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Why Communication Is So Important for Leaders

Describing effective communication as a 2-way street is passé. Communication for leaders is much more complicated, and leaders at all levels need to know a whole lot more than the mechanics of sending and receiving information. Harnessing the ability to communicate effectively is one of the most important skills a leader can have.

Here are some important things to remember about communication for leadership:

Why Is Communication Important in Leadership?

It’s critical. Good communication is a core leadership function and a key characteristic of a good leader . Effective communication and effective leadership are closely intertwined. As a leader, you need to be a skilled communicator in countless relationships at the organizational level, in communities and groups, and sometimes on a global scale in order to achieve results through others.

You need to think with clarity, express ideas, and share information with a multitude of audiences. You must learn to handle the rapid flows of information within the organization, and among customers, partners, employees, and other stakeholders and influencers.

Leaders must be purposeful and intentional about effective communication. You must know how and when to communicate, and select the appropriate mode for your audience. In fact, there are 4 types of communication contexts, including writing, conversing, presenting, and facilitating — and leaders must excel in all of them. It’s the only way to meet people’s individual needs and enable important human connections.

3 Important Facts About Communication for Leaders

1. authenticity counts — a lot..

Be honest and sincere. Find your own voice; quit using corporate-speak or sounding like someone you’re not. Let who you are, where you come from, and what you value come through in your communication. People want, respect, and will follow authentic leadership . So forget about eloquence — worry about being real. Don’t disguise who you are. People will never willingly follow someone they feel is inauthentic.

2. Visibility is a form of communication.

If you want to communicate well, don’t be out of sight. Don’t be known only by your emails and official missives. Be present, visible, and available. Getting “out there” — consistently and predictably — lets others know what kind of leader you are. People need to see and feel who you are to feel connected to the work you want them to do. Find ways to interact with all of your stakeholder groups, even (and especially!) if communicating in a crisis .

3. Listening is a powerful skill.

Good communicators are also good listeners. When you listen well, you gain a clear understanding of another’s perspective and knowledge. Listening fosters trust, respect, openness, and alignment. Active listening is a key part of coaching others . Allow people to air their concerns. Ask powerful questions that open the door to what people really think and feel. And pay close, respectful attention to what is said — and what’s left unsaid.

Bonus Fact: Contributing is just as important as receiving.

When a leader focuses on their contribution to the conversation, not just receiving their team’s deliverables, they learn more and help the team get closer to accomplishing shared goals. A skilled leader and effective communicator is not only good at transferring their own ideas, but also excels in aligning expectations, inspiring action, and spreading vision. Sometimes focusing on the “leave-behinds” is just as crucial as focusing on the “take-aways.”.

5 Critical Tips for Leaders to Communicate More Effectively

1. communicate relentlessly..

Communicate information, thoughts, and ideas clearly — and frequently — in different media. Keep processes open and transparent, and find ways to help smooth the path of communication for your team, employees, or organization. Shed all traces of detachment and arrogance, and take the time to talk to your people.

2. Simplify and be direct.

Say what you mean. Be direct. Don’t hide behind complexity or pile on a ton of information. Direct communication can be the most important type of communication. This is even more important when communicating in a virtual setting .

3. Listen and encourage input.

Pause. Be okay with silence. Encourage the other person to offer ideas and solutions before you give yours. Do 80% of the listening and 20% of the talking. And showing interest in, and respect for, your colleagues will help you build trust and make the emotional connection that’s so important for effective leadership. Let team members know they are valuable, show empathy , and create psychological safety so people feel comfortable speaking up. It will show those you lead that you care about both them and the organization.

4. Illustrate through stories.

When you tell a good story, you give life to a vision, goal, or objective. Telling good stories creates trust, captures hearts and minds, and serves as a reminder of the vision. Plus, people find it easier to repeat a story or refer to an image or quote than to talk about a mission statement, strategy document, or project plan. This is key when communicating the vision .

5. Affirm with actions.

While effective leaders master the art and craft of language, speaking clearly, and presenting logical and compelling arguments, skilled leaders also know that communication goes beyond words. If people hear one thing from you and see another, your credibility is shot. People need to trust you. Your behavior and actions communicate a world of information — so focus on alignment and be clear on the messages you send even when you aren’t saying anything.

Leaders Communicate With Actions and Attitude, Too

At a very basic level, communication is the transmission of information between a sender and a receiver. But realize that your attitude and actions give additional meaning to your spoken and written messages. Your behavior gives people information about your disposition, opinion, or mood — regardless of the words you speak.

Communication can disclose the leader’s authenticity, sincerity, and virtually every other aspect of a leader’s character. When a leader is all talk and no substance, people see right through the official message.

So what does a leader’s communication style say about their character?

Consider what great leaders do when they communicate. They:

Handle resistant audiences well;
Choose effective tactics to influence people;
Listen to individuals from all levels of the organization;
Encourage direct and open discussion;
Initiate difficult, but needed conversations;
Are clear about expectations and ask good questions; and
Involve others before developing a plan of action.

So, to be more effective in communication, think not only about your words, but also about your attitude and actions, too. It will make a huge difference to your people — and your organization.

>Here are some additional recommendations to consider for leaders who are seeking to enhance their communication via actions and attitude:

1. Reinforce intent with body language.

Positive body language like eye contact, nodding, and other relaxed gestures can inspire team members and make them feel more comfortable communicating with you. A simple head nod or smile can go a long way to show you’re paying attention and that you care, and little gestures like this can add up, slowly helping to transform your organizational culture, too.

2. Encourage feedback — and then take it seriously.

Asking for honest feedback from your team or employees can foster a positive stream of communication, and it helps build trust overall. This tactic can also make your team feel more respected, giving them a chance to have their voices heard. If you take their feedback seriously, you will grow as a leader and enhance your skillset. However, if you ask for and then don’t incorporate their feedback, the opposite is true — it could lead to a loss of trust and alignment.

3. Protect your reputation.

It’s important that you don’t compromise your reputation for the sake of communication. At times, you may walk a fine line between being too aggressive and being too relaxed, and as a leader, you need to make sure you don’t get a reputation for leaning too heavily in one direction.

To navigate these challenges, consider asking yourself thought-provoking questions like “When do I stay out of an issue and when do I get involved?” or “How do I respond when errors are identified?” Make a list of communication concerns you have, and ask a colleague to describe the behaviors they would consider too aggressive or too relaxed — their responses will help you gauge how to move forward.

4. Create a compelling story.

People connect best with stories. To be an effective communicator, you will need to craft a compelling story and vision, and make sure it’s communicated well. Your vision should be inspiring, short and to the point, and authentic and bold. Your ability to create and communicate a compelling story will help you bolster your leadership brand.

What Poor Leadership Communication Costs Your Organization

Workplace communication is a moving target. Leaders must continue to find new ways to make their communications more effective, purposeful, and trustworthy. But, what if communication becomes stagnant, unorganized, and messy?

Leaders may unintentionally derail their own efforts to enhance communication. They may not communicate enough because of a fear of oversharing, they may think out loud at the wrong moment, or they may have been too honest with a colleague.

