If you had asked me five years ago what the number one issue most of my clients were struggling with, I would’ve told you that it was lack of clear, vivid and extremely well-communicated vision. Today however, the number one challenge is helping leaders to be more courageous in their communication. To me, there are four major things that a great leader must do to be a courageous communicator.
1. Vulnerability. Just because you’re the leader does not mean you’re supposed to have all of the answers. A courageous leader is not afraid to be vulnerable, to say that they don’t know, that they are confused, that they need help. Asking for help and being vulnerable is not a sign of weakness, it actually gives you strength beyond measure.
2. Tough Conversations. It is the role of the leader to be courageous in holding people rigorously accountable to delivering the required results and meeting the standards of the organization, without ever becoming ruthless about it. Most leaders have a very hard time engaging in a difficult discussion about lack of performance. Trust me, avoiding these sorts of awkward conversations does not do any favors at all for the employee who is struggling, they deserve to know that their performance is not where it needs to be and given clear direction about what they need to do in order to improve their results and retain their employment. This reminds me of one of my favorite Jack Welch quotes, “I never fired anybody who was surprised.”
3. Discussing the Un-discussable. Everyone knows it is a huge problem, it is the giant elephant in the middle of the room, people shift uneasily in their chairs and stare at the conference table unwilling to make eye contact or udder a single word… this is exactly when the leader must step forward and be courageous in putting the issue out on the table and leading a frank, honest and transparent conversation about what everybody is afraid to talk about. It still amazes me how often I encounter companies with very serious problems, that everyone knows are costly and significant, and yet no one is willing to step forward and put the issue on the agenda. In a culture that embraces courageous communication they run the problem and start a robust dialogue about how to deal with it and fix it… immediately.
4. Listening, even when it hurts. The last major skill of a courageous communicator is the ability to make it 100% safe for people to bring them bad news. If there is even the slightest chance that the messenger will get killed, communication of any sort of negative feedback or unhappy news will come to a complete and grinding halt. A great leader creates an atmosphere where people are not afraid to share even the worst news immediately, knowing that the focus will be on fixing the problem – not fixing blame.
In the last year I have delivered nearly 100 speeches and workshops to companies from every conceivable industry. Some had a handful of employees, some more than 100,000 employees, and I can tell you that the most common issue that all of these organizations struggle with is learning to be more open, honest, transparent and… courageous in their communications. Hopefully the list I have just provided you will help you in fostering significantly better communications within your company.
“Making the very complex…awesomely simple” is no mere catch phrase, it is truly John Spence’s mission in life. Driven by an insatiable curiosity to understand the fundamental aspects of what it takes to achieve and sustain excellence in business and life, John Spence has earned a reputation as a leading authority in the areas of Strategic Thinking, High-Performance Teams, Advanced Leadership Development, and Delivering Consistently Superior Customer Service, making him one of the most highly sought after executive educators and professional speakers in America. Find out more about John by visiting his website, checking out his book, following him on Twitter, or liking his page on Facebook.
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