Good Communication - Why is it so important?

Throughout my career I've seen some variation of good communication skills listed on virtually every leadership job posting that I pursued. You’ve seen it too - Interpersonal Skills, Ability to Communicate, Good Verbal Skills, etc. The list goes on and on. So the folks who write job descriptions and desired skills and abilities clearly understand how important this is, right? Yet how many of us get frustrated by bosses or direct reports that keep us in the dark? Okay, put your hands down, it’s a lot of us. Why is this?

“What we got here, is failure to communicate” - Warden in Cool Hand Luke

I don’t think many people would say they don’t know the definition of communication. It’s talking, signaling, writing, etc. to another person(s) to convey a message or get a point across. So why are so many of us bothered by what we consider to be poor communications? It’s all about perception and vantage point. Sometimes managers and leaders at the top make assumptions. It could be they think everybody already knows something. Or they count on mid-level managers to push down messaging they received. Poor assumptions can wreak havoc on morale and productivity at any organization. So how does a leader fix this?

Assume Nothing

Not every messaging point has to come from the top down. In fact, sometimes it’s much better to empower local leaders with information to share locally. If the troops feel like their direct supervisors have the answers then that can be a powerful building block of trust and acceptance. But if the message is big enough or important enough, they want to hear it from you. No, they need to hear it from you. It’s okay to discuss with your leadership team first and get some other takes and suggestions. And let someone edit if you’re writing it yourself. Just do it.

This is a big topic. More to come down the road.