These challenges typically arise in high-stress situations, when expectations or deadlines aren’t met, when an opportunity is lost, or when innovation is lacking. It can be frustrating, but it’s worth putting in the extra effort to tackle these conflicts head-on with candid conversations and productive debate, because when a conflict is mismanaged, costs will continue to mount — whether they result in tangible out-of-pocket costs like turnover, or intangible costs like poor morale, decision-making, or broken trust.

How Effective Leadership Communication Builds Trust

A strong foundation of trust is one of the quickest ways leaders can establish good communication. Here are some actions that you can take while communicating to build trust. As you’re reading them, rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 5 — with a 1 signifying it’s an area that you need to work on, and 5 meaning that you have excelled:

Ensure that your words and actions are consistent and avoid mixed messages.
Act in ways that support the values of your organization.
When having difficulty with another coworker or team member, go directly to that individual to discuss the situation.
Be a sounding board on sensitive issues for others.
Share your own opinions and perspectives, even when they’re different from the majority view.
Avoid being a “yes” person.
Keep your focus on the big picture and the shared goals of the organization.
Accept accountability for your own actions and the results of those actions.
Promote respectful dialogue and productive debate, and work to resolve conflicts productively.

Now that you’ve assessed your skills, how high is your score? How well did you do? If you identified any areas that need improvement, begin today by marking the one that you will start with immediately to start building trust and improving your communication as a leader.

Author Originally posted in CCL’s Leading Effectively Blog . Eckerd College has been a network associate of CCL since 1981.

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The power of effective communication in leadership.

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Chief Growth Officer of Tynker , a leading K-12 edtech platform that has helped more than 100 million kids learn to code.

Whether running a small startup or an entire nation, great leaders must leverage effective communication skills. Consider some of the leaders who reshaped history—Churchill, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. and even Napoleon. All of them were masters of relatable language.

Good communication skills are also crucial for leaders in the corporate world for inspiring both stakeholders outside the company and uniting the internal team into one cohesive group. Strong relationships can boost company resilience and success while increasing talent retention rates.

Effective Communication: Two-Way Vs. One-Way

Influential leaders practice two-way communication, motivating and building solid relationships with team members.

As a leader, it is crucial to understand the importance of both one-way and two-way communication. Sometimes, you will have to communicate to your team decisions that have already been made and directives that must be followed. Regardless of the situation, allowing your team members to voice their disagreements about decisions is key—because understanding their concerns is important. However, framing your communication clearly and addressing any concerns before they are presented can lead to faster acceptance.

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Here are six characteristics of effective communication in leadership.

Active Listening

Good leaders are active listeners. They don't just listen to the comments and feedback from their team; they process, retain, discuss and, if possible, incorporate it into the decision-making process. When team members feel like they are heard, it builds morale.

Leaders should also encourage and facilitate this trait within the team to build better relationships among team members. Open-door policies, communication with individual team members, positive reactions to feedback and constructive debates can help you lead by example.

Team building activities like having discussions on common issues using a chess clock (where each member gets the same time to talk) can drive home the importance of listening.

Individual Communication Styles

It would be best if you introduced multiple modes of communication to accommodate your team members. Some people prefer face-to-face interactions, while others might find it more comfortable chatting on Slack. Not everyone will be comfortable presenting to the whole team, but they might communicate their ideas well with an infographic or a shared presentation where people can comment in real time.

As a leader, you must understand that each team member's perspective of effective communication differs and might need the right channel to express themselves adequately.

Introducing and encouraging multiple communication channels can inspire the team to share ideas and exchange information more frequently.

Conciseness And Clarity

Don't let your communication drown in a sea of words. More information can just as easily confuse the listener as insufficient information. This is valid for all forms of communication. That's why TEDx Talks are designed to be 18 minutes long at most —to keep the audience's attention.

Short emails, memos and concise instructions can communicate your point better than large blocks of text. Clarity and conciseness can help team members absorb the necessary information and remain on the same page. This creates cohesion and motivates the team to pursue goals together.

For example, if a CFO writes a memo to the entire team with finance-specific lingo, it likely won't be as effective in conveying its point to designers, IT, or anyone else on the team not familiar with the finance language. Leadership communication should be clear to all team members. Amazon's six-page memos that serve as a replacement for traditional PowerPoint presentations were introduced to achieve more clarification in communication.

Relatability

The key to building strong relationships and inspiring teams through communication is to humanize the information you wish to convey and make it more relatable. This is a common practice in education, where complex ideas are broken down and communicated through simple, relatable examples.

You don't have to break down everything in layperson's terms, and you can make your communication relatable by using references from your industry that all team members would understand. They will appreciate your effort and desire to help them understand what is being communicated.

Transparency

Transparency is a crucial characteristic of leadership communication, especially if your goal is to establish trust with your team members. If your employees don't know the organization's purpose or do not understand its values, you will have a hard time inspiring them.

Buffer is a good example of a company employing transparent communication; the leadership team publicly shares information like salaries, time off and specific financial metrics.

An organization's leaders being transparent with its employees about their intentions, company goals, financials and other aspects can foster trust and lead to better relationships and team unity.

Consistency

Finally, leaders must be consistent in their communication. If the values, ideas and missions they communicate differ occasionally and among team members, it will lead to distrust against the leader. Inconsistent communication also damages team cohesion.

If some team members receive constant feedback from the leader and other members merely receive any communication when there is an issue, they may feel left out.

Achieving Collaboration Through Clear Communication

In the realm of leadership, effective communication is essential for building healthy relationships, both personal and professional. Leaders who communicate well can inspire team members and achieve shared goals.

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Why communication is essential to effective leadership

Effective communication in leadership

You’d be hard-pressed to find a person who is not at least somewhat familiar with Martin Luther King Jr.’s riveting “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. When you think of successful leaders such as Dr. King, Ronald Reagan, or Barack Obama, the primary commonality between them is that they are all outstanding orators. Strong communication skills allow leaders to clearly define their visions in a way that inspires and empowers the people around them, whether politically, personally, or professionally. Effective communication is vital to efficacy in leadership because it helps to generate rapport, build trust, and encourage collaboration towards a common goal.

Why are communication skills integral to effective leadership?

When it comes to business, clear and effective communication from leadership offers a multitude of benefits to employers and employees. One such benefit is that it keeps employees aware of individual and organizational goals. When workers understand what is expected of them, they are more likely to be able to deliver the desired results, which can help increase job satisfaction, improve morale, and boost confidence.

As mentioned above, successful leaders must be able to inspire their employees. If leaders are not strong communicators, it will negatively affect the motivation and, consequently, the productivity of their teams. Conversely, when objectives and expectations are well-defined—and teams are collaborating to meet them—it can promote efficiency, enhance engagement, and improve overall work performance.

Finally, strong leadership communication helps ensure that team members are aware of organizational challenges and opportunities, allowing them to make more informed decisions that ultimately benefit the bottom line.

