The Best Leaders Are Skilled Communicators
There is so much more to effective communication than simply the words that come out of our mouths.
Effective communication is one of the most vital skills a successful leader possesses. But rarely do we seek training on how to communicate better with our teams. We simply tell others what we think and instruct them on what we want them to do.
It’s no wonder that despite amazing skills in so many other areas, many of us struggle when it comes to basic communication with our teams.
There is so much more to effective communication than simply the words that come out of our mouths. If we are going to be effective leaders and lead our teams and our businesses to the top, we have to become skilled communicators.
Be open about your expectations from the start.
“Recognize that yours is not the only voice that your team wants or needs to hear, and be unselfish with your leadership. By allowing others to lead and by using their voices, you show that you are a stronger leader. Their voices can help you increase your team’s attention-span window and can often convey a message that resonates in a way that could never have come from the leader.”
– Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University basketball coach and winner of five NCAA national championships and three Olympic gold medals
Communication begins when you, as the leader, put your team together, and when you bring someone into the team. Those initial conversations set the tone for your relationship for years to come.
Mike Krzyzewski, or Coach K, is the head coach of the Duke University basketball team. Having won multiple national championships leading the Blue Devils, he was an attractive candidate to restore USA Basketball to the top of international basketball after several recent failures to win gold against other top international teams.
When Coach K took the head coaching position with USA Basketball in 2006, he and Managing Director Jerry Colangelo picked the players they thought would fit the team Krzyzewski wanted to build. Then they recruited each player to compete for their country.
Krzyzewski recruited some of the NBA’s best players — and some of the best players in the world — LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant and others. Then Krzyzewski made a crucial decision. He sat down with each player and outlined what he expected from that player.
For one player, it might have been a commitment to defense despite being a prolific scorer in the NBA. For another, it might have been to serve as a role player who would mainly come off the bench. For a few others, it was to be a leader within the team and guide the attitudes and behaviors of the other stars on the American roster.
Krzyzewski understood that when building a championship team, whether it’s in sports or business, the leader must be clear with each member of the team what is expected of him or her. Open and honest communication from the leader to each team member builds a foundation of trust and sincerity that makes communication going forward much clearer.
When adding people to your team, or organizing a group of people who work together, take time up front to speak to each person and open the lines of communication. State your expectations. Ask for feedback. Answer questions.
And if you’re not the team leader but the new person joining the team, and if the leader hasn’t taken this valuable step, arrange a short meeting yourself. Tell the leader — your boss, your manager or your coach — that you are excited to work with him or her and the rest of the team. Then ask how you can best serve the team and help it achieve its goals. Insist that the leader can talk to you at any time to discuss ideas, questions and concerns.
Starting with open and honest communication can prevent a host of problems in the future.
Learn how to best communicate with each team member.
“If you’re going to be a good teacher, you can’t just teach the A students. A good teacher is one who helps everybody earn an A.”
– Wilbur Dungy, father of Tony Dungy, the first black head coach to win the Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts and television NFL analyst
As a leader, you won’t communicate in the same way with everyone on your team. Everyone has different roles and different skills, and everyone responds to feedback differently.
Tony Dungy, the Super Bowl-winning head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, learned many of his values in life from his father, a teacher. His father strongly believed that teachers had to be flexible. They couldn’t teach the same material in exactly the same way to each student and expect each one to learn equally well.
Students have different ways of learning. The teacher must find the best means of communicating with each student and teaching each one. “If you’re going to be a good teacher, you can’t just teach the A students. A good teacher is one who helps everybody earn an A,” Dungy’s father taught him.
Another great football coach, Alabama head coach Nick Saban, believes that the best coaches communicate with players in different ways. Over the years, he has recognized which players need him to shake their hands or pat them on the back before games and which ones would rather be left alone. He has learned which players need reassurance after making a mistake during a game, and which ones need motivation or teaching. He has figured out which ones respond to yelling and which ones need a wink of his eye.
Whatever he decides is the best means of communicating with the player, Saban makes sure that each of his players knows he cares for them and that he is there for them. Whether it’s a wink, a handshake, or more forceful motivation, he constantly reminds them he’s watching and that they will do a good job.
You might not be a sports coach, but you’re part of a team of people who come from different backgrounds and circumstances. You have different skills, and you learn in different ways.
Spend time with each person on your team getting to know them. Figure out what motivates them. Learn how they learn best. Decide on the best way to reach each person so you can put each one in the best position to succeed.
Teach instead of criticize.
“What many people fail to realize is that flexible and open communication is an incredibly powerful leadership tool. It is through effective communication that we are able to reach the ultimate goal of helping others perform at their very best.”
– Pete Carroll, winner of the Super Bowl as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks and a national championship as head coach of the USC Trojans
To foster good relationships within the team, it’s critical that a leader communicate in ways that promote the performance expected of each person without crushing that person’s morale. That fact seems obvious, but when a team member underperforms on a task, it’s far too easy to criticize instead of teach.
Pete Carroll’s first coaching position was as an assistant at the University of the Pacific. One game early in his time at UOP, he saw one of his freshmen defensive backs make a mistake on a play that hurt the team. Carroll, who was normally well mannered, fired a profanity-laced tirade at the freshman, asking the player if he was trying to cost his team the game.
