Communication and leadership
Many of the problems that occur in a organisation are the direct result
of people failing to communicate. Faulty communication causes the most problems. It leads to confusion and can cause a good
plan to fail. "Communication is the exchange and flow of information and ideas from one person to another." (Price, 2004,
p.89) It involves a sender transmitting an idea to a receiver. Effective communication occurs only
if the receiver understands the exact information or idea that the sender intended to transmit.
Inspirational and powerful communication
In order to have excellent communication skills a good leader must be credible. It all begins with
the speaking and writing of messages that have credibility this has long been recongnised as being a powerful element in the
He/ she also should use persuasive package of influence tactics. This little package is a mental framework
about influencing others. A good communicater must also adapt the message to the listeners and motivations. If the message
is written in complex english then the listener will loose interest in it and so the message will loose its credibility and
the communication will fail between the people involved, this can have fatal consequences.
Sell the group his/her ideas is also essential in the communication process. Making sure that everyone
knows that if those ideas are accepted that everyone will benefit from it is very important.
Use heavy impact and emotive words. Certain words can have a powerful meaning when bringing a message
across by using sincerely and naturally these words show that there is a self confident person standing in front
of them. These special words can raise a persons ability or potential.
Use data to verify conclusions . It is always recommended that a good leader uses data to support
it's argument this can be done by collecting infromation from credible sources.
Minimise language errors, junk words and volalised pauses this can be done by using powerful words
that make the leader confident and it also makes it seem that he/she has leadership qualities.
Write clear memos and reports including a front loaded message. According to many reports good leaders
write more effective reports then their less performing counterparts.
It is also very important that a good leader uses a power oriented linguistic style. A few elements
make up this factor "linguistic style involves such aspects as amount of directness, pacing and pausing, word choice and the
use of such devices such as jokes, questions and apologies". (Dubrin, Daglish & Miller, 2006, p.371)
In order to become a good leader it is really important that he/she posseses the skill of nonverbal
communication. Nonverbal communication is important because "leadership involves emotion which words alone cannot communicate
convincingly".(Dubring, Daglish & Miller, 2006, p.374)
A big piece of communication is being transmitted through nonverbal communication. There are a few
tips that are give to you below in how to act when transmitting nonverbal communication:
- Stand straight
- Point toes outward?
- Speak at moderate pace
- Smile frequently
- Maintain eye contact
- Gesture openly
It also should be taken into consideration that a good leader should dress neatly, he/she should also
make good use of time and also be culture specific.