Often
in organizations, people get promoted to leadership roles and I have seen many
people struggle with internal communications in their new role. Especially at
times when an organization undergoes rapid changes, leaders fail to communicate
well within their own organization.
Recently,
the topic of leadership communication came up a discussion point and here is
what I had to say about it and I decided write it.
Essentially
in uncertain times, leaders will have to step up their internal communications.
This is more true when the organization is rapidly growing or when it is being acquired or when there is a
major reorganization happening. Over the course of discussion, there were eight
points that were captured and is worth sharing.
1. Be the first to
communicate!
2. Be visible to all
3. Use modern Media
4. Tell it all - both good
and bad news
5. Be empathetic & tough
at the same time
6. Talk about reality and
immediate next steps
7. Keep everyone focused on
the goals
8.
Encourage Feedback and answer tough questions
1. Be the first to communicate!
At times of
rapid change, it is best for leaders to step-up and take a lead in all internal
communications. Leaders must be the first to communicate to their whole group.
In today’s global world, the group could be spread over multiple locations, so
it may be prudent to communicate initially over e-mail first and then follow it
up with a group meetings or town hall meetings.
2.
Be Visible to all
Leaders make a great impression by being among the
team and people. There is a saying: “Great
leaders lead from the front.” Likewise when it comes to communication,
leaders must walk and talk to people personally. If the organization is spread
across multiple locations, then leaders must travel around to rally the folks,
talk to them in person. For front line folks, it is not enough to see an e-mail
or a poster or a picture. Joining them in person make a profound impact.
Several military generals - Robert Lee, Napoleon, Patton etc. earned great
respect and could command over people due to this simple & yet effective
communication technique.
In my past organization at Open-Silicon, I had seen
few great leaders - Dr. Naveed Sharwani
and Dr. Satya Gupta (founders) would take extra effort to talk to all
departments - be it sales or marketing and R&D labs.
3.
Use Modern Media
Communication technology has changed enormously in
the last decade. So use all the latest technology to spread your message. For
example, make a video recording and share that over internal social media or Intranets,
For meetings use video conference rather than just teleconference, In addition to emails, use blogs to
communicate. Some organizations have even created mobile apps to communicate
with employees.
One good example of leadership communication is Narendra
Modi, Prime Minister of India. His use of video, radio, social media and even
holographic broadcasting of his speeches led to his election victory. If a
politician can use modern media, then all leaders in technology companies must
be able to do even better.
4. Tell it all - both good and
bad news
Too many leaders try to hide company problems from
their employees and public and opt to tell only the good news. Another mistake
leaders make is to sugar coat bad news or give a positive spin to an obvious
bad news. But all this will fail as employees can read through the message and
leaders create a bad impression for themselves.
The best strategy is to tell it all. Both good news
and bad news upfront. People are smart and will understand. Hiding bad news
will only exacerbate the situation.
5. Be empathetic & tough
at the same time
When leaders tell both bad and good news, leaders
will have to be empathetic to each individual fates and yet take the tough
actions at the same time. One of the
best example in history would be General James Longstreet’s instruction to
Major General Pickett in the Battle of Gettysburg. General Lee had ordered
Pickett’s men to attack union troops on cemetery ridge. Longstreet knew the
futility of this assault, and yet he instructed Pickett and Pettigrew to
attack. Longstreet’s commanders knew that the fatalities will be very large in
this assault and yet executed the orders.
Unlike military generals, business leaders do not
face this type of life and death situations, yet many fail in this aspect.
6. Talk about reality and
the immediate next steps
When facing bad times or good, good leaders
should describe the situation and then
talk about the steps than need to be taken.
This will help in establishing the basis for taking the necessary steps
and leader’s credibility will increase and people will follow them.
During the dotcom bubble burst in 2000, I was at
Intel and Greg Barett the CEO of Intel announced a layoff, but first he
explained the situation to everyone and then listed out the steps - which
included layoffs, and renewed focus on developing new technologies. Intel
launched “One Generation Ahead” program in that downturn and since then, AMD
has never been able to catch up.
The ability to articulate the current situation in
clear terms and then defining the next steps will energize the entire
organization and move them in the right direction.
7. Keep everyone focused on
the goals
When things are changing rapidly - say for
example the company is going through a merger or a split or getting acquired or
just being reorganized, employees tend to lose focus on the future goals. The
air of uncertainty masks and obscures the main objectives and people often
delay execution of plans or delay making decisions. Its natural instinct for
people to wait for clarity, and in the mean time the organization flounders.
Leaders must then step up their communication to
keep everyone focused on the goals and keep driving the organization towards
the goals. This will keep people busy and not get distracted & waste time.
8.
Encourage Feedback and answer tough questions
Its human nature to cringe at tough questions.
Leaders are often no different. Many leaders don’t like tough questions. Such
leaders insist on people asking questions ahead of time before the major
meeting or try to deflect the question on someone else or say “I will answer
this later”.
This tactic does not work. Instead walk in the
front and answer the tough questions in front of everyone. If the question
points towards the leadership mistakes, be open to accept past mistakes and
apologize and/or talk about corrective steps.
Closing
Thoughts
Leadership is a learned skill, and leadership
communication is no different. One needs to just walk out of the comfort zone
and walk in the front to lead. This would mean being straightforward and
dealing with tough situations. Leaders are first judged on how they deal with
tough situations and are measured on the success. If a leader cannot handle
tough situation, then there will no success. And the best way to deal with
tough situation is to communicate and communicate well with all stake holders.
For successful leadership, communication skills is just as important as
decision making skills.
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