Why it’s important to communicate as a leader to your staff

In every movie or show that has an element of war, politics or survival, there comes an inevitable powerful monologue. A rousing speech which instils a sense of pride, motivation, and courage. The music swells beneath it and you’re transported by the words of this mighty orator. Then it’s on to death, or glory, or just the end credits.

And years of seeing this has given us the impression that to communicate as a leader effectively takes the form of one perfectly constructed speech. That’s all it takes. When the outlook is bleak, or the day is won, one good speech will do the job. And, sometimes, that is true. But the reality is that communicating as a leader is vastly more complex, nuanced, and challenging.

When it comes to truly acting like a leader and communicating effectively in that capacity, you must be present, authentic, trustworthy, and know when to listen.

What does good communication look like in a leader?

To answer this question, let’s take a deeper look at those four points, to outline some leadership communication examples.

Be present

Authority comes from knowing who is in charge. Of course, there’s a level of respect to consider, but when a leader is present, you can feel it across the entire team. In a poor leader, this feeling manifests as one of surprise or fear. Because the only time they pop up is to deliver bad news or interfere. Now, this doesn’t inversely mean good leadership comes from making frequent hollow appearances. It’s about regular meaningful communication, and when the occasion arises, your workers need to know your full attention will be afforded to them.

Be authentic

What you say matters. It’s always important for a good leader to remember this. Your direction steers an entire team, or even company, and as such, every interaction carries weight and significance. And your employees will know when you’re being honest and forthright, and when you dip into a cadence that is unfamiliar. The best example of this is handling a crisis. If your staff are used to you communicating openly and calmly, suddenly dipping into corporate-speak pre-prepared speeches, will set them on edge, or worse, cause them to tune out.

Be trustworthy

Trust is a currency. It’s difficult to earn and far too easy to fritter away. Anyone you communicate with, internally or externally, needs to immediately appreciate your position as leader, and understand that you are a trustworthy individual. Not merely in small trivialities, but that your actions will mirror your words, that you are consistent, and that your openness is a thing to be admired and emulated. This also extends to accountability. In order to communicate as a leader, you must be able to explain the results of your decision-making (whether positive or negative) and have that sincerity trusted. Because without it, nothing you say will have any impact.

Know when to listen

One of the most powerful skills available to you is listening. And effective communication isn’t a one-way street. It’s being able to hear the concerns of staff, read body language, and absorb information in a helpful, constructive way. One free from pride or ego, on the understanding that your staff are trying to reach the same goals you are. Without it, you will end up floundering because your team will be incapable of relaying status updates, or signaling when things have gone awry.

Why it’s important to communicate as a leader

Put simply, without a credible source of information, an individual will create their own reality.

We’ve seen this throughout our lives. Friends, family, well-meaning individuals, all operating under the assumption they are correct or on the right course, because they do not possess the necessary information. The trick is to appreciate that no one is immune to this. You ask, why is communication important in leadership? The answer is: in order to lead.

Ok, let’s break that down. To lead a team efficiently, you have to know so much. The state of your resources, your workers’ capacity, movements within the industry, the intentions of your stakeholders – it’s a lot to juggle. And the bigger the organization, the more you need to rely on information brought to you by trusted sources. Meaning, if you are failing to communicate as a leader, you’re missing out on crucial information that will dictate how you proceed.

The benefits of acting like a leader don’t stop there though. Solid leadership, communicated well, boosts employee morale, and drives engagement. Because with everyone on the same page, you create a shared sense of clarity and direction, which allows your workers to perform at their best.

However, it’s also possible to overshare. And it’s important to know exactly what to communicate and when, so staff don’t end up bored, confused, or overwhelmed. Yes, be open and transparent, but don’t smother your team with irrelevances.

What happens if there is a lack of leadership communication in your company?

It may sound hyperbolic but without effective communication, your entire organization could crumble. Not immediately, of course. More a slow decline that sees turnover increase and competitiveness drop off, before reaching industrial obsolescence.

This happens because in lieu of a leader who can communicate their vision, agenda, and plan of action, your staff operate blindly, without the necessary information. This can continue for a time but, regardless of the industry you work in, efforts aimed in the wrong place almost always lead to busywork and output that fails to benefit the company as a whole. This compiles, and cultivates stress and employee dissatisfaction.

