Do you really want to improve your communication skills? Here are the 10 essential communication skills for leaders who really want to make a positive difference around them.
Depending on your personality, experience and desire to improve, the following different skills can be a challenge to integrate. Select the ones where you receive the most improvement feedback from your peers, collaborators or superiors.
Otherwise, choose the skills where you think improvement will make a real difference to your teams.
**The order below does not represent priorities. These communication essentials are all important! It’s up to you to determine your priorities.
Here are the 10 essential communication skills of a leader
#1 Encourage listening
The greatest communication skill is listening. When I listen to a person, I don’t need to rephrase to be polite, to think about what I’m going to say, to give my opinion – even in my head, while the other person is speaking.
I just listen. A complete presence. Simply.
The focus is on understanding, not preparing a response.
Here’s how to recognize a good listener: they listen to understand, not to respond. She remains focused on others and not on herself
You’re going to say, “Yes, but I’m not focused on myself when I want to help the person by giving them an answer.”
My answer to this fictitious question is, “OK, what is the person’s need?”
Because in my experience, people rarely speak up to be told what to do.
Most of the time, people are looking for validation, listening, exchange.
So, is it a need to exchange, to be validated, to ventilate? Or to have your opinion?
#2 Consider emotions
Developing the essentials of your communication skills also means learning to better manage emotions.
Emotionally charged communication usually receives an emotional charge in return.
And not always the one we want.
I can express myself with joy about a situation and be received with coldness. I can communicate my frustration in anger and receive the same. In other words, taking emotions into account in your communication means first of all giving emotions time to calm down and choosing who to share them with.
If these are your emotions to be calmed down, it is better to wait for the right time before communicating and follow the steps in this article.
If you have to deal with an emotional situation, the emotional charge must also decrease before you can continue a positive discussion. There is a very effective way in the process of managing emotions: to name what is happening and connect with the person.
Like what:
- “You must be really mad for telling him what you said!”
- “You must be really sad to share this with me!”
Managing emotions is a key skill for everyone, and even more so for leaders who manage their emotions AND those of others. Discover the self-training on managing emotions and be equipped for life!
#3 Ask open-ended questions
An open-ended question is not inductive and cannot be answered with a yes or no.
The classic case is an employee who comes to seek validation for a solution to a problem. The temptation is great to simply answer. Also, you are the expert and this person comes to you. At the same time, if you want to create more autonomy in your team, you may have to adopt a different management posture. This is another topic covered in this article.
But to test, rather than answering directly, try: “So that I don’t repeat to you what you’ve already thought or tried, tell me, what’s your idea to date?”
#4 Give feedback quickly
We should always give feedback to those around us. Be careful, feedback is not unsolicited advice such as: “I think you…” » 😊
Feedback is used to reinforce or redirect a behaviour. It must be precise and enlightening.
Examples:
- Thank you for the quality of your work, it made the difference for our client!
- I noticed that you were 2 times late to the morning sync meeting this week, what’s going on?
The interactive quizzes page of this site includes two quizzes for how to give AND receive feedback. Click here to visit it!
#5 Adapt your communication style
The easiest way to adapt your communication style to the other? Listen to how the person expresses themselves! If a person usually doesn’t give you details, they don’t need them. If a person usually gets straight to the point, do the same! If a person is always cheerful and uses a lot of qualifiers, welcome them and do the same if you want.
Remember : People generally express themselves in accordance with their communication style. To interact with them well, express yourself as they do!
If you need more concrete information to complete this list of essential communication skills, I invite you to use the 4 communication styles. Take a moment to learn them, it will make a world of difference for you and for others! They are described in this article and are explained in more detail in this self-study.
#6 Prepare for important conversations
For a difficult conversation, for impactful feedback, to set limits, to announce a change… For all these important communications, be prepared.
Take your time.
Essential communication skills all include this notion: taking your time.
In communication, going too fast rarely gives the expected results!
#7 Adjust according to the channel and context
Some people forget the context and the communication channel. For example, taking into account the hybrid way of working, several communication tools have appeared, but have not been governed. In particular: is a “Teams” urgent? Is a text message on my cell phone more urgent than a “Slack”? Do we really need a meeting to be informed about this topic, or could an asynchronous video have met the need? (or a summary on our shared collaboration space). What types of conversations should take place in person versus remotely? In what format?
The leader’s communication skills must adapt according to the channel and the context.
#8 Be transparent
Authenticity and transparency are part of the leader’s skills, but are very much linked to communication. It has already been the norm to use information as power. An example of this would be a manager who gives information to some people rather than others.
Without thinking about power games, with the reality of remote work, information does not always flow as smoothly as it once did when everyone was in the office. Those who are in the office can have easier access to information.
First, people who work remotely need to accept this. Second, organizations need to find new mechanisms to share information.
The younger generations have a low tolerance for the lack of transparency. So, in addition to communicating to everyone, you also have to be honest in your communication.
If you don’t know, you don’t know, period. It must be said. You have to know how to be courageous, vulnerable.
This is a complete paradigm shift for some people!
#9 Foster communication between people
It’s a great display of decentralized leadership to connect people together. Especially in the hybrid age. As a leader, do your time management a favor: create autonomy and ask people to reach out to other people.
By dint of protecting others or wanting to centralize information, you waste your time, opportunities to create engagement and a certain productivity!
#10 Be available
To be able to listen, prepare your communications, give feedback, etc., you need to have the time! Communication takes some time. I invite you here to see how much time you would save for adjusting and managing “fires” if you had more time to communicate well.
Being available means giving yourself time to prepare, offering time to your team to listen to them and to exchange.
Conclusion on Essential Communication Skills for Leaders
An underlying element of the different points is empathy. The more we understand each other, the better we communicate. The more time you take, the more you build relationships of trust. The more trusting relationships you have, the easier it is to adjust in case of problems.
Today’s leader is constructive and transparent. He shows courage and he dares!
So, what adjustment point do you want to put to the test?