Breaking Down the Role of Communication in Effective Leadership: Challenges and Solutions
- Zoran Vidovic
- Oct 9, 2024
- 7 min read
Updated: Nov 12, 2024
Have you ever felt like you and your leader are speaking different languages? What if I told you that's actually the case?
You would probably call me crazy, but let’s look into it from both perspectives and discover the reasons behind it.
Table of contents
- Verbal
- Non-verbal
What elements does our communication need to have?
- Key elements of a communication circle
- Withholding information and ruling by ignorance (gaslighting)
- It is the leaders’ responsibility:
- It is the employee's responsibility:
What is communication?
Marriam-Webster identifies it as: “a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior”, or simply: “exchange of information”.
Communication is the key in every relationship and human interaction, as it is the main channel for idea and concept transition and acceptance. This is the key to professional relationships, and it turns out to be the biggest obstacle to unlocking the full potential of the employees and leaders.
Why is that so?
Let’s look into types of communication first.
Types of communication?
Verbal and non-verbal communication are two basic types of communication.
Verbal communication involves verbal expression, which consists of spoken words along with pronunciation—tone of voice, volume, and speed.
It also involves written words with the “tone” of the message.
However, technology has implemented mediators and is pivoting us toward the communication channels, directing us away from oral (face to face) communication.
Non-verbal communication involves nonverbal expressions that might complement or conflict with the verbal messaging. It involves facial expressions, body posture and behavior, eye contact, social distance, touch, tools, etc.
We are all well used to emails and messaging as part of everyday communication, which makes it harder to send nonverbal communication signals without having them distorted or misunderstood.
Written communication involves letters (bold, caps, etc.) along with punctuation marks, which indicate how the written text should be read. Written communication has evolved into electronic correspondence, as opposed to traditional paper correspondence, and so has introduced a variety of emojis as a non-verbal communication aid, which also forms a type of visual communication.
So, all the above is not the cause for misunderstandings and poor communication. What is?
It is the difference in nature of verbal and non-verbal communication, with verbal being conscious and non-verbal being both conscious and unconscious and therefore more truthful and universal. This is where the communication gap widens if the non-verbal communication is not complementing the verbal communication.
Also, our actions need to be in line with the communicated messages, or the reliability and relevance of our communication will be questioned, leaving us in a category of non-trustworthy or with questionable integrity. This is then the end of two-way communication, and depending on the audience, we could be made aware of it or could be left in the belief that we are still trustworthy and relevant.
If this happens in a relationship, whether personal or professional, it is bound to disintegrate and turn south as the trust has diminished and gradually disappeared.
Let’s look at the communication channels.
What are the communication channels?
Communication channels have changed throughout history and continue to evolve. The basic communication channels would be oral (in person or over the phone) and written (on paper or electronically).
With new technology, those two communication channels have evolved.
We now have a variety of written communication channels allowing for short or long communication and visual aids to convey the message. Oral communication is also complemented by video and voice messaging, which provide the opportunity to convey messages in a more personal tone, although not necessarily directly from person to person.
Social networks incorporate all communication channels with verbal (oral and written), non-verbal, and visual communication interconnected in daily interaction.
The new communication channel is AI with its ever-evolving nature and access to the growing well of information. This one will definitely change the communication concept in the future with a blurred line between reality and fiction.
Social networks and AI are new communication channels and mediators between our thoughts and the message produced to align with perceived social expectations and trends.
Why do we communicate?
To convey the message in the intended form in an attempt to inform our audience.
To influence our audience and impose our ideas.
To communicate our emotions and connect on an emotional level, establishing relationships with our audience.
To establish collaboration with our audience.
What elements does our communication need to have?
This is crucial to understand and reveal potential obstacles in communication, especially in professional relationships.
Remember the game of “Chinese Whispers” where one person tells something to another person and another person to the next one and so on until the information is then circled back to the sender in a completely different form and probably missing all the original meaning?
