impacts from COVID-19, looking inward as we shine a spotlight on societal issues, or something else – and our people need empathy.

After months of managing through an unprecedented crisis, our communities and companies were rocked by another tragic, but this time, all too familiar event. After the senseless and unnecessary killing of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, was caught on video, the U.S. is caught in a familiar cycle of grief, anger and protest that is affecting the black community and everyone who cares about justice.

However, as we’ve seen throughout the crisis, leaders are stepping up to show their convictions and their values both to their employees and to their stakeholders. We’re seeing a variety of ways that CEOs and other company leaders are speaking out. While they’re choosing different paths and points of emphasis, we’re finding their statements to be authentic, bold, informative and illuminating. Best of all, we’re seeing them take a personal and unequivocal stand—which builds credibility and encourages action.

There’s no doubt we’re facing some of the biggest challenges of our time, as a nation, as people and as leaders.

As we all try to make sense of the unrest sweeping the nation, many employees started work this morning with yet another emotionally-charged, hugely complex topic on their minds, on top of the challenges many already face with the pandemic.

As I reflected on this post, talking about this crisis is one of the most difficult conversations for people in this country to have right now. As a white male, I feel ill-equipped in many ways; that said, I want to try and be part of the solution. As I considered this from the perspective of leaders and how they can help their people navigate these tumultuous times, I wanted to offer a few thoughts that I hope will help.