Leadership and Communication Warren Bennis once said, “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” In order to accomplish this “translation,” a leader must first be able to successfully inspire and encourage his or her team, necessitating effective communication. A lack of communication can make it nearly impossible for a company to join together and accomplish any of their goals. However, if a leader focuses on employing effective communication strategies and overcoming communication barriers within the workplace, his or her team will follow suit, ready to undertake any goals set before them.
Effective Leadership Although it is difficult to measure leadership, many of our most effective leaders have shared similar traits.
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As Susan Tardanico states in her Forbes article, it is necessary for leaders to set the tone for the office, remaining accountable to any rules put in place. Basically, it is important for a leader’s actions to align with his or her words; otherwise, people will not apply the standards that the leader has set because even the leader is not conforming (2012, para. 4). Tardanico also frequently mentions language as a means to effective communication. Rather than sending emails or making speeches that are unnecessarily former or filled with technical jargon, a leader should focus on sending out shorter messages that are clear, focused, and get the point across. Keeping memos simple allows employees who are “being bombarded 24/7 by information” to hear and understand the point quickly (Tardanico, 2012, para. 5). One of the easiest and often overlooked communication strategies is simply listening. As Simon Sinek once said, “There is a difference between listening and waiting for your turn to speak.” Whether it be listening to upper level management or hearing an employee’s concerns, listening is an important aspect of communication. Actively listening to employees could boost work satisfaction levels as well as allow the leader to solve problems easily and quickly before they grow out of control (Rittiman, 2015, para. …show more content…
Requiring employees to take a personality inventory, such as the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), could aid the process of learning to work with other personalities. For example, if an employee had a preference for Thinking and another had the opposite preference, Feeling, then the Thinking employee could focus on not being so critical as well as pointing out the positives before the negatives. The Feeling employee could then practice using brief and concise language as well as finding logical ways of explaining, including the use of cause and effect (Bakker, n.d., p. 1). When a leader knows his employees’ personalities, he or she can focus on utilizing that knowledge to find common ground among employees and avoid interpersonal relations problems (Feigenbaum, n.d., p. 1). In companies with multiple locations or who use outside contractors, it can be difficult to communicate accurately via email due to the lack of nonverbal cues. This physical separation barrier can be remedied by video chatting regularly instead of emailing or attempting to meet in person, depending on the distance of separation (Lombardo, n.d., p. 1). Conflicting messages can also hinder effective communication in the workplace. If emails to employees are unclear or confusing, they might either decide to just not do the task or they might complete an entirely different task than what was originally
Every Leader is defined by his or her qualities and characteristics. These can determine how effective a leader has become. This statement has been true throughout the history of mankind. However, there are only a handful of specific qualities that can truly determine if someone is an effective leader.
Leadership is an important attribute in individuals such as managers, academic experts, and researchers. The topic of leadership continues to gain popularity and importance in almost all sectors. The way leaders in managerial positions communicate determines their effectiveness and success in achieving high levels of performance and success in their organizations. There are numerous books that provide an insight into effective leadership and communication. One of such books is by Atwater and Waldman (2012). This paper provides a summary, contextual analysis and critique of the book.
Leaders posses a variety of personality traits, but there are only a few traits that define a great leader.
Leadership can be defined in many ways, but one thing all leaders have in common is determination to get a task done. Although leaders may carry out this action in many different ways they all do what needs to be done in order to reach their goal. Florence Nightingale was willing to gather a group of women and pick up and leave her home to tend to the wounded soldiers of the Crimean War.
The Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a psychological tool used for over 70 years to explain or categorize an individual’s preferences or tendencies to behave a certain way throughout their lives (Kroeger, Thuesen, & Rutledge, 2002). Based on the works of Carl Jung, the MBTI classifies individuals into 16 different personality types and when properly utilized, can be an invaluable instrument in an organization to promote workforce collaboration (Humanmetrics, 2017). Each type is characterized by a four letter acronym, with each of the four letters working together to make up a complex human personality. Within the four letter acronym, BDM Consulting has outlined David Kiersey’s theory of temperament, which details observable human tendencies
Many Scholars characterize the core qualities and skills necessary for an effective leader. Useem defines leadership as “Creating a vision and translating that vision into actions”. Historically, an effective leader was assumed to be exceptionally knowledgeable, authoritative, and dominate. Those leaders applied the command and control method to lead an organization. With the passage of time, this definition has been changed. The modern definition of an effective leader is honest, courageous, trustworthy, inspirational, and result-oriented. Today’s leaders create shared values and vision, and empower others to achieve their targets.
Great leadership is not achieved over night, and it is not something that one achieves and stops. Great leaders spend entire lives building and growing their leadership skills. It is not likely that a leader will one day wake up with all of the vision, influence, knowledge, respect, and momentum necessary to be great; these take time to develop. “It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from their followers.”
A manager needs to be in constant communication with his staff. The lack of communication can lead to misunderstandings and dissatisfied employees. “Communication is the single most important skill of any manager.” (About.com) I believe this is statement from about.com is absolutely right. In order to lead, a leader must communicate his orders to his followers.
To inspire and influence others, a leader must have many skills and abilities. As motivational speaker Jim Rohn, states, “ the challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” (2010) Moving an entire group of individuals toward a singular goal is a considerable undertaking. Without effective communication skills and a clear vision of what needs to be accomplished, one will feel like they are trying to herd cats rather than leading.
There are so many aspects to being an effective leader, yet they are so easy to achieve but some leaders do not care to. Effective leaders must motivate, value their employees, solve problems, and be accountable. An effective leader is said to know the organization, the purpose,
Every business consists of a variety of communication activities such as listening, speaking, questioning, gathering and participating in small work groups. The listening skill is one of the most important aspects of communication process. It helps to understand and read the other person’s message. Effective listening skills create positive workplace relationships which influence our opinions and responsiveness to one another.
Communication plays a key role to a leader. To have communication skills is to have the ability to express oneself clearly to others. It is extremely important as...
Communication is a very important aspect in leadership. It involves the ability of managers and other leaders in an organization to engage employees through effective listening and understanding of any issues that may be making it difficult for them to realize their full potential. The need for good communication capabilities in the workplace is to make sure that leaders give employees enough time to air their opinions before any binding directions are made. It is always necessary for leaders to remain mindful of the manner in wh...
What does it take to be an effective leader? This is something that has been asked many times over the course of human history. Some might say that having a strong personality and a commanding presence is needed in order to be a strong leader. Others might say that someone who stays on top of everything and keeps order is more effective as a leader. Everyone has their own opinion on this subject and in many regards, they are not wrong. Good quality leadership is something that is hard to possess and is not something everyone can do. Leadership is something that has been studied and analyzed many times, and from these studies, many theories have emerged from them. Each of these theories of leadership has their own benefits and can be useful
As in all aspects of personal and professional life, having effective communication is a key element of success. Effective communication can benefit your relationships with people. By conveying your message and integrating them as a member of the team and not just a subordinate leads to better production. By effectively communicating you can clearly define job responsibilities and expectations. The better you are able to communicate the less likely organizational turnover of personnel will occur. Supervisors and leaders in the professional workplace find that the most important factor in advancement and retain ability is effective communication. Senior level executives and human resources managers are stressing the importance of communication and providing more training for mid-level management. Emphasis is placed on communication being clear by being transmitted strongly.