When you become a leader things change. All the hard work you put in is recognized but you are faced with brand new challenges that you have to conquer. A common mistake that appears is to think everything related to communication is the same as with when looking at the work of the manager. This is not actually the case. Ryan Grigson points out that leaders have much broader roles. They need to properly articulate the direction in which the organization heads and clarify anything that the employee needs for overall organization success. This is much easier said than done.
Communication is paramount for the success of the modern leader but so many errors appear. The following can easily lead to huge disasters that should be avoided.
Disappearing
A common mistake is being visible just to a really small percentage of the employees you manage. This happens as you find yourself spending time with the same people every single time. Most likely, many employees do not even know how you look like.
It is important to build a proper communication plan, one that will offer the highest possible visibility based on the time that is available. Do start organizing informal sessions and have a strong presence on related electronic channels, like the internal social network. Even just showing up and talking to some random staff members can be incredibly effective.
Using “CEO Language”
A very important function as a business leader is to consider the long-term outcome and build a strategy around it. As you focus on this big picture you often find yourself forgetting about the fact that most employees are overloaded with the information they receive. Because of this, sharing high-level information often leads to bad results as nothing resonates.
Messages that you send out need to be relatable, tangible and simple. Try to offer the employees just the really core information that is needed. CEO language practically refers to talking too much, in a highly diplomatic way and normally in a way that is impersonal. You want to connect with your employees. This is impossible with CEO speak.
Wrong Timing
A really tough communication challenge is to manage timing. When you wait for too long as you need to share information, employees most likely already found out. This does affect your credibility. However, if things are communicated too soon, it is still problematic. For instance, a big problem is telling employees that a reorganization will happen when you cannot properly share all the important details. This would only create anxiety.
Not Allow Others To Talk
Last but not least, there are many leaders that actually share information instead of communicating. These people plan the meetings and talk for most of the time, with only limited time allowed for other parties to be involved. Open dialogue with the top management team is something that most employees say they need from their leaders. It also helps the business grow. Basically, a good leader always listens to the staff. Make sure that the way in which you communicate actually encourages the employees to actively participate.
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