Do you find yourself wondering why some businesses don’t seem to have the staff turn-over you do?
Why does it seem like some businesses are just happy places to work?
Why do some leaders effortlessly get buy-in from their followers?
I’m convinced that the key to understanding everything from customer service to employee satisfaction to team unity comes down to communication. While I’m aware that it is possible to listen to a great communicator who is an awful leader, it is rare to find a great leaders who are an awful communicators.
Consider this – job postings are communication. Marketing is communication. Employee reviews are communication. Customer service is communication. Social media posts are communication. Memos, meeting agendas, and mission statements are all forms of communication.
If you are a leader in any capacity and do not have at least basic communication skills, you are functioning at a deficit. It’s that simple.
But think about the last time you attended a leadership webinar or took a course on communication. Just about every aspect of leadership rises and falls on the leader’s ability to communicate, and yet we don’t invest in that kind of training.
And there is a particular kind of communication that is especially weak in many organizations – something I call “internal marketing.” There are many businesses that market to the public well. They run successful ad campaigns and have impressive revenue, but their employees are unhappy and teams are fractured. There isn’t buy-in from the c-suite down to the custodial staff, and that is a huge problem.
I’m convinced that you can be successful in business without being an excellent communicator, but I know that when staff are happy, feel like they know what is going on, and what their role in the mission that your profits will reflect it.
In my opinion, the first audience of a leader is their staff.
Here are three reasons.
Stories Compell Us
Lots has been written about the power of stories in marketing.
“Invite your customer into the story.”
“Play the guide to your customer.”
“Paint a picture of climatic success for those who engage with your brand.”
It’s all true!
But what if we treated our employees in the same way?
What if we invited our employees into the epic story that our company is writing. Imagine that!
Everyone wakes up feeling like the hero in their own story and to the degree to which a heroic calling aligns with the corporate mission, is the degree to which your employees will engage.
What if you saw yourself as a guide helping your employees find meaning and success in life?
Image that! If you cared about the well-being of your staff, more than the bottom line. Let’s have a moment of honestly… if you care about the well-being of your staff, your revenue will increase.
I think it’s simple math.
When someone feels cared for, they care for others!
When someone feels neglected, they neglect others.
Finally, what if you regularly painted a picture of success for your employees? What you told your staff that unless they feel successful, the company isn’t successful? What if you linked arms with your staff and shared the glory for the big wins?
Everyone sees themselves as a hero in a story every single day. If a leader can communicate a compelling mission to their heroic staff, just watch what would happen.
Listening is Part of Communication
Do you know what happens when you launch a product without talking to potential customers? Well it might be a huge hit, but you are gambling against what might be a huge disaster.
No, everyone knows that before you launch a new product or service, you do research. For goodness sake, I don’t even write blogs like this without making sure there is an audience first. I listen carefully to the pain points of my friends and colleagues and then offer a response.
Great leaders are great communicators because they don’t just listen to their customers, but to their employees as well. There are so many advantages to this kind of leadership that it’s almost condescending to write it down.
For example, listening to employees allows the employer to see a perspective that he or she couldn’t possibly have! That is the WHOLE premise of shows such as Undercover Boss where bosses of huge organizations go undercover among the commoners! It’s very enlightening when they face the common frustrations and hear the dreams of the people who literally make them money.
Did you know that the Sony Playstation was invented by an employee at Sony, Ken Kutaragi. He saw the potential in video games while watching his daughter play her Nintendo Entertainment System, but at the time Sony saw video games as a fad. When Nintendo needed a sound card for a new console, Katuragi worked in secret to build it for them, which almost cost him his job at Sony. In the end his foresight forged an ill-fated partnership between Sony and Nintendo and which resulted to the development of the Sony Playstation.
Great leaders understand that communication requires equal parts speaking and listening.
Expectations are Created Through Good Communication
The final reason that the best leaders are great communicators is that great leaders understand the vital importance of expectations.
Few things are quite as frustrating to an employee as having to guess at what their boss wants. Under-communicated expectations create a moving target which leads to some staff over-extending themselves in unhealthy ways, while other staff play to the lowest acceptable previous standard.
The truth is that good and fair leaders always set expectations for their staff that are simultaneously fair and challenging. For most people being chronically under-challenged will lead to deep dissatisfaction, but being consistently stretched beyond our capacity will lead to burn out.
It is the leaders job to find the sweet spot for each member of their team so that there is just enough pressure that everyone keeps growing, but not so much pressure that they crumple under the weight.
This type of leader can only succeed if they know how to communicate those expectations! And it doesn’t work to pass on the blame to the employee who misunderstands an expectation; a good leader will always consider whether they communicated effectively before punishing an employee for getting it wrong.
What are You Going to do About It?
I hope you can see why I’m so convinced that the best leaders are great communicators.
But now you need to do something about it. You need to challenge yourself to become a better leader by becoming a better communicator.
Normally, I offer a 60-second task that helps implement what I just challenged you with, but today that task is to do one of two things, either sign up for the webinar I have planned for October 28, or purchase the replay of that webinar. Both can be done at www.thomvandycke.com/how-good-leaders-communicate.
I have worked as a communicator in some capacity for my entire career and consistently have a great response when I teach or vision cast. That doesn’t mean I’ve alway lead well, but when I have been able to combine my communication abilities with leadership, I have seen success in the lives of those who work for me.
So join us on the 28th or go ahead and get the replay! Either way, a piece of your continued success as a leader demands a greater attention to your communication skills!
