Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Bite sized leadership advice

Communicate, communicate, communicate. More than you think you need to.

When it comes to leading change, how you communicate as a leader makes all the difference.

In the same way that you can’t delegate your leadership, You can’t delegate you leadership communications either. Your team know your real ‘voice’. Don’t be tempted to cascade formal messages or have someone write your messages for you in a corporate voice when it comes to your team.

If it is important to you, and if you do this your team will know it is important to you. Stop, think about what you want to say and write or say it in your voice. Use your own analogies to demonstrate authenticity.

Keep it simple; three to five words (Nike’s ‘Just do it’) which roll off the tongue, repeat.

However much you think you need to communicate, it isn’t enough. If it feels that you are a broken record, then you are probably getting close. Some of your team may need to see that you really mean it and that this isn’t going away before they respond to the messages.

Check that your communciation has been received. Ask open questions of your team to get their opinion, and check that they have adapted and rationalised the informtion.

It is very satisfying when your messages come back to you unprompted.

Communication is your most effective tactic. Be the leader you want to be. Communicate effectively.

This is part of our Leadership Wizdom series, bite sized leadership advice for leaders who wish to improve their leadership, but don’t have much time. For more indepth articles check out The Change Wizard