Effective communication needs purpose
Guest post by Alison Vidotto
Leadership is all about communication. It doesn’t matter if you’re an introvert or an extrovert, if you’re going to build a strong workplace, you need to be able to communicate well.
Think about it; the vision, mission, purpose or strategy of your business cannot possibly succeed if you can’t effectively communicate it to those who count.
Leaders succeed by empowering and developing other leaders. They give clear direction, support and feedback to their employees. If they can’t communicate then growth and development is going to be an uphill battle. Your team will not be on the same page, your vision will not be shared.
We’re not all born natural communicators, many of us need to work on the process. The good news is that great communication skills can be developed. Like most things in business, it all begins with purpose.
Purposeful communication is mindful. Consider the message you are trying to communicate. Make your communication transparent and authentic, say what you mean and mean what you say. Your team will observe not only what you are telling them, but what you are doing as well. There is nothing more annoying than a boss (let’s not call them a leader) who says one thing and does another. A boss who tells you that they have an open door policy and would love to hear your suggestions, but then ignores or shoots every one of them down in flames.
Purposeful communication has very clear objectives, the message being relayed has a job to do. Those objectives include sharing the strategic goals and plans as well as the day to day tasks required to achieve them. Communication is all about getting everyone on the same page. It is also a two way street where the leader listens to what others have to say and carefully considers their input.
The impact of purposeful communication in the workplace can have far reaching positive effects. Employee satisfaction will immediately increase, which will filter through to team engagement, reduced staff turnover and sick leave. Employees who feel valued and empowered show greater trust and loyalty to their leader and the business. Productivity will increase which will ultimately show up in your profit margins.
It is important to remember that most aspects of leadership are a dynamic process. We are all still learning, we always will be. There is always room for improvement.
How purposeful is your communication?
Alison Vidotto is an award winning author, professional speaker, CEO of Vidotto Group, leadership trainer and Founder and Managing Director of the Australian Charity for the Children of Vietnam.
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