Weeks 13 & 14: Communicating like an Effective Leader
As I have been thrown into leadership roles in various student organizations and I strive to hold leadership roles in my future career, I constantly strive to cultivate my leadership skills. While certain aspects of the a person’s leadership style are some consistent and unchanging aspects in the person’s personality, I do believe that when a person works to improve their leadership skills, they are capable of doing so. A leader will be required to communicate with other people, both inside and outside the organization, regardless of their position or formal title. Thus, chapter 9 of Organizational Communication: Balancing Creativity and Constraint gives a few key characteristics that leaders who are strong communicators have in common. They are open, supportive, motivating, and empowering.
Openness is key to good communication. If someone feels comfortable speaking with their boss when issues arise, they may be better prepared to mitigate damage and resolve problems. Thus, it is important that as a leader, all questions, comments and concerns that employees make are heard and responded to appropriately. That may mean that the suggestion is put in place or that you explain why that is not feasible at the time, but showing that you have considered their feedback in key. Furthermore, people prefer to be asked rather than told, so keeping a flexible attitude can keep employees happy and productive. Respecting employees and their feelings is also important. If you need to reprimand someone, doing so in a private office or out of the public eye is appropriate as no one wants to be criticized in front of their peers. It is important to consider that confidentiality and ethics still are important rather than openly discussing all issues with all employees, but within reason, openness can often be more helpful than hurtful.
Supportiveness is also an important characteristic of a leader. It has been shown that employees whose supervisors have high trust in them, support them, and actively listen typically have lower turnover, have higher job satisfaction, and better performance than employees who do not have such engaged supervisors. Thus, taking an active listening role and showing a real interest in the personal growth and success of your subordinates can greatly help them to succeed. However, it is critically important that all subordinates feel they are being treated equally or they will foster a distrust in management due to believing someone else is receiving preferential treatment. Thus, even if you best connect with one employee, you should make an honest effort to have the same level of personal and professional relationship with all employees and show all of them equal concern for the relationship.
Motivating others is an important task of a leader. Communication plays a role in this in many ways: “Leaders can (1) provide information and feedback about employees’ tasks, goals, performance, and future directions and (2) communicate encouragement, empathy, and concern (Eisenberg p.264).” Through setting reasonable yet challenging goals, a leader may successfully motivate other people. But it is also key to understand challenges and obstacles they face along the path.
Empowerment is highly related to motivation, but is the last of the characteristics highlighted by the book. Removing conditions in which the employee feels powerless or like all conditions are out of their control improves feelings of self-efficacy and motivation. This seems that it could be challenging for leaders because it requires them to distribute power and let go of some of their control. However, in doing so, they lose some decision-making authority, but will potentially have a highly successful organization that actually utilizes the strengths of its membership.
There are many key facets of leadership and communication in leadership. A leader who focuses on being open, supportive, motivating, and empowering may see the balance of those many traits can help their organization to succeed and their members to be satisfied.
