As a business leader, quality communication is necessary for a productive work environment. Quality communication also shows your team that you respect their work and want them to succeed. To help you communicate with your team in effective ways, review a few leadership communication examples.
Being Open to Difficult Conversations
Showing vulnerability during challenging conversations with your colleagues and team members is never a bad thing.
“Vulnerability is not weakness,” research professor and author Brené Brown noted in her famous 2012 TED talk. “I define vulnerability as emotional risk, exposure, uncertainty. It fuels our daily lives. And I’ve come to the belief … that vulnerability is our most accurate measurement of courage.”
It also shows that you are willing to adapt and make changes that benefit the company.
“To create is to make something that has never existed before,” Brown said. “There’s nothing more vulnerable than that. Adaptability to change is all about vulnerability.”
For example, say a colleague is critical of how you handled a recent issue with the marketing team. Calmly explaining where you were coming from and why you believed it was the best method shows both vulnerability and courage, and helps you come to a resolution with the colleague.
Active Listening
Listening does more than keep the company production train rolling. It’s also a sign of respect. If you never listen to what your team has to say, it becomes difficult for them to believe you respect them. As a result, they lose respect for you and can increasingly become resentful of your non-listening ways.
To truly, actively listen to someone, eliminate distractions. Your inbox and other business messages can wait, as can anything else that interferes with hearing what your employee or fellow manager has to say. Focus on listening exclusively to their voice and making eye contact, with the latter a clear indication of where your attention is.
Remaining Honest
The business world isn’t always known for honesty, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important. If you are honest and upfront with your team while staying tactful, they will take note and gain more respect for you.
“The one thing I’ve learned is: Don’t lie to the people,” said Indra Nooyi in an interview with CNBC. ”Don’t tell your people one thing when the reality is something different.” Nooyi became the CEO of PepsiCo in 2006 when the company was experiencing financial difficulties. Since then, PepsiCo has rebounded and enjoyed success as one of the top soda brands.
Delegating
Shouldering too many responsibilities leaves you frazzled, if not burnt out. Delegating these responsibilities shows your faith in your team and allows you to demonstrate your communication skills. For example, say the company has a community event coming up requiring the employees to volunteer. You need someone to coordinate the event, and choose a trusted team member who has had success with event coordination in the past. Have a meeting with this person to clearly outline what you require and expect from the project, or create a detailed email discussing the tasks they need to complete. Either way, you are making your expectations clear to reduce the risk of errors.
Positivity
Without a positive attitude, leadership communication can sound a bit harsh or too commanding. The old saying “you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar” is true for a reason, because it’s not so much what you say as it is how you say it. For example, saying “Send the report to [x manager] now,” isn’t as positive as saying “I need you to send this report to [x manager]. Please do so by [x time]. Thanks so much, I really appreciate it!”
For more leadership communication examples, please contact Peaceful Leaders Academy today!
