First, who is a leader? A leader can accept an official role or title that indicates they are driving the direction of a project or a collection of people. A leader can be a person who steps up and assumes responsibility because they feel passionate about a project or group and want to see it through for the best outcome.
For our purpose, in this article, a leader has an official role and, in their job description or responsibilities, has direct reports whom they oversee.
An Individualized Approach to Communication
Next, how you build leadership communication skills is naturally affected by who you are. People are individuals. Therefore, there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution; everybody has had their own experiences and can find themselves strong in some areas and weak in other communication areas. A combination of strengths and weaknesses is particularly true because of the breadth of communication available in the workplace, including calls, texts, emails, interoffice chains, body language, and remote and in-person meetings. It’s not easy to find a leader who excels in the full array of communication tools available to them. Therefore, each leader’s personalized or individual approach to learning better communication is optimal.
Other influences in determining where to start building a leader’s communication skills include how the leader came into a position of authority, their generational environment, and their comfort level with soft skills.
In today’s workplace, promotions to leadership positions may be based on merit or specific skills. However, a person eligible for leadership may have soft skills or interpersonal skills that are not very strong. Additionally, they may not have anticipated the promotion because they weren’t actively seeking it. (According to Nulab, approximately 59% of new managers in the U.S. were offered leadership positions without actively pursuing them.) The promotion may come as a surprise and bring much anxiety.
The new leader may not feel comfortable with conversation in general unless they are reactive — responding rather than initiating. This situation could indicate that an investment in the support of an attentive mentor or advisor, coach, or a combination of individual mentoring combined with communication skills coursework would be beneficial.
With support from a mentor or coach, new leaders can gain the practical guidance they need to succeed — something coursework alone often lacks and leadership books can’t always offer. Even when a promotion into leadership is desired, many professionals may not realize just how critical communication skills are until they step into the role. In fact, one survey of over 1,000 full-time U.S. employees not currently in management found that only 38% were interested in becoming a people manager at their current company.
Generationally, the best mix of tools and resources to learn how to be a better communicator may differ because of years of life experience and what was available during formative years before joining the workforce and after.
For instance, a chief financial officer of one of the largest advertising agencies confided to me, “It used to be assumed that part of your job as a leader was to groom and train the people who reported to you. Your compensation and job security depended upon it. You were a mentor, role model and motivator. That’s no longer an assumption. I’d say it’s an exception. Everybody is too busy and being appraised in so many ways; unfortunately, leadership development is not one of them.”
Before getting into more specifics about generational communication, some managers are fantastic communicators, and new leaders can learn a lot directly from their role-modeling. Some bosses are invested in training their direct reports in communication skills and other facets of leadership; however, many these days, as the chief financial officer commented, can’t spare the time. Having a boss you like and respect, and who can directly train you, is optimal.
Generational Considerations for Effective Communication
Younger leaders brought up during and after the development of the smartphone are very comfortable with their phones and technology yet have become dependent on communicating through screens and with texting language. This tech dependence leaves them awkward at best and uncomfortable at the other end of the spectrum with in-person conversations, emails, phone conversations, reading body language and making eye contact. All these practices will take time to learn and the training for emotional intelligence in the workplace has been greatly lacking.
Willingness and patience are key to whether younger leaders will put the time necessary into developing stronger communication skills. Incentives to learn might be helpful with younger professionals. Finding the right match for a mentor, advisor or coach would be crucial for listening and learning. Courses with role-playing, even if with online avatars (e.g., Mursion, Syntheisa, Attensi, etc.), could also be beneficial because using “tech gaming” for teaching comes more naturally to them.
Leaders who have not grown up with smartphones often need to practice or learn patience and adaptability with their younger tech-dependent reports. Understanding and respecting their preferred communication methods, such as texting and group chats, can lead to more timely and effective exchanges. A coach, mentorship from young professional advisors and an introduction to online role-playing could be helpful in understanding differences between generations and, therefore, how to connect better.
No matter the leader and team member history, social events that include leaders and teams help encourage trust because they put the individual in a position to see the individual as a person, not a role, which can break down barriers and foster better communication.
A good or great leader’s communication toolbox is a roomy one. They must be adept at listening, not simply hearing but processing what they hear and see; recognizing the people who report to them as individuals with unique skills, habits, lifestyles, likes/dislikes (and managing up as well); feel at ease asking questions, including challenging, detailed ones which not only indicate they’re paying attention to a direct report but also to that report’s work or lack of, and also holding people accountable not only for their work but their professionalism — calling them out when necessary and praising them whenever possible.
Sometimes, a leader takes pains to be a proactive communicator but can forget that they need to make time and space for their direct reports on an unscheduled basis. At those times, they have to be ready to respond to questions with thoughtful answers and admit, rather than be defensive of the things they do not know or can’t professionally answer due to circumstances beyond their control (e.g., office politics).
Conclusion
In summary, people are individuals, as are their communication skills, whether they are leaders or not. We can all work on better communication throughout our lives, mainly because our world has gotten busier and more complicated and involves many ways to communicate in a work environment. We’re all going to make mistakes. The point is to keep trying, practicing and being open to feedback.
Sometimes, the same message put the same way to the same audience will be misconstrued; other times, it will be seen as straightforward and acceptable. Things happen in a moment; moods change, and somebody will miss a communication or not hear or see it. In any circumstance, respect goes a long way to improving communication and team dynamics.