We have all played those games in childhood, but it is not far from the truth, as we all perceive reality differently, and so we are all under various influences during communication.
Key elements of a communication circle:
The information sender will send the intended information as perceived by them based on their perception of reality. So, the expectation is that the receiver will receive the information in its intended form and apprehend the intended meaning.
The message is an information or group of information formulated and intended for the targeted audience by the sender.
The communications channel would be the medium chosen to communicate the intended information to the audience.
The noise is everything that might distort the intended information from reaching the audience in the intended form. This could be a misunderstanding or various influences, including personal perception and opinion on the sender.
The context is the intended meaning of the information, which should be taken into consideration when sending, receiving, and processing information.
The receiver is the audience the message is intended for with their perception of reality.
The feedback is the response from the receiver to the sender whether the information has been received as intended.
We can see that the communication circle has key elements, which all need to be aligned for the information to be received as intended. If any of the key elements are missing, we are at risk of communicating with error.
Every leader needs to be aware of the communication circle, as they are responsible for it and not necessarily the receiver. We need to understand the audience we are engaging with and the potential noise it could be influenced by, along with the context of the message.
What is effective communication?
Affective communication is conveying information to a desired audience while taking into consideration communication channels, context, and potential noise in regard to the intended message, along with the audience's perception of reality.
We need to understand our audience and their reality, as we might need to tailor our message to each audience and sometimes even to individual receivers within the intended audience group.
This means the information sent needs to be clear, concise, and tailored to provide the required information with the minimum possibility of being misunderstood or misinterpreted. It also needs to be formatted in a way that triggers positive emotions and encourages feedback to understand if it has been received as intended.
Sending information across without receiving confirmation of it being received and understood as intended is counterproductive and could result in undesired outcomes:
Confusion on both the recipient’s and the senders’ side, as the feedback has not been received. If we do not rectify this immediately, it could gradually become an obstacle to further communication, causing performance deflation.
Reservations in feedback participation as the sender is perceived as not interested in the feedback.
Ignorance on both sides of the communication channel with the tendency of labeling the other as being ignorant and even incapable of understanding the message, which might result in filtering the information in the future.
Either way, if it progresses, it will lead to animosity and a communication gap, which will reflect on the team’s performance.
Big NO NO!
Withholding information and ruling by ignorance (gaslighting) is a big red flag that should not be ignored. This approach creates toxic relationships and quickly destroys a company's culture.
Leaders should avoid falling into this pit, as it could give them a false sense of importance and power over employees, which should not be welcomed in any company.
This creates a sense of helplessness and disconnect between the employees, leadership, and the company, which could turn the best employee into an uninterested underperformer due to a lack of direction, support, appreciation, belonging, and respect.
Conclusion:
Communication is a two-way street and requires engagement from all parties involved. It is especially sensitive in working relations as there is a gap between the roles and the level of responsibilities influencing their reality.
Employees might be focused on a specific segment of the operation and overwhelmed by the perceived lack of engagement from the upper management regarding the communicated challenges.
On the other hand, upper management might be overwhelmed with the overall operational challenges and fail to communicate feedback to the operational level as an oversight.
This could trigger animosity in both cohorts, as one might feel ignored while the other feels pressured. All of this can be avoided by open communication and adequate feedback to close the communication loops and prevent energy loss on repetitive communication attempts falling on deaf ears.
It is the leaders’ responsibility:
To understand the audience and identify individuals within that audience who will require different communication approach to avoid misunderstanding and confusion.
To tailor the message for the targeted audience.
To identify the best communication channels.
To understand the potential noise and context misinterpretation.
To encourage and ask for feedback to understand if the message has been received and clarify any misunderstanding while boosting trust.
It is the employee's responsibility:
To provide feedback and ask for clarification if in doubt.
To communicate ideas and volunteer solutions.
To speak up when the culture and atmosphere are not nurturing teamwork, development, and growth.
So, let's talk!
