In this post, I want to go back to Kevin Eikenberry and his book Remarkable Leadership. Specifically, I want to focus on one brief statement that I feel represents a key element of effective leadership, “Remarkable leaders communicate with others in the way that is best for the other person.”
When speaking to groups or audiences we all have to craft the message that will impact the majority, but when speaking to individuals the effectiveness of our communication leans heavily on our ability to customize that message to impact the individual. We are all different, with different needs, wants, aspirations and triggers. Understanding the nuances of the individual enables us to focus our messages … to make them more meaningful and therefore more readily responded to.
Steve Coppola, in the The Banff Centre’s summer 2006 Leadership Compass, in an article titled “The Art of Communication: Channeling Your Inner Artist,” puts this in the following way, “Like artists who draw on their capacity for self-awareness, creative expression, imagining, and empathy, leaders can also access these innate but often dormant competencies to create meaningful connections …” Truly, effective communication is all about making “meaningful connections,” about touching someone with your words in such a way that they are inspired to believe.
As well, and as Coppola shares with us, communication is a form of art and much more than just words to be spoken or written. And as art, communication deserves time and attention in its formation. I’m not speaking of creating masterpieces with every communication, but putting the time and energy into every communication that will make it maximally effective. That said, I never hit the send button immediately upon crafting a message … I reread and edit almost every communication before pushing it out. And I look for much more than spelling and punctuation; I try to read it as the recipient will read it, and then massage it as needed to have the desired impact.
Coppola goes on to say that “Artists create from deep internal motives. Likewise, individuals in organizations bring intrinsic motivation to their work as well. Rather than trying to manufacture motivation, an artful leader inspires exceptional work by calling upon others’ innate desire to make a difference. This inspiration inevitably fires people’s imaginations which in turn triggers innovation.” General George S. Patton put this a slightly different way, “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”
Leadership is not about command and control, it is about inspiring participation. And to be able to inspire participation one must be able to communicate convincingly … with clarity, believability, and with passion. And to do this effectively, one must speak to their audience … be it a room full of people or a single individual.
Author Cross-references:
Steve Coppola: None
Kevin Eikenberry: Also see posts 9/15/09, 11/20/09
General George S. Patton: None
Key Word Cross-references:
Authentic/Believable/Genuine: Also see posts 1/2/09, 1/28/09, 2/18/09, 2/25/09, 3/16/09, 10/26/09, 12/5/09, 2/24/10, 5/26/10
Benevolent/Caring/Compassionate/Empathetic: Also see posts 12/16/09, 1/16/09, 2/18/09, 11/11/09, 12/5/09
Communication/Effective Speaking: Also see posts 12/12/08, 3/4/09, 5/17/09, 6/26/09, 7/7/09, 9/9/09, 11/20/09, 12/5/09, 1/29/10, 2/24/10
Creativity/Innovation: Also see posts 5/17/09, 7/7/09, 1/6/10, 3/12/10
Relating: Also see post 2/18/09
Tags: Leadership
on Leadership ... by Steven Davis, CAE 
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