Tips of Effective Communication for Leaders - Research Paper Example

Communication and Leadership The paper deals with the issues of leadership and communication in the modern organizations. It is claimed further on in this paper that it is important to balance relations between these two issues in order to reach common organizational goals. Effective models of leaders and templates of organizational communication are provided further on. The main goal of this research paper is to find correlation points between communication and leadership and improve this relation. Key words: communication, leaders, managers, employees, face-to-face communication, electronic communication, feedback. Communication and Leadership Introduction Communication is the integral part of the lives of people on the Earth. It is very important to be tactful and able to listen to others if there is a final goal to make communication effective. In the process of sharing information between two or more people a common understanding about a situation or an object occurs (Bateman & Snell, 2012, Chapter 9). Mutual understanding between the sender and the receiver of a message is the most important factor in the process of communication. Actually, people are involved in communication, because they want to reach common goals or mutual understanding. There is a need to simplify this process and make atmosphere of communication friendlier and full of trust. Within every organization there are a lot of barriers and pitfalls of communication. A real leader should be able to deal with difficulties and challenges and create a communication bridge among employees, CEOs, senior managers and managers. Leadership, management and communication A concept of leadership has been considered in different researches and studies and various models of leadership, strategies et cetera have been considered many times. Still, a challenging concept of relation between effective leadership and communication still exists. A leader in the organization is the responsible person, which can bridge a communication gap between senders and receivers and encourage trust and understanding. There is a great importance to inspire employees to share their ideas openly and exert no negative influence on people within the organizations. A way to open thinking and generation of innovative ideas is a way to success for any organization. The modern business world is distinguished by a clear differentiation between definitions of leadership and management. Prof. Joseph Ross claims that a leader in the organization is a more influential person in his relations with employees in comparison with a manager, whose relations with people are based on authority (Maccoby, 2000). Vision about the future of the company is developed by the leader and managers take control over practical embodiment of innovative ideas and changes in the organizations. The modern leadership is about transformation and change. Communication of the new ideas to employees is explained by Maccoby in the following way: “an inspiring leader influences us to change direction while an inspiring manager motivates us to work harder” (Maccoby 2000, p. 59). The most important thing to be communicated to the employees is a common goal of the organization. Managers should simplify the process of the main aim of the organizations’ to be informed on the employees. Leaders are the inspirers and generators of the new ideas and changes, while managers are facilitators and mediators of these processes (Maccoby, 2000). It is better to compare influence of the leader on the organization with the seller influencing the decision-making of the buyer: both a leader and a seller make the persons to accept their ideas and follow them. Therefore, leaders and managers play different roles in the organizations and communication integrates their creative and decision making potentials. There is no doubt that effective leadership depends not only on effective communication, but also on meditative function of management, because: “a more facilitative, nurturing, developmental and empowering function returns it to its rightful place alongside leadership” (McCrimmon, 2010). Moreover, it is possible to illustrate a process of innovations implementation by means of effective communication on the example of Ronald Reagan. He was a charismatic leader and his communicative skills made him popular for the American nation (Ritter & Henry, 1992). Sincerity and openness were two main distinctive features of this leader. He could communicate his goals clearly and with a smile. He preferred to solve the most challenging problems in an easy way and used vivid expressions in his speeches. Thus, he intentionally attracted attention of the American nation by naming their country “the shining city on the hill” and developed his speeches in a friendly and a tolerant atmosphere. Reagan positioned himself as a servant for his team. He did not show his dominance and was open and gracious to different people from different social classes. Therefore, he performed the most important function of the leader successfully: he mediated his goals clearly and inspired his team and the American nation to follow his ideas. Modern accents of effective communication Nowadays it is easier for the leaders to communicate their goals by different information and technological means (Bateman & Snell, 2012). Modern effectiveness of communication depends on respect and politeness. E-mails, IMS, social networks or online conferences and even many other means of communication are still based on the principles of face-to-face communication. A leader should be interested in the feedback otherwise the efficiency of his communication is undermined. Of course, the employees of the company should not be interested in Facebook or Twitter only, but they can use these social networks for mutual communication. Currently, leaders are interested in the option of two-way communication and online conferences. In order to inspire his employees, a leader should speak clearly and friendly; he should not obtrude his ideas on the employees, but make their innovative ideas equal for mutual understanding. Face-to-face communication involves many emotions and feelings, while electronic communication is more focused on messages communicating from a sender to a recipient. There is a need to trust the employees and not to check or take control over all their messages. In order to provide employees with two-way communication, it is very important to make the listeners understand and hear a leader. Tips of effective communication for leaders There are the following steps to be followed by leaders to perform effective leadership by means of effective communication: firstly, clarify a goal of the communication, refer to the receiver’s emotions and reactions; convince the audience of the message, identify clearly set actions; receive a message from a sender (from the audience), provide a feedback and understanding of the received message. Of course, effective communication of a leader can be challenged in case of an improperly defined purpose of communication, absence of a favorable medium for communication, ignored emotions or intimidation by either party. Still, an effective leader should be able to fix all these difficulties appropriately. In order to succeed in an effective communication and reach the common goals of the organization, the leaders should be able to polish every their word and think about their main goals over and over again. Another example of the effective communication and successful leadership is Thomas Jefferson, who managed to communicate his goals to the audience, define American and its mission without any secretary, editors or someone else. This effective and a charismatic leader depended on his power of a world only. There is a secret of an effective correlation between leadership and communication: it is necessary to be a successful communicator in order to become a successful leader. Conclusion Success of any company depends of effective communication in the organization. A charismatic and transformational leader of the company depends on his ability to communicate with subordinates, clearly set his goals and receive an effective feedback of the employees. Effective communication of a leader depends on his effective communicative skills both as a sender and as a receiver of the message. In the modern context communication in the organization depends on cooperation, trusted and respectful relations among the employees, managers and leaders. A role of a real leader means his ability to solve challenging issues, develop innovative ideas and by means of effective communication provide performance of these ideas. There is a need to study different modes of communication in the organization and implement different types of leader’s communicative skills. References Bateman, T., Snell, S. (2012). Management: Leading & Collaborating in the Competitive World. 10th edition. McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Hitt, M. A., Miller, C. C., Collela, A. (2008). Organizational Behavior. 2nd Edition. Wiley. Kotterman, J. (2006). Leadership versus Management: Whats the Difference? The Journal for Quality and Participation, 29, 43+. Maccoby, M. (2000). Understanding the Difference between Management and Leadership. Research Technology Management, 43 (1), p. 57+. McCrimmon, M. (May/June 2010). Reinventing Leadership and Management. Ivey Business Journal Online. Ritter, K., & Henry, D. (1992). Ronald Reagan: The Great Communicator. New York: Greenwood Press. Read More