Leadership and communication at Penn LPS Online

The concentration in Leadership and Communication in the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) program provides practical knowledge, critical thinking, and communication strategies to help you grow and thrive as a leader. With lessons from expert practitioners, you’ll learn how to:

Identify, develop, and leverage distinctive leadership traits and skills
Build the rhetorical abilities to effectively persuade through verbal, visual, and written communication
Discover how to apply quantitative data in decision-making and problem-solving at work
Explore competing schools of thought on leadership ethics
Understand and apply research in economics, psychology, and other social sciences
Explore key empirical themes in positive psychology and strategies to employ them personally and professionally
Investigate case studies to learn effective strategies for global leadership across organizational and national borders
Create a five-year leadership plan customized to your professional strengths, goals, and interests

5 skills to enhance leadership and communication

Being an effective leader is virtually impossible if you lack strong communication skills. The good news is that it’s possible to cultivate and hone skills that will help you excel in both areas. And you can do it at Penn LPS Online.

1. Adaptability

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” – John F. Kennedy

As a leader, you must constantly react to changing conditions, factors, and challenges while keeping a level head. In a professional context, adaptability refers to your capability to remain flexible and respond effectively to fluctuating plans, responsibilities, schedules, expectations, trends, goals, or work processes. As such, adaptability is related to other soft skills critical to strong leadership, including creative thinking, analytical, interpersonal, and teamwork abilities.

It’s also essential to be adaptable in how you speak and write so that you can tailor your messaging to best reach and influence team members with different communication styles. For example, some employees may appreciate detailed written guidance when embarking on a new project, while others may prefer a concise verbal direction or summary. Although some of this may be intuitive, it’s always beneficial to speak with your reports early on about their communication habits and preferences so that you can determine what works best for them.

To that end, in the introductory course LEAD 1010: Leadership Theory, Practice, and Purpose at Penn LPS Online, you’ll explore competing leadership concepts to establish the groundwork for your five-year leadership and communication career plan. Each week, your studies will focus on a different foundational element of leadership, such as problem-solving, crisis communications, and self-assessment, as you learn to identify and develop your unique leadership skills and strengths.

“One of the criticisms I've faced over the years is that I'm not aggressive enough or assertive enough, or maybe somehow, because I'm empathetic, it means I'm weak. I totally rebel against that. I refuse to believe that you cannot be both compassionate and strong." – Jacinda Arden

Leading and communicating with empathy is crucial to your success as a business executive, manager, or director. The better you are at recognizing, acknowledging, and validating the feelings and experiences of your employees, the more valued they will feel and the more likely they will be to meet your goals. Accordingly, it’s important to schedule regular communication meetings with your team so you can get to know them better, including their professional experiences, challenges, and goals.

To be an empathetic leader, it’s also vital to express genuine curiosity about the people you work with and take a personal interest in their lives, which helps to build stronger relationships.

The many potential benefits of empathetic leadership include the following:

Creating trust, appreciation, and loyalty
Enhancing employee engagement and motivation
Improving collaboration and empathy between team members
Increasing job satisfaction and productivity

In other words, connecting with and relating to your team can have a lasting positive impact on your employees and your company.

An excellent way to help develop your empathetic leadership skills is to enroll in APOP 2000: Positive Psychology at Work . In this research-focused course, you’ll explore case studies on essential work-related topics, including prosocial behavior, positive leadership, and our sense of meaning and purpose. And you’ll learn tested strategies—applied in business, education, health care, and nonprofit organizations—to help you create a constructive and compassionate work environment wherein you and your team will thrive.

3. Transparency

"The people, when rightly and fully trusted, will return the trust." – Abraham Lincoln

Being transparent involves openly and candidly sharing information with your team about your company’s high-level goals, challenges, and opportunities—regardless of whether the information is good or bad. Being transparent will keep your employees informed and build trust between yourself and your team, which is critical to performance. Through transparency and trust, you can also empower employees to take healthy risks, share their perspectives freely, better collaborate and innovate, and actively problem-solve.

You can help to create a culture of transparency in the workplace by establishing clear communication channels and well-defined expectations and providing regular feedback on how your team and organization are progressing in their goals. It’s also imperative to create an open environment where employees feel comfortable speaking up when their opinions don’t align with leadership. This can involve implementing regular anonymous surveys or scheduling short meetings to check in and allow employees to share their thoughts or ask questions.

Without transparency or trust in the workplace, communication and morale suffer, employee stress increases, and productivity decreases. But when you are authentic and vulnerable with employees and readily share insights and discuss rationale, you can create a space in which your team feels secure in exploring—and voicing—their creativity. If you involve your employees in aspects of the decision-making process, they are more likely to feel engaged and loyal to your organization, to the benefit of everyone involved.

In LEAD 2020: Leadership Lessons from the Social Sciences at Penn LPS Online, you’ll explore the top evidence-based ideas from organizational sociology, behavioral economics, political science, and positive psychology that impact leadership theory and practice. Through lectures, readings, and assignments, you’ll obtain insights and perspectives on effective leadership and decision-making based on human behavior and relationships to help you better connect with and lead your current or future team.

4. Active listening

"I need to listen well so that I hear what is not said." - Thuli Madonsela

Active listening is critical to effective leadership communication. It’s a skill that involves hearing what people say and trying to understand their words' meaning and intent. Fundamental active listening techniques include being fully present in your conversation, responding to and using non-verbal cues, asking open-ended questions, avoiding interruptions, judgments, or advice, and reflecting on what you’ve heard. When you practice active listening, the goal should be to understand and empathize rather than to respond.

When you practice active listening skills as a leader, you can help create a stronger rapport with your team by showing that their opinions and ideas are heard and valued. When you know when to speak and when to listen, you can encourage productive conversation, build trust, and create an opportunity to better understand your employees' motivations, challenges, and goals. An essential component of active communication is maintaining open body language. This involves making good eye contact, refraining from folding your arms, and smiling and nodding while you listen.

What better way to improve your communication skills than to learn from others who have already been successful? In LEAD 2030: Leadership Lessons from the Humanities , you’ll explore leadership rhetoric, strategy, and ideas from some of history’s most effective communicators. Drawing from works by Plato, Machiavelli, Shakespeare, and other great thinkers, you’ll also delve into various moral frameworks and ethical perspectives on leadership that you can immediately apply in your management practice.

5. Ability to give and receive feedback

“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” – Winston Churchill

If you take on a leadership role, it will be your responsibility to give feedback effectively and receive it thoughtfully. Providing clear and constructive feedback to your employees through routine communication gives them the chance to course correct as needed, leverage their strengths, and improve their overall efficiency and effectiveness. Some tips to help you provide helpful feedback include focusing on the behavior rather than the person, balancing negative comments with positive ones, and referring to specific examples to support your statements rather than focusing on generalities.

If you want to become a better leader, it’s equally important that you can receive feedback from your employees. Strong leaders appreciate that they are fallible and must constantly learn and grow. And who better to provide constructive criticism of your leadership skills than those directly affected by them? When you receive feedback from team members, it’s essential to be open and aware of your body language and tone of voice, try to remain objective rather than defensive, ask questions for clarification as needed, and assess the input to create an appropriate action plan.

