8 Best Strategies To Communicate Like A Real Leader

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8 Best Strategies To Communicate Like A Real Leader

By Dianna Booher | Forbes Magazine | September 19, 2024

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Now that corporations call all employees leaders, how can you tell the real ones from the pretenders? Examine your own leadership skills, and also evaluate what you read and hear from other “leaders’ with the following guidelines:

1. Is Your Communication Correct?  Nowhere do we hear more misinformation than from our politicians. Look no further than the transcript from the latest stump speech to find inaccuracies that fall into several categories:  What the candidates say that they hope is true?  What the candidates say that they suspect is untrue?  What the candidates say that they know is untrue?  What the candidates say that’s a bold lie, hoping their audience is moronic?  Once you earn the reputation of being a truth-teller—whether good or bad truth—accuracy about “the facts” earns respect. And respect ratchets up your chances that people will follow you as a leader.
2. Is Your Communication Complete?  If you have kids, you know how dialogue ends.  You know kids will whine until you give an understandable reason. Bosses, peers, clients, and staff are no different. People respond to plausible reasons.  When you’re not forthcoming about reasons for policies, plans, projects, or procedures, imaginations run wild. None of which will be favorable to you as the mysterious leader.
3. Is Your Communication Current?  Managers often get caught up in the trap of hanging on to past, favorable results, despite outcomes from more current projects. Governmental agencies withhold data until the cause-and-effect becomes totally obscured or at least “overcome by events.”  Whether in engineering or human resources, real leaders need to be up to the minute in how they measure and what they report.
4. Is Your Communication Clear?  Three key components of clear communication: 1) Direct phrasing. 2) Structure. 3) Timing.
5. Is Your Communication Purposefully Unclear?  If you intend to be understood, avoid “technobabble”. Unfortunately, some professionals have learned that if you couch an idea in enough jargon, nobody will understand what you mean. Therefore, they get no questions or pushback.  Gobble-de-gook may be expected in today’s workplace, but it’s rarely respected. Simple ideas deserve simple, straightforward language.
6. Does Your Communication Show Concern?  Showing concern for others is not a new concept brought on by the ravages of Covid and its aftermath in the workplace. In fact, empathy is as old as the Golden Rule.  How do leaders demonstrate concern? Listening. Asking questions to show interest. Being approachable. Using respectful language—even during conflict or disagreement. Setting policies that show concern and respect to all involved.
7. Does Your Communication Demonstrate Competence?  Competent leaders deliver results, not excuses. The essence of leadership is solid communication. Competent leaders exhibit mastery in basic communication skills that they use daily to get work done through other people: writing skills, public-speaking skills, meeting facilitation, conflict resolution, negotiation skills—from deadlines to desirable outcomes.
8. Are You Personally Credible?  Sometimes the difference between motivation and disengagement comes down to the personal presence of the person leading the charge. Do others trust you personally? That trust will flow from a combination of the following:  Their perception of your confidence—based on how you look, talk, think, move, act.  Their perception of your character: Is your outside-the-office persona the same as what people see every day on the job?  Their perception of your commitment to excellence. Do you do what you say you will?  Answers to these questions tell you how personally credible others believe you to be.

3 key takeaways from the article

1. Now that corporations call all employees leaders, how can you tell the real ones from the pretenders? 
2. Examine your own leadership skills, and also evaluate what you read and hear from other “leaders’ with the following guidelines:  Is Your Communication Correct?  Is Your Communication Complete?  Is Your Communication Current?  Is Your Communication Clear?  Is Your Communication Purposefully Unclear?  Does Your Communication Show Concern?  Does Your Communication Demonstrate Competence?  Are You Personally Credible?
3. Taken together, these 8 communication strategies or guidelines form the guardrails that create real leaders and keep them successful over the long term.

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Topics:  Leadership, Trust, Communication, Credibility, Competence, Empathy