10 Communication Secrets of Great Leaders

10 Communication Secrets of
Great Leaders

It is simply impossible to become a great leader
without being a great communicator. The key
to becoming a skillful communicator is rarely
found in what has been taught in the world.

It is the ability to develop a keen external
awareness that separates the truly great
communicators from those who muddle through
their interactions with others. Examine the
world’s greatest leaders and you’ll find them all
to be exceptional communicators. They might
talk about their ideas, but they do so in a way
which also speaks to your emotions and your
aspirations. They realize if their message doesn’t
take deep root with the audience then it likely
won’t be understood, much less championed.
I don’t believe it comes as any great surprise
that most leaders spend the overwhelming
majority of their time each day in some type of
an interpersonal situation. I also don’t believe it
comes as a great shock that a large number of
organizational problems occur as a result of poor
communications. It is precisely this paradox that
underscores the need for leaders to focus on
becoming great communicators. Effective
communication is an essential component of
professional success whether it is at the
interpersonal, inter-group, intra-group,
organizational, or external level. While developing
an understanding of great communication skills
is easier than one might think, being able to
appropriately draw upon said skills when the
chips are down is not always as easy as one
might hope for.
Skills acquired and/or knowledge gained are only
valuable to the extent they can be practically
applied when called for. The number one thing
great communicators have in common is they
possess a heightened sense of situational and
contextual awareness. The best communicators
are great listeners and astute in their
observations. Great communicators are skilled at
reading a person/group by sensing the moods,
dynamics, attitudes, values and concerns of
those being communicated with.

1. Speak not with a forked tongue: In most
cases, people just won’t open up to those they
don’t trust. When people have a sense a leader
is worthy of their trust they will invest time and
take risks in ways they never would if their
leader had a reputation built upon poor
character or lack of integrity. While you can
attempt to demand trust, it rarely works. Trust
is best created by earning it with right acting,
thinking, and decisioning. Keep in mind people
will forgive many things where trust exists, but
will rarely forgive anything where trust is
absent.
2. Get personal: Stop issuing corporate
communications and begin having organizational
conversations – think dialog not monologue.
Here’s the thing – the more personal and
engaging the conversation is the more effective
it will be. There is great truth in the following
axiom: “people don’t care how much you know
until they know how much you care.” Classic
business theory tells leaders to stay at arms
length. I say stay at arms length if you want to
remain in the dark receiving only highly sanitized
versions of the truth. If you don’t develop
meaningful relationships with people you’ll never
know what’s really on their mind until it’s too
late to do anything about it.
BY MWORIA ANGEL
BAPRM 42642