Communication is the leader’s best ally
Managers’ work is complicated, and they are often criticized for not being perfect in one or other area of their mission: they are asked to have a vision, to know how to organize their department with a view to results, to know how to recruit the right talent, to coach them every day to help them progress, to settle internal conflicts, to ensure an effective work atmosphere. These are all roles that require special skills that are far from their core expertise.
But what can you do to become a leader, someone you follow, someone you listen to, someone you know will take you where you wouldn’t go on your own? Leaders are often charismatic, envied and mysterious. What if well-mastered communication were the perfect instrument enabling managers to become inspiring leaders?
The quote from Winston Churchill “The difference between mere management and leadership is communication” shows how expert communicators can help.
Communicating is convincing
Let’s look back for a moment at the etymology of the word communication. To communicate is to gather together, to share ideas. Unfortunately, communication is often considered as the art of talking, of telling nice stories to mesmerize an audience.
On the contrary, well-mastered communication is about engaging your audience through the exchange of points of view, while pointing the way to a motivating future
Seen in this light, communication becomes the manager’s indispensable ally in becoming a leader. Managers are naturally exposed to speaking out in front of their teams, shareholders, the public and the media. Indeed, a manager has a duty to speak, if only to convey his action plan to the team he leads. He should also do so to present this plan and its results to his shareholders or managers, and if his business has an influence on society, some external stakeholders, such as the media or NGOs, will also be interested.
Finally, to be followed, the leader must be convincing. He can only draw people along in his trail if he succeeds in communicating a flame, a desire to work and build together with him. To do this, he needs to have good oratory skills, but also the ability to argue and enthuse those who listen to him.
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Becoming a leader who is heard and followed
Rather than making it a compulsory exercise, often considered unpleasant but necessary, how can we turn communication into an ally that will help us progress in our role as manager and become a leader who is listened to, followed and inspired?
Let’s start by saying that we’re all enriched by the exchange. Our arguments, positions and objectives can evolve favorably thanks to the exchange of points of view with our audiences. To communicate well, it’s essential to be open to the ideas of others, and to listen to them. So let’s start by studying the different opinions and expectations that surround us among the audiences we need to convince to follow our strategy.
The first step in successful communication is therefore to get to know your stakeholders, your audiences, whether they are presumed adherents like our subordinates, undecided like the silent majority with no clear-cut opinion but who will weigh on the whole, or even hostile like opponents by nature or mission. And it’s ultimately with those who have a strong opinion, for or against, that you’ll build your arguments to win over the majority. So always start by writing down the essential points of your message and the opposing positions you wish to combat. Then present these points to a group of people with different opinions.
Say what you do and do what you say
Who hasn’t noticed that expressing ideas out loud, or writing them down, clarifies them gradually. In fact, it’s often through the reaction of your interlocutors, their looks, their questions, the quality of their attention, that you understand the clarity of your arguments. That’s why leaders’ communication is often simple. It can be summed up in a simple few points that are easy to remember. It’s adapted to all audiences, and is designed to be memorable and inspiring, using images and figures.
If clarity is a quality of leadership communication, transparency is also essential. “Say what you do and do what you say” is a well-known but rarely applied adage. However, the leader will always be scrutinized, particularly by those who doubted him from the outset, and who will be quick to point out the contradictions or failures of his actions. That’s why leaders need to communicate humbly and regularly. Your mistakes will be accepted, if you acknowledge them, as long as the general direction announced is followed and if you regularly communicate the corrective actions brought to your plan.
In a nutshell, considering communication as an indispensable and enriching instrument, taking pleasure in engaging in exchange to convince and motivate, remaining humble and sharing successes and failures – these are the essential rules that make communication the best ally of managers and transform them into inspiring leaders.
SKILLS DirCom’s experience of working with managers from major groups or market influencers such as the PRI, can help you to approach the exercise of communication with the effectiveness of the leaders.
