Leadership Torque

Build your Leadership Cred: Communicate

How many conflicts do you think occurr because something has been miscommunicated, not communicated or poorly communicated? I'm not sure what figure you might place against it but it must be a high one. Just yesterday I found myself in teh midst of a conflict because someone had drastically miscommuicated something about me and what I had(n't) said.

Stu (a friend I lead with at Church) says "You can never over communicate something". My hunch is that this is correct! Bill Hybels says when speaking about vision, that it leaks, it takes 21 days to leak out of your vision bucket before you have to recast the vision. I'm more and more inclined to think that this concept is true for all ideas, instructions, pleas, directions, etc., and that the time frame is also much shorter.

The good news is that if you learn to communicate well, if you are constantly developing this skill and if you communicate clearly and repeticiously then you will see that part of your leadership cred is kept intact. Possibly the best way to keep your teams on track, your people focused, morale up, strategy sharp, vision clear and everyone on the same page, has to begin with clear, concise and consistent communication.

THE CALL TO ACTION: Analyse the things you are communicating at the moment to your teams, to those you lead with, to the people you lead. Is there anything you need to be more clear about? Are there more conversations you have to have to make sure everyone is on the same page? Is there something you need to tell your people again and again and again?

Build your Leadership Cred: Listen

Paul Tillich said "The first duty of love is to listen". I wonder if the same could be said for leadership. When you lead someone you only know where to begin if you know where those you lead are at. I've realised through many painful and embarrassing moments that what I can think is the best course of action, can often be totally wrong, because I'm not aware of the full picture, because I have not taken the time to listen.

It is said that Bill Clinton would listen through the bottom of a can of Coke! What does that mean? Simply that regardless of what he did when in the presence of another, they always felt that he was listening to them, even went sipping some coke. I want to be that kind of leader who listens to those they lead in such a way that my leadership is appropriately tweaked so as not only to meet them where they are at, but to lead them effectively to the destination they will benefit from.

I think I could be so bold as to guarauntee that if someone you lead feels you truly listen to them, then your credibility will increase!

THE CALL TO ACTION: Today, I think I can safely say that you will be in a number of conversations. In each of them focus on listening, rather than talking. Ask questions and concentrate. After the conversation has finished recall what the main points of interest were in the conversation. If you do this on a regular basis you'll see how quickly your listening skills are fine tuned!

Note of caution, it's easy to listen and hear what you want to hear rather than what is actually being said. Challenge yourself to understand where the other person is coming from and what they are saying!