Inevitabily, thanks to confusion, disarray, and a lack of clear leadership, deadlines are missed, you see a breakdown in efficiency and productivity, and innovation and creativity become stifled. All of which contributes to your organization growing listless and stagnant. And, as such, is unable to adapt or handle any high-pressure situation.

But stepping away from corporate Armageddon for a moment, there’s also the daily operation of the company, which can suffer if those in charge are unable to communicate as a leader. Appropriate tone and candor are vital to making employees feel comfortable and valued. And it goes a long way to retaining staff and creating a safe, supportive environment. Which means when conflict rears its head, you can handle it expertly and avoid further escalation.

5 tips to effectively communicate as a leader to your staff

A lot of what has been described can feel like inaccessible natural leadership. Something that is inherent in your being, or you simply don’t have it. Thankfully, this isn’t the case. While these attributes and skills may come more naturally to some, they are not exclusive to a specific type of individual. They can be learned and applied throughout all kinds of industries and organizations.

With this in mind, we have assembled a list of five tips to help you communicate as a leader with more impact and presence, to achieve better results.

Speak plainly and clearly

When talking to people, at any level, on almost any occasion, you want your direction, instructions, and guidance to be understood. So be understood. Don’t hide behind platitudes and sound bites, be clear, direct, and simplify your language.

If every interaction feels like a speech, it creates an air of prepared insincerity and destroys any hope of a level playing field. This is because it immediately sets a tone. It implies that others need to mirror your way of speaking, which can leave people feeling insecure or unprepared.

Saying what you mean in an approachable fashion is the first true step to establishing a precedent. It indicates to others that you respect them, dissolves hierarchical intimidation, and forges a path to getting the results and outcomes you actually want.

Ask the right questions

In addition to listening intently, it’s important for good leaders to learn to ask good questions. The right type of questioning can ignite thought and debate, and truly powerful questions can inspire and unlock all manner of potential within people.

Learn to formulate questions that will motivate your audience to think, and then feel comfortable responding. This shouldn’t feel like a chore or a homework assignment, it comes from a place of genuine invested intrigue. You want to unlock these viewpoints and perspectives that will elevate your own ideas. So, go about it with a passion that the person you’re talking with will feel confident responding to.

A word of caution though: there’s a distinct difference between prompting and invasive probing. If you continually bombard someone with questions, the entire exchange can feel like an inquisition. As if you already know the answer and are simply mining an individual for a particular response. It’s not a test, it’s a meeting of minds.

Read the room

Learning to communicate as a leader is more than giving speeches. There’s nothing wrong with preparedness but on stage at an event, in-person in the office, or over a video call, you sometimes need to change it up. So, make sure you can adapt what’s being said to guarantee your audience understands and goes away with the intended message.

The key to this is to employ a semi-constant state of observation. That may sound quite robotic and analytical, but we do it naturally all the time. Learning to read non-verbal signals to intuit engagement levels is vital to being understood.

Case in point, if you’re in the middle of a presentation and you’ve lost the room, do you carry on and simply hope for the best? Or do you stop, address the individuals present, and pivot to win them back? This doesn’t solely apply to a large group of people, it can be true for virtual conversations, and a variety of recurring meetings.

Encourage feedback

A good way to foster trust is to ask for honest feedback. But more than simply asking for feedback, you have to be able to accept it well. This means taking everything on board, no matter how mundane. The immediate response could be a reflection of what your employees want to say but can’t. This is where you would need to process their initial feedback, illustrate you have listened, and then encourage further exploration or expansion. From here, you can gain greater clarity, and really get to the crux of how your workers are feeling.

Additionally, sometimes no feedback is a red flag that something has been misunderstood or miscommunicated. It’s the prime indicator that you’ve either been so comprehensive in what you are setting out, that there’s no room for input. Alternatively, it could indicate that your efforts to communicate as a leader still need refining, because what you’re trying to convey is not being received.

Pair your words with actions

We assume effective and impressive leaders know exactly what to say and when. But even the best speakers cannot lead a team successfully if those words inevitably ring hollow. And while it may be cliché, the age-old statement holds true: it’s not enough to simply talk the talk, you have to walk the walk.

Your words must mean something otherwise they lose all weight and merit. And if your intention is to inspire others to follow, or to motivate them to act, you must back your words up with action. Because doing so creates credibility, instils loyalty, and cements trust.

Check out the UNLEASH America 2023 roster to hear from inspiring industry leaders.