Communicating Like a Leader

This is an excerpt taken from The Presence Principle: Embodying Executive Presence to Lead with Impact by Dr. Alexa Chilcutt with permission from the authors and publisher.

Inform—Why It Matters   

Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway states that honing your communication skills can increase your net worth by 50%, adding that “A relatively modest improvement can make a major difference in your future earning power, as well as in many other aspects of your life.” Communication is a core competency for professional advancement, leadership effectiveness, and executive presence. It is a consistent factor in both initial interactions and evaluations over time.

Why communication matters:

• Executives – 85% say “clear and frequent communication from leadership” is the most critical factor in organizational resilience and employee trust.
• Recruiters – 89% say bad hires typically lack soft skills, with communication cited as the most important.
• Onsite workers – 43% lost trust in leadership due to poor communication.

Communication is a key characteristic of executive presence, affecting initial interactions and evaluations over time. A leader who communicates well connects with others, inspires action, and enhances personal perceptions of competence and expertise.

Communicating well is not a skill that comes naturally. You may have taken a communication course in communication, but the motivation to pass the class is a world apart from the perspective you now have as a professional and leader. Today, your need to influence and engage with others productively allows you to understand the impact communication has on relationships and goal accomplishment.

In the 2019 book Engineered to Speak, top engineers and technical professionals from across the world were asked about the connection between communication and professional advancement. Leaders from NASA, Deutsche Bank, Mercedes-Benz, and applied science industries recalled how their ability to communicate was a key factor in their advancement. It wasn’t technical expertise alone that propelled them into top leadership positions, but an ability to communicate ideas in a clear and compelling manner to a variety of audiences.

There are thousands of articles on leadership communication, but it boils down to three Cs of powerful communication:

• Clear: Clearly communicate what you need from others, why it matters, and what you need them to do with the information.
• Concise: You can lose someone’s attention in less than six seconds! Conciseness is about getting to the heart of the message quickly and effectively.
• Compelling: Why does it matter now and why does it matter to them? It’s not about why the information is important to you. It’s about the timely nature of the information and its potential impact on the receiver. Tell them why they should care.

Every communication interaction is an opportunity to influence. Whether by email, phone call, virtual meeting, one-on-one conversation, or larger meeting or presentation, the ability to articulate messages in a clear, convincing, and engaging manner is a hallmark of a leader with executive presence. At the end of this chapter, you will learn how to craft a leadership advocacy pitch. This tool prepares you to advocate for yourself by sharing stories of leadership experiences, achievements, and strengths. The challenge is to communicate a compelling narrative in one minute or less, putting the lessons of this chapter to use.

Equip—Skills or Behaviors That Enhance the Area in Focus  

The goals of communication seem simple, but communication is complex because people’s backgrounds, industry experience, subject matter expertise, motivations, and primed emotions vary.

Goals of Communication   

There are three goals of communication:

• Create shared meaning.
• Express understanding.
• Convey value and respect.

Creating shared meaning is dependent on message construction. You, as the writer or speaker, are attempting to convey a message that is easily understood by the receiver both in terms of content and intention. This has to do with word choice and message structure.

Barriers to creating shared meaning include differing levels of institutional knowledge, subject matter expertise, language or cultural differences, and emotional responses to the topic or sender. Creating shared meaning begins with understanding your audience and meeting them where they are.

The second goal is to express understanding, focusing on the meaning behind the message. First, we confirm the reception of the content, “What I hear you saying is that last week a team member dropped the ball and made it impossible to turn the project in on time.” Then, we express understanding beyond the words, “It sounds like you are extremely frustrated!” Being able to paraphrase content, as you’ve understood it, allows the other to clarify if needed. Expressing what you perceive as the emotion behind the message allows for interpersonal alignment.

The third goal is to convey value and respect. If someone does not feel valued, they are not receptive to the message. This involves word choice, tone or voice, body language, respect for the other’s time, and choice of delivery channel. When thinking about your choice of channel for delivery, should the message be an email or would it be better received as a call or face-to-face interaction? The context of the situation will determine the most appropriate channel for reception and desired outcome.

There are a variety of channel options. Face-to-face and virtual communication are the richest channels as they allow the most sensory input. We see one another, hear the various aspects of voice, read facial display or body language, while interacting in real-time to provide feedback or ask questions.

Phone calls are second richest channel. We rely heavily on cues taken from someone’s tone of voice, volume, pitch, pace, vocal variety, pauses and even silence. Up to 90% of a message’s meaning over the phone is taken from perceived auditory indicators.

Flatter channels include emails, texts, and letters. In fact, leaders should be highly aware of how they craft written messages. Think of a time when you opened an email and wondered about the tone in which it was written? Readers are prone to read tone and intent into an email or text based on a previous interaction with the sender or a pre-programmed response to the topic.

What do you do with an email, that if printed would be two pages long? How did opening that email make you feel? Did you read it immediately or close it thinking you might come back to it later? Did you feel your time was valued and respected by the individual that crafted the message?

Communication that conveys high levels of executive presence is strategic. It is clear and compelling and values the relationship and the other’s time.

Richer channels, like face-to-face or phone calls, are best when trying to build relationships or where there is a potential for misunderstanding or conflict. Flatter channels like emails, text, and letters should be used for the simple transference of information. We can attempt to enrich written communication with an emoji to indicate emotion, but if you are concerned about how the message will be received, opt for richer channels.

If larger amounts of information need to be shared, consider reaching out with a phone call or quick meeting first to set the stage for why the information is important followed up by an email with the information that can be referred to in greater detail.

How can you create more effective messages and meaningful interactions? The key is to plan ahead. Before any important conversation or written communication, think strategically about three things: the communication opportunity, your audience, and your delivery method. This advance preparation positions you to be a more effective leader and communicator.