Speaking of action, LEAD 1040: Professional Communication and Personal Development is a writing-intensive course designed to develop your professional communications skills to help you advance your career in management. Through assignments including presentations, job-seeking, and professional documents, you’ll apply best practices for professional writing and crisis communication and practice editing your own written and spoken words to enhance impact. And you’ll learn how to apply positive psychology principles and strategies to heighten your personal and professional development.

Prepare to take your leadership communication skills to the next level

Ready to enhance your leadership and communication skills to help you pursue a career as an entrepreneur, manager, or director? Fill out your application today and enroll in the concentration in Leadership and Communication for the BAAS degree at Penn LPS Online. You can also register for individual leadership and communication courses without committing to the entire degree program or browse the Penn LPS Online course guide to see what’s available in any upcoming term.

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The Importance of Leadership Communication

Emily Barr September 1, 2020 Coaching & Leadership , Leaders , Management Tips

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The key to becoming a great leader has always been being skilled in communication. Especially today, when communication channels are rapidly increasing and the need for connectivity between a leader and their employees is in high demand, effective leadership communication is a definitive cornerstone to business success. If you want to be able to implement changes and produce real business results for your company, you first need to learn the skills necessary to have effective workplace conversations.

Leadership Communication Defined

Looking at effective workplace communication as a 2-way street is important, but it also glazes over some of the complexities involved in communication itself, particularly from a leadership perspective. Effective leadership communication is far from a new business buzz phrase. Rather, it describes a particular approach to workplace communication that has a clear and critical impact on an organization’s bottom line.

Leadership communication consists largely of messages related to a company’s culture and core values. These messages are significant to the key stakeholders of the company, including the employees, customers, strategic partners, shareholders, and media. When it comes to communications from leaders, they are critical because of their direct impact on this relayed message regarding the organization’s vision, mission, and transformations. The most important goal of leadership communication is to cultivate a sense of trust in the workplace through the messaging coming from leaders, keeping employees engaged and focused in the right direction.

The Importance of Leadership Communication

Communication is a core leadership function, meaning effective workplace communication and effective leadership are closely intertwined. An effective leader needs to be a skilled communicator, applying that skill in relationships at the organizational level, in larger communities and groups, and sometimes even on a global scale. However, according to the statistics , 57% of employees report not being given clear directions, and as much as 69% of managers are not comfortable communicating with their employees in general.

The problem here goes beyond managers lacking confidence or the skill levels necessary to be successful business leaders. Rather, leaders who are falling short in the communications department will have a direct negative impact on employee satisfaction, motivation, and productivity levels. Without effective leadership communication in place, a leader cannot and should not expect their employees to be engaged and connected in the workplace, introducing a host of other detrimental impacts on the success of the business.

Keeping employees motivated and driven towards success should remain a top priority for any leader. But, in order to inspire and motivate in the first place, business leaders need to establish and foster a strong line of communication. As a leader, you need to think with clarity, express ideas, and disseminate information to a multitude of audiences. A good leader can handle the rapid flows of information that circulate within the organization, and between customers, partners, and any other stakeholders. Essentially, maintaining strong leadership communication within the workplace is the key to keeping your business not just afloat, but thriving in the industry as a whole.

Tips to Optimize Your Leadership Communication

Fostering strong lines of communication as a leader introduces a particular set of goals that differ largely from the business skill of general communication. As a leader, it is your responsibility not only to have good basic communication skills, but also to ensure that the lines of communication you open within your business cover the following leadership goals:

Align employees with the company culture.
Align employees with the company’s strategic goals.
Build trust within the workplace.
Maintain employee engagement.
Encourage two-way conversations and open dialogue.
Promote employee collaboration and teamwork.
Keep employees informed.
Communicate any upcoming changes effectively and in a timely manner.
Prevent internal miscommunications.
Disseminate important information and make it available to employees.

Best Practices for Effective Leadership Communication.

Aligning your communications strategy with the above leadership objectives is critical, but how do you know your skills have matured enough to ensure your leadership communication is as effective as it can be? The number one thing great leadership communicators have in common is they have an accurate sense of situational and contextual awareness. That is to say, they are great listeners and astute in their observations, drawing on contextual clues naturally to heighten their communication skillset.

A great leadership communicator can read the individuals or groups they are conversing with, sensing the mood, dynamics, attitudes, values, and concerns associated with the other and can easily adapt their messaging to said environment without missing a beat. To know you have reached the point where your interactions as a leader translate to your presence as an excellent communicator, aim to employ the following best practices into your method of leadership communication:

1. Be honest.

People won’t be open t o those they don’t trust, and this is especially true when it comes to leadership. When employees, shareholders, partners, or any other key stakeholders have a sense that a leader is worthy of their trust, they will invest time and take risks for the business in a way that they never would if the leader had a reputation built upon a lack of integrity. However, keep in mind that demanding trust rarely works – it is best earned through right actions, thinking, and decision making.

2. Get personal.

Effective leadership communication should be a dialogue, not a monologue. The more personal and engaging a conversation is, the more effective it will be for both parties. If you remain at arm’s length from your employees, you will remain in the dark and only ever receive a highly sanitized recounting of the truth. Developing meaningful relationships with people and opening a personable, consistent dialogue with them is key to being able to solve the issues that they encounter before it’s too late.

3. Be specific.

Effective communication hinges on clarity. Being simple and concise in your communication efforts will always be more effective than being complicated, confusing, or superfluous. Especially today, time is a precious commodity, and the best leaders know just how to trim the fat and hit the high points in what they are communicating. Without understanding the value of brevity and clarity, you won’t ever be rewarded with insight into the granular level of things, since people will tune you out long before you reach that point.

4. Focus on the leave-behinds.

Being skilled in leadership communication goes beyond having the ability to learn and gather information while communicating. The best communicators are also adept at transferring ideas, aligning expectations, inspiring action, and disseminating their overall vision. When you approach each interaction with a focus on contributing more than receiving, you can consider yourself an effective communicator.

5. Keep an open mind.

The rigidity of a closed mind, especially in today’s climate, is one of the greatest limiting factors of new opportunities that exists. When a leader is willing to seek out those who hold countering opinions, or who stand in opposing positions, and seeks not to convince them to change their mind but rather to understand their point of view on things, their leadership is elevated to a whole new level. Hold open dialogues with those you confront, challenge, and develop you and your business perspectives. Keep in mind that it is not the opinion that matters, but rather your willingness to discuss, debate, and learn.

A long-standing cornerstone of great communication is the ability to simply stop talking and listen. A strong leader has an intuitive sense of when they need to dial it up, dial it down, and dial it off altogether. Broadcasting your message is important but doing so ad nauseum will produce much fewer effective results as starting meaningful conversations with others. The most worthwhile form of dialogue takes place not in the form of a detached lecture or monologue, but rather in an engaging conversation.

7. Read between the lines.

Any strong leader needs to be able to look past the surface-level of things and understand what is not being said, witnessed, or heard outright. It’s one of the most useful skills needed to be able to paint a bigger picture of any kind of situation, grounding itself in contextual and situational clues that help you lead in a multifaceted way.

