Leader as communicator

A couple of months ago, I was asked to speak at the University of Chicago for the Booth Leaders Group (the leadership group for their business school). Specifically, I talked about the leader as communicator and the role that communication plays in leadership. One of the discussions we had was that the leader doesn’t leave communication gaps; if it is relevant, it is communicated.

Several years ago, I worked with a woman, “Annie,” who consistently left people hanging. When the person would express frustration over not getting an answer or response, Annie would say, “Well, I know that I’m going to get to that next Tuesday so why should they care?” The problem is that Annie was the only person who knew her intent. Critical rule: when people feel like they are in the dark, they tend to assume negative intent.

What was the result for Annie? People didn’t trust her, they tried to go around her, and, whenever possible, they avoided her. This meant that she missed out on important information within her organization, and she missed out on important opportunities to strengthen relationships with those around her. It is very difficult to build a relationship with someone who you can’t communicate with!

As Jim Kouzes, a noted leadership expert, often says: leadership is relationships. How have you experienced this to be true?