Carroll realized he was out of line, even in the heat of the moment. But the player made it even more obvious the coach was wrong when he looked at Carroll and asked, “Why are you asking me like that?”
Pete immediately realized his verbal abuse of the player did nothing to build the player’s self-confidence. It didn’t teach him how to properly perform on the play in the future. It did nothing to help the team improve or win.
Carroll recognized that yelling at the player in front of the entire team was a huge mistake. Athletes struggle to make perfect decisions on every play even with full confidence and attention. His tirade made it harder on the player to perform, not easier.
The next time a coworker underperforms or fails to meet your expectations, don’t yell at him or her in front of the group. Pull him or her aside and have an open conversation. And then focus on teaching rather than criticizing.
Instead of calling team members names or heaving insults, consider using language like “Help me understand…” so you can understand his or her thought process. Replay the situation and show other ways to act or perform so your colleague can do it better next time.
Work with that person instead of beating that person down.
Listening can be just as powerful as talking.
“Leaders are people who are willing to follow when it is called for. They are courageous and steadfast in their beliefs. They do what is right all the time, regardless of the consequences. They make difficult decisions that are best for the masses, not for themselves, even if those decisions prove to be unpopular. They present a vision that their followers buy into and allow those same followers to control their destinies.”
– Nick Saban, Alabama head football coach, winner of six NCAA national championships, tied for the most all-time in the modern era
How you speak is clearly a key component of effective communication. But listening is equally important.
Unfortunately, leaders often spend too much time talking and not nearly enough time listening to others.
When Nick Saban’s son was young, he was struggling in school. Saban recognized the boy wasn’t having fun at that school. He was disengaged from his friends and was not enjoying his classwork or his extracurricular activities.
The boy told his father he wanted to attend a different school, but Saban refused to pull him out. He wanted his son to put aside his frustrations and make the best of it. Saban enrolled his son in that school for another year.
Saban’s son did even worse the following year. The coach hated seeing how miserable his son was. He realized he made a major mistake — not listening to his child.
As a leader — whether it’s as a manager of your company, the coach of a sports team, or as a parent — you often make the final decision. But making decisions unilaterally without listening to input from your team can be terrible idea.
Each of your team members will have valuable insight. They bring experience that influences their perspective, and that perspective might be different from yours.
Listen to the ideas, concerns, goals, and criticisms of people on your team. Allow their voices to be heard. You’ll be surprised how much you can learn.
Listening can be just as powerful as talking.
Allow your team members to share their opinions.
“You are not the only person with good ideas. If you wish to be heard, listen. Always seek to find the best way rather than insisting on your own way.”
– John Wooden, head coach of the UCLA basketball team, winner of 10 national championships in a 12-year period, and seven-time national coach of the year
Just as listening to your team members is vital for effective communication in leadership, so is allowing their voices to be heard by the team.
When Mike Krzyzewski organized his first meeting with his entire USA Basketball squad, the first item on the agenda was to lay out the standards that the team would follow. Coach K didn’t simply stand in front of the room and dictate how his team would act. He didn’t hand out a list of rules for the players.
No, he understood that members of a team communicate in different, but often more effective, ways than the coach or leader can. Coach K didn’t worry about being viewed as weak by letting some of the players speak. He had confidence in his leadership and felt comfortable sharing his leadership with some of the players.
In fact, LeBron James spoke eloquently about a standard in which he was specifically passionate.Krzyzewski allowed James’s comments to conclude the meeting.
Allowing your team members to share their opinions isn’t a sign of a weak leader. It’s the opposite. It’s a sign of strength — strength in knowing you’re comfortable with your team members and trust them to participate openly and honestly.
This honest dialogue extends to situations in which people on your team might disagree with you. Rather than dismissing those comments and shutting down the critic, hear them out. Don’t cut them off, and don’t make judgments until they are finished.
Even if you ultimately decide not to side with the person and his or her comments, that person will feel that at least they were heard. If you fail to listen, you will discourage that person and other people on the team from bringing issues to your attention in the future.
As an assistant coach, Pete Carroll took time to figure out his best strategy for communicating with his defensive backs. At one of his daily meetings with these players, Carroll asked them what they felt they needed to improve.
Pete asked every player. He went around the room and listened as each defensive back gave a tip, process or drill that would help them perform better on the field. Carroll felt the energy of the group. It was the first time he really connected with his players.
Carroll’s head coach was an old school coach. When Pete told him what a great meeting he had with his players and that the athletes had some great ideas, Carroll’s boss exploded. The coach demanded Pete not let the players plan the practices. Pete wasn’t supposed to ask players for their input.
Pete decided that his coach was wrong. Coaches in sports, like leaders in business, have to build relationships with their teams. They have to listen as much as they talk.
Become a more effective communicator.
As a leader — in work and in life — be clear and open about your expectations from the beginning. Build trust and confidence by teaching rather than yelling and criticizing. Find the best way to communicate with each person on your team. And listen to each one, allowing them to voice their opinions, even if those opinions are different from yours.
Make an effort to become a more effective communicator, and soon you will become a championship leader.
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Dr. David Geier is a popular leadership and burnout keynote speaker for corporate and medical audiences. Click here to learn more about how he can educate and inspire your audience.
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