8. Speak to groups as individuals.

A great leader is one who can tailor their communication in such a way that their message still feels personalized, regardless of the size of the audience. Knowing how to work a room and establish credibility, trust, and rapport are the key practices to holding successful interactions with stakeholders.

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The Cost of Poor Leadership Communication

One of the biggest barriers to having high-quality conversations is a simple fear of sharing what you are really thinking and feeling. Being genuine is intimidating, but the intimidation should be coming from those insincere conversations, because they cost the company much more than many would expect.

According to a study done by The Economist Intelligence Unit, the responses received from executives, managers, and junior staff members alike highlighted several key areas where communication breakdowns in the workplace have major consequences for business as a whole:

52% of employees said that poor communication leads to higher stress levels.
44% of employees reported poor communication causes failure in completing their projects.
31% of employees said poor communication causes them to miss their performance goals.
20% of employees in poorly communicative work environments said that they experience obstacles in innovation.
18% of employees report that poor communication leads to an increase in lost new sales opportunities.

Evidently, the cost of poor leadership communication is extremely high. But, the right internal communications strategy, and the implementation of the best leadership communications practices, can help leaders improve their communication efforts and eliminate the biggest leadership communication challenges being faced today. Communicating with the modern employee can be tricky, but they are relying on you to lead them and align them and their efforts with business objectives and success. You can only do this when you recognize the importance of maintaining an effective leadership communication strategy.

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Leadership Is a Conversation

Boris Groysberg
Michael Slind

why is communication important in leadership essay

How to improve employee engagement and alignment in today’s flatter, more networked organizations

Globalization and new technologies have sharply reduced the efficacy of command-and-control management and its accompanying forms of corporate communication. In the course of a recent research project, the authors concluded that by talking with employees, rather than simply issuing orders, leaders can promote operational flexibility, employee engagement, and tight strategic alignment.

Groysberg and Slind have identified four elements of organizational conversation that reflect the essential attributes of interpersonal conversation: intimacy, interactivity, inclusion, and intentionality.

Intimacy shifts the focus from a top-down distribution of information to a bottom-up exchange of ideas. Organizational conversation is less corporate in tone and more casual. And it’s less about issuing and taking orders than about asking and answering questions.

Interactivity entails shunning the simplicity of monologue and embracing the unpredictable vitality of dialogue. Traditional one-way media—print and broadcast, in particular—give way to social media buttressed by social thinking.

Inclusion turns employees into full-fledged conversation partners, entitling them to provide their own ideas, often on company channels. They can create content and act as brand ambassadors, thought leaders, and storytellers.

Intentionality enables leaders and employees to derive strategically relevant action from the push and pull of discussion and debate.

The command-and-control approach to management has in recent years become less and less viable. Globalization, new technologies, and changes in how companies create value and interact with customers have sharply reduced the efficacy of a purely directive, top-down model of leadership. What will take the place of that model? Part of the answer lies in how leaders manage communication within their organizations—that is, how they handle the flow of information to, from, and among their employees. Traditional corporate communication must give way to a process that is more dynamic and more sophisticated. Most important, that process must be conversational.

BG Boris Groysberg is a professor of business administration in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School and a faculty affiliate at the school’s Race, Gender & Equity Initiative. He is the coauthor, with Colleen Ammerman, of Glass Half-Broken: Shattering the Barriers That Still Hold Women Back at Work (Harvard Business Review Press, 2021). bgroysberg
Michael Slind is a writer, editor, and communication consultant. They are the coauthors of Talk, Inc.: How Trusted Leaders Use Conversation to Power Their Organizations (Harvard Business Review Press, 2012).

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15 Tips for Effective Communication in Leadership

people discussing the importance of communication in leadership and tips for leaders communication

Good communication is a core leadership function and a key characteristic of a good leader . Effective communication and effective leadership are closely intertwined. As a leader, you need to be a skilled communicator in countless relationships at the organizational level, in communities and groups, and sometimes on a global scale in order to achieve results through others.

Leaders must be able to think with clarity, express ideas, and share information with a multitude of audiences. They must also handle the rapid flows of information within the organization and among customers, partners, vendors, and other stakeholders and influencers.

Why Is Communication Important in Leadership?

Communication is more complicated than the simple mechanics of sending and receiving information — when leaders harness the ability to communicate well, they translate important data quickly and accurately.

Communication is one of the most important skills a leader can have. It takes purpose and intention to implement effective communication. You must know how and when to communicate, and select the appropriate mode for your audience. Whether writing, conversing, presenting, or facilitating, leaders must excel at communication in all of these modes. It’s the only way to meet people’s individual needs and enable important human connections.

3 Important Facts About Communication for Leaders

1. authenticity counts — a lot..

Be honest and sincere. Find your own voice; avoid using corporate-speak or sounding like someone you’re not. Let who you are, where you come from, and what you value come through in your communication. People want, respect, and will follow authentic leadership . Forget about eloquence — worry about being real. Don’t disguise who you are. People will never willingly follow someone they feel is inauthentic.

2. Visibility is a form of communication.

If you want to communicate well, be accessible. Emails and official missives aren’t enough. Be present, visible, and available. Getting “out there” — consistently and predictably — lets others know what kind of leader you are. People need to see and feel who you are to feel connected to the work you want them to do. Find ways to interact with all of your stakeholder groups, even (and especially!) if communicating in a crisis .

3. Listening is a powerful skill.

Good communicators are also good listeners. When you listen well, you gain a clear understanding of another’s perspective and knowledge. Listening fosters trust, respect, openness, and alignment. Active listening is a key part of coaching others . Allow people to air their concerns. Ask powerful questions that open the door to what people really think and feel. Pay close, respectful attention to what is said — and what’s left unsaid.

15 Critical Tips for Leaders to Communicate More Effectively

Our top communication tips for leaders, 1. communicate relentlessly..

2. Set clear expectations.

In every relationship, our behavior is guided by a set of rules or social norms — and in a professional setting, these norms tend to go unspoken. Be intentional about establishing clear expectations and team norms at your organization, whether you’re sending an email to your entire team, leading a group discussion, or having a one-on-one conversation with a direct report.

3. Simplify and be direct.

4. Illustrate through stories.

5. Be prepared.

Poor communication in the past might mean your audience resists what you have to say today. Do your homework. Start familiarizing yourself with the context around an issue, and any alternative viewpoints and perspectives about it, before you initiate communication. If you’re met with resistance or presented with a different position, you’ll feel more prepared to address and overcome objections and communicate more effectively.

6. Know your audience.

Different stakeholders may have different concerns. The tactics you use to influence one group might not be the best approach for the next. Tailor your influencing strategy for the particular person and consider their personality, goals, and objectives, as well as their roles and responsibilities. For example, someone who is highly rational may be more easily swayed by a logical appeal than an emotional one.

7. Reinforce intent with body language.

Showing positive body language like eye contact, nodding, and other relaxed gestures can inspire team members and make them feel more comfortable communicating with you. A simple head nod or smile can go a long way to show you’re paying attention and that you care, and little gestures like this can add up, slowly helping you to build rapport and collaboration and transform your organizational culture, too.

