Leadership communication skills are important not only for leaders but for their teams as well. It's imperative in both giving details on what you want to achieve and motivating your members on how to attain it.
Brent Gleeson, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Internet Marketing Inc. (IMI), wrote an article for Forbes about ways to improve one's leadership communication skills. As a Navy SEAL combat veteran, he revealed the three things that they need to do to be effective operators: Move, Shoot and Communicate.
According to Gleeson, communication is of utmost importance. He added that it is vital that leaders understand that their position is a privilege.
Moreover, communication is so much more than the words said. It is also about engaging your listener's emotions. Gleeson shared five tips on how we can improve our leadership communication skills.
First, he advised that leaders need to be present. Engage with your audience regardless of what you are talking about. Whether it's a casual chat with a colleague or a client call with team members, you need to be actively present in the moment.
Another effective leadership communication skill is to ask the right questions. This will usually result to productive and intelligent communication between you and your team.
Third, Gleeson urged leaders to speak less and listen more. Tech Republic offered the same advice when it wrote about putting yourself in your recipient's shoes to make sure that you use the right language to express your message.
Fourth, know your emotional intelligence and work on it. The former Navy SEAL combatant explained that incorporating emotional intelligence is not "softer-side leadership." Be self-aware, disciplined and empathetic on yourself and towards your team.
Fifth, choose to be calm and positive. "Calm is contagious. And so is panic," he wrote. Gleeson added that effective leadership communication is less about the words we say but more on body language, tone and delivery.
