Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders by Baldoni - Essay Example

Running Head: Final Book Report Final Book Report of 'Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders' of the or College Professor: Course Abstract The paper is a report of the book 'Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders' that concentrates on the relationship between the leadership qualities of management in success of an organization. The aspects like motivation, relationship, attaining personal and organizational goals, disciplinary actins mentioned in the book are discussed according to the need of organizational development. Topic: How do communication between leadership and followers (staff) helps organization to perform well Introduction The important aspect of a leader is the ability to communicate. There are different types of communication. Writing, giving speech and communicating through organizational structure are important in communication. According to Gerald R. Ford good communication can play healing effect in war as well as in an organization. He quotes the meeting of General Ulysses S. Grant and General Robert E. Lee along with the meeting of Joshua Chamberlain and Lee. In both the days, the victors healed the wounds of vanquished by treating them cordially, which an important trait of leadership. Another important aspect regarding leadership that is useful in organizational development is to develop, sustain and deliver. The above three points help to form a cycle in any organization and effective leaders develop, deliver and sustain with the help of their regular communications and the book 'Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders' emphasizes on the above aspect. Baldoni John (2003) states that he incorporated in his book that the failure of many CEOs was due to lack of communication but not due to lack of vision, ambition and execution. John states that lack of communication leads to evil, dysfunctional board, fearing the boss and dangerous culture. On the other hand communication skills are capable of promoting Vision, Pragmatism, consensus building, charisma and trustworthiness. Hence, the communication can act as a catalyst for the success of organizational set up and to remove the evils that lead to failure. Hence, to develop personal credibility, communication skills are important to leaders, managers as well as the subordinate employees. The company should create an atmosphere that develops rapport between employees of all cadres so that they can express their views and lead to success. Leadership and Communications In an organization the leadership communications emerge from a leadership action communicated from the view point of the leader. The communication should decide the response of the staff in hierarchy and leads the way the execution of the operations within the company. The execution of duties due to response to the communication depends on the bond between leader and followers (staff). The communication of the leader to the followers should convey the organizational vision and mission. Baldoni John quotes the successes of several political leaders who won by communicating effectively with their followers and were responsible for the success of administrations as well as organizations. The communication of leader can reinforce organizational capability by reminding the staff about the company's strengths and weaknesses. When the communication is able to create motivation, the success follows for the company through creative hard work of the people and John quotes the success of Katherine Graham in communicating with her staff and creating a world class organization. Hence, in the above context, the communication can be used to create motivation in the staff and to make them effectively. As a result the company can be competitive. However, the above communication technique works well, when the company recruits talented people, who can understand the messages as well as motivation. In achieving above targets the important aspects Baldoni John quotes are assessing audience (followers or staff in this context) and dealing with hostility. The author gives an example of a failure of an executive unable to make audience hear him indicates that the mood and intentions of our followers and staff is important to make them listen to us. Hence as long as the leader keeps them in good mood, that much chance exists from the side of staff and followers in listening to him. Hence after assessing the mood of staff or followers, Baldoni's book indicates that leader should deal with hostility in a way it turns favorable to management. Baldoni quotes the experience of George Washington while convincing the aggrieved officers and opines that small humorous acts reflecting the present situation can win over the followers or staff's hostility. Baldoni states through Washington episode that to win over the hostility the acts and messages of courage mixed with leadership are necessary. In addition to courage perseverance is an important quality of any leadership to win over the hearts of the staff and middle management. To keep them in good mood, their basic needs and emotional necessities and status in the society should be maintained in the society. Then they can be helpful for the management in hard times. In other words, Baldoni (2003) conveys the message that the leadership or the top management of the organization should meet the expectations of the staff and the followers. The role of Relation in Making Communication a Part of Organizational Success After meeting the expectations of the staff and the followers (may be stakeholders), Baldoni insists on developing a relationship between leadership and the staff or followers. He insists that determining the objection, acknowledging that and empathizing with the staff and creating an open door for compromise is important in relationship. This leads to appointment of communication planner in the organization as the structuring the presentation according to audience expectations is necessary. Hence along with delivery, the assessing of the priorities of the staff is important to win over them and to develop a relation. Another important aspect that Baldoni indirectly conveys is that the leadership should hire efficient midgets to convert them into stalwarts to develop a relationship with them. Majority of midgets who grow with the company have relationship with the company when compared to stalwarts the company hires. Strategy in Communications Baldoni points out the incidents the leadership may face while contacting their staff or followers. The way the leaders walk, their gestures will make an impression on the employees and their mannerisms should facilitate the rapport between staff and leadership when the message is delivered. The author emphasizes the importance of dialogue after the gestures and is crucial in winning over them by developing a relationship. Baldoni quotes Jack Welch, erstwhile CEO of GE, who emphasized on focus, execution and people in success of the organization and as a result he paved the way for modern CEOs. The maintenance of relationship between leader and the staff results in attaining corporate as well as personal goals of the leadership. Attaining Goals The next stage is commitment of the leader that uses all the leverage created by the aspects discussed till now. Baldoni talks about the goals of individuals as well as the goals of organization. Hence, the leadership should concentrate on personal goals of their staff to make them attain the goals of an organization. In this context, the author indicates that the alignment between personal and organizational goals is necessary. That means, the organizational goal achievement should help in achieving personal goals of the staff also and that may result in motivating the staff by helping them attaining their goals when they are successful in attaining the goals of the company. So the reader can get the message that conveying the strengths and weaknesses of the staff cordially and helping them to overcome their weaknesses as well as rewarding their strengths is part of the commitment of the leadership to the organization and the staff. Baldoni stresses on recognizing the achievement of the staff to express the commitment. As part of the recognizing achievements the leadership should help them to bring the strengths out to achieve for the sake of company. As part of the above activities disciplinary measures like increasing and decreasing perks according to performance and rewarding the remarkable achievements should be a part of the strategy that expresses the commitment of the leadership towards staff and organization. Conclusion The above report concludes that communications play an important role in success of an individual leader as well as an organization. Relationship as well as delivery is important in winning over the staff and stakeholders. In addition to that the disciplinary measures imparted on the staff, which are followed by the leadership will motivate staff. Motivation will be an important tool for the leaders before establishing the relationship with the staff. To instill motivation, breaking of ice between staff and the leadership is important and after motivation developing relationship and expressing commitment through discipline need emphasis. After that, the help of the leadership in attaining the goals of staff, when they achieve the goals of company is important as well as disciplinary measures that take action, when the performance is not up to the mark. References: Baldoni, John. (2003). Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders. Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Companies. Read More