8. Read the room.

Watch your audience closely for nonverbal signs of engagement or disengagement, confusion or understanding, etc. and adjust your message and style accordingly. You can do this literally during in-person meetings, and you can even “read the room” in virtual settings by looking closely at others’ faces on the screen and by soliciting feedback.

If people are understanding your communication and aligned with your message, you may get lots of eye contact, see nodding heads, observe audience members leaning forward or demonstrating other body language that suggests alignment with your message. If you see listeners leaning back, with arms crossed, and bored or confused expressions on their faces, then you may need to adjust your message or delivery style.

It’s helpful to pause occasionally to let people ask questions and check for understanding, giving your listeners a chance to respond or seek clarification, etc. Stay flexible so you can continually notice how your communications are landing with your audience, and adjust based on the signals they send.

9. Ask good questions.

If good leaders listen more than they speak, the right conversation prompts are crucial. The best leadership questions get right to the heart of things, cut through complicated situations, and identify levers that will really make a difference. Asking non-directive inquiries can also unlock insights — which is why asking powerful questions is key to coaching your people.

10. Listen and encourage input.

Seek out, and then listen to, individuals from all levels of the organization — from the key stakeholders who have a lot of opinions you need to consider, to the new employees who may be reluctant to voice concerns. Let team members know they are valuable, show empathy toward them, and create psychological safety so people feel comfortable speaking up. It will show those you lead that you care about both them and the organization.

Also, be okay with silence. Encourage the other person to offer ideas and solutions before you give yours. Do 80% of the listening and 20% of the talking. Demonstrate an interest in, and respect for, your colleagues — this builds trust and makes the emotional connection that’s so important for effective leadership.

11. Take feedback seriously.

Asking for honest feedback from your team or employees can foster a positive stream of communication, and it helps build trust overall. This tactic can also make your team feel more respected, giving them a chance to have their voices heard. If you take their feedback seriously, you will grow as a leader and enhance your skillset. However, if you ask for and then don ’ t incorporate their feedback, the opposite is true — it could lead to a loss of trust and alignment. Following through with action steps will reinforce the message and show that you truly heard and understood the other person’s concerns.

12. Affirm with actions.

While effective leaders master the art and craft of language, speak clearly, and present logical and compelling arguments, skilled leaders also know that communication goes beyond words. If people hear one things from you but see another, your credibility is shot. People need to trust you. Your behavior and actions communicate a world of information — so focus on alignment and be clear on the messages you send even when you aren’t saying anything.

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Watch our webinar, How to Practice Authentic Communication in a Virtual Space , and learn actions to take — and avoid — in order to improve your listening and leadership communication skills in a virtual setting.

13. Initiate the tough, but needed, conversations.

Difficult conversations, whether with a client or direct report, are an inevitable part of any workplace. It’s tempting to ignore conflicts, but effective leaders must be able to address concerns as they arise. Be sure to approach any difficult conversation from a neutral perspective and explore both sides before coming to a conclusion. Work to problem-solve by inventing options that meet each side’s important concerns, and do your best to resolve conflicts through open communication.

14. Involve others before developing a plan of action.

The work doesn’t stop when the communication ends. Take whatever you’ve learned in the exchange, synthesize it, and present your plan to the appropriate stakeholders. Generating buy-in and making sure that everyone is on the same page before executing on strategy will be key to achieving organizational goals.

15. Remember your reputation.

Never compromise your reputation for the sake of communication. At times, you may walk a fine line between being too aggressive and being too relaxed, and as a leader, you need to make sure you don’t get a reputation for leaning too heavily in one direction.

To navigate these challenges and bolster your leadership image, consider asking yourself thought-provoking questions like, “ When do I stay out of an issue, and when do I get involved?” or “How do I respond when errors are identified?” Make a list of communication concerns you have, and ask a colleague to describe the behaviors they would consider too aggressive or too relaxed — their responses will help gauge how to move forward.

What Poor Leadership Communication Costs Your Organization

Learn more about the true cost of poor leadership communication and the costs of “conflict incompetence.”

Improve Communication Among Leaders at Your Organization

Today’s leaders need the ability to communicate effectively and address complex challenges in new and innovative ways. Build the skills needed by partnering with us to craft a customized learning journey for your organization using our research-backed topic modules .

Available leadership topics include Leadership & Communication , Emotional Intelligence & Empathy, Influencing Skills, Leading Through Change, Listening to Understand, Psychological Safety & Trust, and more.

How Effective Leadership Communication Builds Trust

A quick self-assessment for leaders to evaluate your communication.

Ensure that your words and actions are consistent and avoid mixed messages.
Act in ways that support the values of your organization.
When having difficulty with another coworker or team member, go directly to that individual to discuss the situation.
Be a sounding board on sensitive issues for others.
Share your own opinions and perspectives, even when they’re different from the majority view.
Avoid being a “yes” person.
Keep your focus on the big picture and the shared goals of the organization.
Accept accountability for your own actions and the results of those actions.
Promote respectful dialogue and productive debate, and work to resolve conflicts productively .

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Effective communication for leaders is essential. Partner with us to craft a customized learning journey for your team using our research-backed modules. Available leadership topics include Authenticity, Communication & Leadership , Feedback That Works, Emotional Intelligence, Influence, Listening to Understand, Psychological Safety, and more.

Or, build coaching skills across your team and scale a culture of open communication and feedback across your entire organization.

Based on Research by

Maggie is an experienced consultant, solutions designer, researcher, and facilitator with expertise in leadership, executive coaching, assessment, authentic communication, and evaluation. She’s coached and trained leaders around the world, and her research has focused on the unique challenges of first-time leaders as well as technology and ethics in coaching and leadership.

Andre led our coaches and on-call faculty, and he managed our coaching portfolio with focus on executive coaching, team coaching, coaching skills and certificate programs, and large-scale coaching culture engagements. He has also served on the Board of Directors for Coach Training for the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

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Why Communication Is Important in Leadership

Business meeting with good communication

Strong leadership and strong communication are inextricably linked — you simply cannot have one without the other. The best leaders maintain a clear line of communication with their peers, partners, employees, and customers. In doing so, these leaders develop a deeper understanding of relevant situations, issues, shortcomings, and opportunities while delivering clear feedback and instruction that steers the ship in a purposeful direction. Let’s dive deeper into why communication is so crucial in leadership.

What Are the Benefits of Good Communication?

Communication keeps people on the same page.

Team management is a challenge for businesses of all sizes. Whether a team consists of a few people or dozens of individuals, leaders with strong communication skills are the glue that holds said team together through thick and thin. It’s worth noting that proper communication isn’t a one-way street, either. Leaders must be equally adept at delivering instructions and receiving feedback from team members in order to manage their team optimally. This reciprocity allows leaders to earn the respect and engagement of their employees and make informed decisions that garner maximum buy-in.

