Effective communication is a significant factor in engagement. Taking time to ensure leadership has an open line of communication with your employees can improve morale, engagement, and help drive organizational change.
Leadership communication is the backbone of team success. Without it, team goals and valuable information that helps reach them would be lost. Taking the extra time to work on your leadership communication skills will improve the relationship you have with your team, which should be your number one priority as a leader.
A great leader not only does the right things, but also says the right things and demonstrates in their behavior what they wish to see reflected in their employees.
How?
Be Present
Spend some time face-to-face with employees and other members of the company, visit offices, call centers, visit stores and other locations. It shows people that you’re approachable and that you care about them. The more visible you are, the better you’ll be able to lead.
Be transparent
Transparent leaders strive to practice what they preach, set crystal-clear expectations, and communicate effectively with every member of their team. When you lead with transparency, you set a standard for the rest of the company to live by. The importance of transparency in leadership becomes more apparent as it fosters a workplace culture of open communication and accountable behavior for both employees and leaders.
Be authentic
Authenticity is the key to being an engaging leader. Leadership communication is about providing your team with the information they need to do their job and contribute to the company’s success. This can still be done with a personal touch. Don’t get stuck communicating like a robot programmed to strictly speak in industry terms and corporate lingo. Let your character and personal values show through the message you construct and the way you present it.
Be a good listener
A new study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology finds that listening carefully and attentively increases the level of humility in any conversation, resulting in a positive feedback loop of increased humility and better listening.
Be the energy you want to see
The researchers found that leaders with positive relational energy consistently produce more engaged workforces, lower employee turnover and increased feelings of employee wellbeing. They also found that there was a higher concentration of such leaders at high performing companies as opposed to average-performing companies. Innovation, teamwork, financial performance and team cohesion all improved when led by positive energizers.
Be humble
Humble people have a host of qualities that actually make them better, more effective leaders — like a willingness to admit (and embrace!) their weaknesses and ask for help when they need it.