Question

Leadership and communication go hand in hand. Describe what makes a leader a good communicator. It might be helpful to explain using a person you know as an example. Since communication is so essential, why do some leaders not communicate? What happens as a result of this poor communication?

Answer 1

All the greatest leaders of the past and present are best communicators. Today, leaders at various walks of life such as politics, society, sports, companies etc. continue to be good communicators. Communication is the art of not just saying or writing what one wants to communicate but it’s also about persuading the receiver of the communication to accept the message. Today’s fast phased business world, it’s leaders’ communication to various stakeholders that keeps the business and people running. Leaders who communicate effectively, have no ego, have clear eye-contact, listen empathetically, lower their language to suit different styles and they also give a personal touch when they communicate. I can think of the then President Barrack Obama whose ‘change we can believe in’ slogan along with his all the other speeches convinced people and made him the President of the United States. Great leaders are also assertive and get thing done.

While some leaders are able to spread their message across and get it accepted, other struggle make people believe that they have a message. This is because of the distance that the leaders keep with their subordinates. These leaders never listen to their subordinates once in their life time and even when they listen, they don’t listen empathetically. This lack of personal touch makes some leaders bad communicators.

Some leaders use the same style and level of communication with everyone and it’s not effective because the tone, the content and the intensity of the communication should be different to different people. One cannot talk to a shop floor supervisor in a way they talk in a board meeting.

Great leaders make eye-contact and keep their listeners under their vicinity. When they make eye-contact, the message is very clear that they know what they are doing. People may not respect leaders who don’t make eye contact.

When leaders don’t communicate well and on time there will be lots of chaos among the subordinates about what to do and who to look for information. So this ambiguity will severely damage the reputation of the organization as well as shut down the business.