Communication Is Key to Understanding Problems

The ability to listen is one of the most important qualities of a good leader , and, as previously mentioned, half of the communication equation. If you fail to hear or comprehend the concerns of those within your organization, the smallest issues can grow into a rot that’s more and more difficult to expel over time. The best leaders actively check in with their people to uncover any nascent problems so they can resolve them as quickly and effectively as possible. New issues are still bound to arise — the key is getting ahead of them with masterful communication rather than ignoring them or missing them entirely.

Communication Drives Positive Change

The whole point of understanding problems in your organization is to discover weak points that you can fix and then make various adjustments that push your company in a better direction. In this way, then, strong leadership communication skills are the driving force behind constructive change. Your organization will struggle to grow or improve if its leaders don’t properly respond to problems and opportunities when they arise.

Communication Helps Retain Top Talent

In recent posts, we’ve discussed the importance of employee retention, especially when it comes to keeping top talent in your organization. While these retention efforts are multi-faceted, leadership communication remains at the heart of them. Those with the most potential in your company may seek other opportunities if they don’t feel like their ideas are being heard and/or if they don’t feel properly compensated for their contributions. In order to keep these valuable people around, leaders must help them grow with the organization — this might mean promoting them into new positions, guiding their own leadership development , giving them appropriate raises, and so on. Whatever the case, these decisions must be based on the mutual needs of these individuals and your company, which can only be uncovered through powerful communication.

Leaders who display strong communication keep their people on the same page, understand and resolve issues before they fester, improve their operations and culture, and retain the very best people to keep this cycle going. At Leadership Resources , our purpose is making the impossible possible through people. We aim to do so by helping individuals develop patterns of success that will decrease stress levels and maximize productivity. Contact us here to learn more about what we do and how it can help your business succeed and grow at times like these when you need it most.

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Leadership Communication

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First Online: 06 November 2019
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William L. McCarley 7 &
Myria Allen 7

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Modern industrialization has been both the pinnacle of human innovation and the catalyst for our planet’s deterioration. Because of this, leaders of organizations representing all sectors, sizes, markets, and influence are recognizing their organization’s impact on our natural environment. They are refocusing their organizations’ efforts on eco-efficiency and eco-friendly practices like renewable energy, sustainably-sourced materials, and carbon neutrality. But what does leadership for organizational sustainability look like? This essay defines leadership communication within the context of organizational sustainability initiatives, discusses transformational leadership and instrumental leadership communication behaviors, and considers cultural differences in follower expectations for leaders’ management and communication behaviors. A communication-focused theory, the coordinated management of meaning approach, is discussed as...

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Allen, M. W. (2016). Strategic communication for sustainable organizations: Theory and practice . London: Springer.

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Antonakis, J., & House, R. J. (2014). Instrumental leadership: Measurement and extension of transformational–transactional leadership theory. The Leadership Quarterly, 25 (4), 746–771. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2014.04.005 .

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Department of Communication, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA

William L. McCarley & Myria Allen

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Samuel Idowu

Cologne Business School, Ingolstadt, Germany

René Schmidpeter

College of Business, Loyola University New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, USA

Nicholas Capaldi

International Training Centre of the IL, International Labor Organization, Turin, Italy

Liangrong Zu

Department of Economics, Society and Politics, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy

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Arto O. Salonen

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McCarley, W.L., Allen, M. (2020). Leadership Communication. In: Idowu, S., Schmidpeter, R., Capaldi, N., Zu, L., Del Baldo, M., Abreu, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainable Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02006-4_444-1

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Leadership: Communication as Important Aspects of Leadership Essay

The concept of leadership is one element that I have experienced first-hand as an adult. Currently, my spouse and I are business owners of a small auto parts store; we oversee 4 full-time employees and all aspects of the business management. Therefore, as a manager, my leadership skills had to develop. Some vital leadership skills as a business owner I had sought to demonstrate are problem-solving, decisiveness, team building, resilience, and dependability. I have to manage both the tasks at hand that have to be completed each day but also implement strategic thinking on the best ways on how I can grow my business so that the needs of my family and my employees are met. I had to overcome a lot in the process of learning, and ultimately, the self-awareness greatly contributed to my leadership capabilities.

I think one of the most important aspects of leadership is communication. It is always listed as a key characteristic, but communication goes beyond the ability to transfer information. Good communication involves active listening and understanding, open-mindedness, demonstrating empathy, the ability to share clear messages, and transforming complex ideas into ones that are easy to comprehend. At the same time, in the process of communication, one has to encourage, inspire, present oneself as an example and a strong leader. As noted by Myatt (2012), “It is the ability to develop a keen external awareness that separates the truly great communicators from those who muddle through their interactions with others.” It is easy to get caught up in oneself and internal ideas when communicating, but the best results in communication come when you gain awareness of the audience. In my business, I have worked on being a better communicator to my employees in order to become a great leader. I have established rapport and trust as a manager, and we have an effective system of communication that allows us to work together, delegate tasks, and ensure smooth daily operations. From personal experience, when communication is improved, especially from leadership to employees, many other problems become resolved, highlighting that issues arise due to poor communication from ineffective leaders.

Myatt, M. (2012). 10 communication secrets of great leaders. Forbes . Web.

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Organizational Leadership: What It Is & Why It's Important

An organizational leader shaking hands with an employee while seated at a table

24 Jan 2023

Leadership is essential to organizations’ success, but many struggle to implement the right training. According to job search site Zippia , 83 percent of businesses believe it’s important to develop leaders at every level, but only five percent successfully do.

If you want to become an effective leader, here's an overview of what organizational leadership is, why it’s important, and how you can make an impact on your company.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Organizational Leadership?

Leadership is the ability to implement change by creating and communicating a vision to others. Organizational leadership is the qualities and skills required to run a company or one of its divisions. It’s greater in scale and scope than many other forms of leadership.

“Scale refers to the sheer size and magnitude of what you’re leading,” says Harvard Business School Professor Anthony Mayo in the online course Organizational Leadership , “how many people; how large a budget; and how many teams, locations, and operations you oversee. Scope refers to the range and diversity of what you’re responsible for—the range and diversity of the people, teams, business lines, locations, operations, and facilities you’re leading.”

Although leadership doesn't inherently require business acumen, it’s helpful for organizational leaders to have, so they can guide their organizations, drive innovation, and manage organizational change .

Organizational leaders must consider what’s happening outside and inside their businesses. They often don’t directly interact with everyone they lead—engaging in what’s known as capital “L” leadership.

The Capital "L" in Leadership

Many senior-level leaders hold capital "L" leadership roles. According to Organizational Leadership , those leaders no longer have direct contact with everyone in their organizations and must:

Inspire and motivate their employees
Lead their organizations into the future
Anticipate and respond to internal and external threats
Pursue opportunities that range from money makers to risky bets
Handle crises quickly and assuredly

As your duties increase as a leader—overseeing or guiding those you don’t directly supervise—it's essential to learn how to communicate effectively and execute tasks. This is particularly important when considering the differences between organizational leadership and traditional management.

Organizational Leadership vs. Traditional Management

Leadership and management differ in several ways. At an organizational level, the two are highly intertwined but have three primary differences.

