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Whatever kind of leader you want to be, in whatever sphere you want to lead, if you can't communicate, then I don't think you're gonna survive.
If you think you can get away with bad communication and still be a great leader, then please get in touch. It doesn't mean you never make mistakes in your communication, but if you are consistently bad, whether to the few or to the many, I'm not convinced people will want to keep following you.
Most problems in our leadership will come from poor communication. Stuff we should have said, and stuff we should not have said.
So, here are 10 ways for us to improve the way we communicate or at the veery least, to think about it differently.
The first 5 were shared by Ben Tarbuck during the latest Future Leaders webinar:
1. Communication is community - create a sense of togetherness and find that place of agreement
2. A question adds more value than your answer - best speakers help us to explore something and leave us asking questions only the Holy Spirit can help us to answer
3. Your authority comes from your story - this is not power and authority, but about how you tell your story
4. People listen with the way they think, not with their ears - anticipate a person's reaction to what you are saying
5. Ssshhh...say less please - silence is awkward but in communication it is golden, it provides moments for your listeners to reflect on what you've said. And the adage 'less is more' is true
6. Communication is not just about speaking, it's about creating understanding - it is a two-way process, it is as much about sending as it is about receiving. What you're saying may be really clear to you, but do you listeners understand
7. Be an active listener - reflect the content and mirror the body language, it will show you are present in the communication process
8. Work on your people skills - ultimately communication is about people, where they are coming from and what's going on in their world
9. Get feedback - have a heart to learn. Ask someone you trust 'how do you think I am as a communicator?' Listen, without defending yourself. It can be brutal but really beneficial
10. Don't talk about something which isn't true for your own life - talking about something to people which is not true to you. Don't be a 'do as I say' kind of communicator more than a 'do as I do' one.
Finally, in all your communicating follow the 4 P's below:
Pray more
Pursue Jesus daily
Prepare more - read more, listen more, thinking it through more
Practice, practice, practice
How's your communication and where do you need to focus for improvement?
Great post, lots of interesting points made. Definitely something to think about.
Great post! Some really great points on communication. Thanks for sharing!
I am interested in the beginning idea though, that to be a great leader you must be a great communicator. Moses was a bad communicator - the bible says he suffered with a speech impediment, to the extent that Aaron was appointed to speak for him. He was an incredible leader. To be a great on-stage leader, I agree that good communication is vital. To be a leader in life, is communication still key? Genuinely curious.