The Point: Should you work on your communications as a leader? According to Bill Gates and John Maxwell, leadership is the ability to influence and empower others. Along with a host of other personality features, communications skills are what help leaders achieve their goals and drive their companies forward. Communications skills training for leaders are of prime importance for people that assume leadership roles in organizations. So to answer the question if you should work on your communication skills as a leader… The answer is a resounding yes!
Let’s go over a few reasons why as a leader you should work on your communication skills in a leadership development capacity:
Public Speaking
Public speaking not only exerts your influence as an authority in your industry, but it is also a great way of driving in monumental amounts of referral leads to your company (Think of it as an addition to your marketing initiatives). For many businesses, referrals are the number one driver of revenue.
So, if you are looking to grow your business (and who isn’t?), you need to work on your leadership communication skills in a leadership development area (You do practice, right?) This means that you have to work in a way that makes sense to every audience member. This also holds true for in-house communication. Clear and concise messages and instructions tell your employees what and why something needs to be done, and also how they should go about doing it.
Feedback – Both Giving and Getting
The economy isn’t good to everyone. If you haven’t already experienced it, there will come times in your business when you will have to make tough decisions in the face of uncertainty. It is tempting to hide things from your employees so that they may not feel demotivated, disengaged, or leave your business altogether.
But what greater leadership has shown us at Tip of the Spear is that the more honest you are about what the organization is going through, the more your employees trust you. (Remember the old leadership buzzword “transparency”?) This also brings about some of the best feedback from your team that can prove to be crucial for the survival of your business. This is yet another example of how leadership communication skills help companies tread rough waters.
Continuous Improvement (Constantly!)
Finally, as a leader, you will have to deliver speeches, send out emails, and write memos day in and day out. This can be overwhelming, right? Communication skills training helps you by teaching you how to convey the same message to different audiences, and teaching you to identify the most effective ways of communication that you can use as templates to streamline conversations in order to meet your busy schedule.
Summary – Communication Skills Training for Leaders is a “No Brainer!”
To sum up, whether it’s the business’ bottom-line or the quality of in-house operations, leadership communications skills are what make or break an organization. That’s why at Tip of the Spear we believe leaders should aim to polish their communication skills for leaders so they can manage their business and build rapport with all stakeholders at all levels (both internal and external the organization).