Proximity to the team: Managers work closely with the individuals they oversee, whereas organizational leaders don't always have direct contact with those they lead.
Scale: Like leadership, management is a broad term that can be big or small in scale, whereas organizational leadership involves managing larger populations.
Role: Managers are hired for specific roles; organizational leaders oversee managers and ensure their companies’ visions are reflected in how they guide and align teams.

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What Makes Organizational Leaders Effective?

Organizational leaders bring unique qualities, competencies, and practices to their roles. In Organizational Leadership , this is called a leadership constellation .

A leadership constellation includes:

Qualities: The aspects of who you are as a person. They contribute to how others perceive you.
Competencies: The skills and knowledge you've developed over time that enable you to fulfill responsibilities—either by yourself or by leading others.
Practices: The routine actions you engage in to complete tasks, guide your team and organization, and enhance your and others’ skills.

According to Organizational Leadership , you can leverage these attributes in three ways:

Leader as beacon: Creating and communicating a vision to your organization and embodying it in your conduct (i.e., leading by example)
Leader as architect: Ensuring your organization can follow the direction you set, and creating value using the tools and resources at your disposal
Leader as catalyst of change: Leading organizational change by encouraging and enabling it

To be an effective leader , strive to be proficient in each.

Why Is Effective Organizational Leadership Important?

Leadership is vital in business. Organizational leaders assume an additional role because they often set the tone for the directions their companies—and sometimes even their industries—will take.

Here are four reasons why effective organizational leadership is important.

1. Motivates Team Members

Leaders play a critical role in employee engagement. According to Zippia , 69 percent of employees say they would work harder if their efforts were better recognized. This is an important statistic to consider if you struggle to retain talent or want to boost team performance .

Motivated, engaged employees can lead to higher productivity. A Gallup analysis of employee engagement data shows that highly engaged employees resulted in a 14 percent increase in productivity compared to those who were less engaged.

Leaders focus on improving team morale and their companies. Those at higher levels face the challenge of improving employees’ motivation without direct lines of contact.

According to Organizational Leadership , you can improve employee morale by:

Hiring for leadership: If you’re involved in the recruiting process, ensure you hire effective leaders for management positions.
Creating a positive company culture: If your company’s culture is positive and encouraging, your employees will likely be more motivated.
Structuring effectively: For your organization to deliver value, its structures, systems, and processes must align with its people and culture.
Openness to feedback: Even if you're not directly responsible for leading every employee, making yourself available to them can go a long way toward ensuring they feel valued.

Related: 6 Strategies for Engaging Your Employees

2. Promotes Problem-Solving and Decision-Making

Leadership requires a large degree of adaptability. Many problems require creative solutions , especially when their causes are hard to identify. As a leader, you’re responsible for helping others navigate difficult situations and making decisions that benefit your organization.

Even if you don't encounter most of your company’s daily high-level problems, you can be a role model for other employees and establish a structured approach to becoming a creative problem-solver .

3. Fosters Open Communication

Communication skills are essential for leaders. Poor communication in the workplace can lead to a host of problems , such as stress, project delays, and decreased morale.

Organizational Leadership offers four ways to foster open communication in your company, including:

Providing information about what's going on in a way that encourages and enables employees to act
Explaining your organization's direction in a logical manner that appeals to employees’ emotions
Ensuring employees know how their everyday tasks connect to your organization's overarching mission
Accomplishing tasks with individual employees and groups, virtually and in-person

Neglecting these actions can hinder your company’s success.

4. Allows Leaders to be Goal-Oriented

Organizational leaders typically set the direction for their company and enable others to follow it. According to Organizational Leadership , a good direction must be:

Clear: An unclear direction can prevent others from supporting it. Ensure you convey your expectations so they can be met.
Compelling: Make sure it's a direction people are willing and eager to follow.
Concise: If others in your organization can't understand the direction, they won't follow it.

Once the path forward is clear, exciting, and accessible, it becomes much easier to set and achieve organizational goals.

How to Become a More Effective Leader | Access Your Free E-Book | Download Now

Taking the First Step to Becoming an Organizational Leader

To be a successful leader, it's crucial to continuously develop your skills. Identify which leadership style resonates with you and seek opportunities to grow and adapt.

Whether you're already an organizational leader or hoping to become one, you can benefit from pursuing educational opportunities that enhance your leadership knowledge and abilities.

Ready to take the next step in your career? Consider enrolling in Organizational Leadership —one of our online leadership and management courses—to discover how to lead at scale. To learn more about what it takes to be an effective leader, download our free leadership e-book .

About the Author

The Importance of Language in Communication

This essay about the importance of language in communication explores how language serves as a fundamental tool for expressing thoughts, sharing ideas, and connecting with others. It delves into the role of language in cultural transmission, highlighting its ability to preserve traditions and foster a sense of identity. Additionally, the essay discusses the practical significance of language in education, the workplace, and digital literacy. Overall, it emphasizes how language shapes our perceptions, relationships, and understanding of the world.

How it works

Language, the silent conductor of the human orchestra, orchestrates the symphony of communication, weaving melodies of meaning and harmony across the tapestry of human interaction. Its importance transcends the mere exchange of words; it’s the gateway to understanding, the vessel of culture, and the mirror of our collective consciousness.

At its essence, language is the paintbrush with which we color our thoughts and emotions onto the canvas of conversation. It’s not just about conveying information but also about infusing it with the hues of our experiences and the shades of our perceptions.

Whether through the lyrical prose of a poet or the candid banter of friends, language breathes life into our narratives, giving voice to the whispers of our souls and the echoes of our hearts.

Furthermore, language is the bridge that spans the chasm of cultural divides, connecting disparate worlds and fostering empathy and understanding. Each language is a portal to a unique universe, rich with its own traditions, customs, and folklore. By embracing multilingualism, we open doors to new perspectives, immersing ourselves in the kaleidoscope of human expression and expanding our capacity for empathy and appreciation of diversity.

Moreover, language isn’t just a vessel for communication; it’s a catalyst for cognition, shaping the way we perceive and interpret the world around us. The words we use don’t merely describe reality; they construct it, framing our experiences and molding our perceptions. Different languages offer different lenses through which to view the world, each imbued with its own cultural nuances and linguistic quirks. By engaging with diverse linguistic landscapes, we enrich our understanding of the human experience and cultivate a more nuanced and inclusive worldview.

In addition to its profound cultural and cognitive significance, language is also a practical tool that empowers us to navigate the complexities of modern life. In the realm of education, language is the key that unlocks the treasures of knowledge, enabling us to access and engage with a wealth of information across disciplines and domains. In the professional sphere, effective communication skills are indispensable, serving as the linchpin of collaboration, innovation, and success in today’s globalized world.

In conclusion, the importance of language in communication transcends boundaries of geography, culture, and time. It’s the lifeblood of human connection, the conduit through which we share our stories, dreams, and aspirations. From its role in shaping our perceptions and understanding of the world to its practical utility in education, work, and beyond, language is woven into the fabric of our lives, enriching our experiences and uniting us in the shared journey of humanity.

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