Communication & Leadership

If you want to be an effective leader, pay attention to your communication skills.

When we’re delivering training to aspiring leaders, we often get asked ‘what makes a good leader?’  A great deal of research has been undertaken on the subject. In essence, the research reveals there are four factors that differentiate great leaders from their less able counterparts. So what’s the difference that makes the difference, and what role does communication play?

1.  Vision

The ability to create and critically, to communicate a clear vision is vital. People need a common goal, they want to know how it’s going to be achieved and what part they play in its delivery. If you don’t have a clear vision and/or you can’t communicate it, your business and its people are in trouble.

2. Competence

A good leader provides the resources and support their team needs. Increasingly that means they have good ‘soft skills’ which include an ability to communicate well and to influence others.

3.  Decisiveness

Good leaders make timely and frequent decisions.  In times of uncertainty they’re not afraid to make a decision and to take responsibility.  They also know how to communicate their decisions to optimise understanding, engagement and performance (see the next point).

4.  Integrity

Integrity and respect go hand in hand. If a leader has integrity, people will trust them. If they trust them, their followers’ performance, satisfaction and commitment will increase.  Having integrity is not enough though – you have to be able to communicate in a way that demonstrates that.  Two way communication, active listening skills and an ability to collaborate with colleagues and ask for their ideas and support are key if you want to come across as authentic, act with integrity and engender trust.

These factors might sound obvious but depressingly other research shows that on average only half of our business leaders display these qualities.

If you want to learn more, refer to the study of Fortune 1000 companies that were turned around by their CEOs (Collins 2001) or Hogan & Kaiser’s 2005 study into the factors that make a good leader.