The Hidden Impact of a Leader's Communication
Your position as a leader carries unspoken power. Every comment, every suggestion, every piece of feedback you offer is heard differently by your team. This episode will reveal how the "weight" of your words impacts everything from daily tasks to team morale, and why recognizing this influence is crucial for effective leadership.
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Mind Your Message: The Impact of Leadership Communication
Leadership communication isn't just about what you say, but how your words are received. For those in leadership roles, your words carry significant weight and have a profound impact on employee perception and organizational culture. It's a truth often acknowledged but rarely fully appreciated: your pronouncements, even offhand comments, are amplified.
At Revela, we believe that understanding the nuances of how your message lands is crucial for effective leadership. In a recent episode of our Leadership Hustle podcast, hosts Andrea Fredrickson and Michelle Hill talked about the powerful yet often overlooked reality of how a leader's words resonate. They explored hidden pitfalls and immense opportunities for positive influence.
The Unseen Weight of Leadership Communication
Your position amplifies your message in ways you might not always perceive. As a leader, your statements, opinions, and even casual remarks are often interpreted as directives or significant insights due to your inherent authority.
Consider a scenario Fredrickson shared: a company president directly asked a question to a group of managers, but instead of answers, he was met with silence. Fredrickson explained this was because the managers, whether they knew him personally or not, perceived his significant authority.
This perfectly illustrates how employee perception of your role directly influences their responses, sometimes in unexpected ways. People look up to leaders and want to be appreciated by them, giving more attention and weight to their words. This highlights the critical need for leadership self-awareness.
Hill emphasized this further, noting, "Just simply the title. A person of a greater authority. Those words...you still have greater authority. You can impact their future, their growth, their ability to be promoted within an organization and be heard and recognized." Your words can quite literally shape an employee's career path and their sense of self-worth within the organization.
Common Communication Pitfalls for Leaders
One of the most common traps leaders fall into is believing they can communicate in the same way they did before assuming their current role. This is particularly true for those promoted from within.
Hill touched on this, stating, "...if you've been promoted within the organization...at one point you were peers with some of the people in this room, and now you're their boss or you're their boss's boss." The dynamic shifts, and with it, the weight of your words.
Giving Opinions as Directives
Leaders often unintentionally turn casual opinions into actionable tasks for their teams. How many times have you, as a leader, offered a casual opinion, only to see it interpreted as a direct instruction?
Fredrickson offered a common scenario where a leader might casually comment about how they aren’t particularly fond of a specific color scheme. Hill immediately pointed out the unspoken implication: the leader likely doesn't intend for the comment to spark an entire re-evaluation; it's simply a personal observation, not a directive for change.
But the problem, as Hill pointed out, is that "...people will interpret that and take action." What you intended as a thought, an idea, or even a personal preference, is often perceived as a directive. Your important leadership impact means words are magnified and employees will act on perceived preferences. This can lead to wasted effort, confusion for middle managers, and ultimately, a breakdown in efficient workflow.
Venting and Negative Comments
Another significant area where leadership communication can go wrong is venting. While it's human to feel frustrated or to have opinions about colleagues or decisions, a leader's venting is never just "venting." As Hill powerfully stated, "You can't vent, you can't share those opinions because a couple things is you're sending all these messages to this other person...that could be very confusing and very misleading."
Beyond confusion, venting can actively damage relationships and trust. Hill stated, “You can actually create some friction between two areas because you've said something to this person about this person." The core issue, as Fredrickson put it, is that "...they can't unhear it. And it's because it's weighted. Because you said it. Now it must be true."
This highlights leader accountability in the ripple effect of negativity. Once heard, negative comments cannot be "unheard" and are heavily weighted. This isn't just about gossip; it's about not using appropriate channels for concerns.
Strategies for Intentional Communication
Despite our best intentions, every leader will inevitably experience moments when their message is misinterpreted or has a negative ripple effect. When this happens, there are a few things you can keep in mind and do.
Be Intentional and Clear
To avoid misinterpretations, you need to recognize the importance of intentional communication. Before speaking, consider the potential impact of words. Clearly state when something is a brainstorm, an idea, or a definitive decision. As Fredrickson advised, encourage your team to ask: "Is this a decision? Are we thinking?" This creates a culture of clarity and reduces misinterpretation.
Own Your Mistakes
If you realize a comment had a negative ripple effect, take immediate responsibility. As Hill advised, it's crucial to acknowledge your mistake and apologize. Fredrickson strongly advocates for delivering a personal, direct apology to the affected individuals or groups.
She stressed that this apology should be without justification, emphasizing that while it might not be easy, it's always the right thing to do. This approach demonstrates leader accountability and is the first step in rebuilding trust.
Develop Self-Awareness and Seek Feedback
Preventing future miscommunications requires a deeper dive into leadership self-awareness. So, you need to identify your communication blind spots. Hill suggested finding trusted individuals who can provide candid feedback: "Can you catch me? Can you call me out? Can you even redirect me or interrupt me if I'm doing it in a meeting?" This proactive approach helps to break unconscious habits and promotes continuous improvement in your leadership communication style.
Know When to Remain Silent
Sometimes, the most impactful leadership communication is no communication at all. As Fredrickson wisely advised, "...just because you have an idea doesn't mean you need to say it. So being intentional…when is it appropriate just to keep your mouth shut?"
If you've delegated a task, resist the urge to interject preferences that would derail significant work. As Hill asked, "Is it going to matter?" Only speak up if it genuinely impacts the goal or trajectory of a project.
However, if a critical element was missed due to unclear initial instructions, leader accountability demands that you own it. Fredrickson stated that you need to say, "You know what? I noticed that I did not do this…We probably…need to take a look at X and regroup and put some things together and [I] apologize for missing a step.” This approach acknowledges your role in the oversight while still moving forward constructively.
Prioritize Positive Reinforcement
While much of the discussion focused on avoiding the negative impact of words, it's equally important to leverage the positive power of leadership communication. Positive reinforcement isn't just a "nice-to-have"; it's a fundamental aspect of effective leadership.
People place more weight on negative feedback than positive. Aim for multiple positive "deposits" for every negative one. As Hill highlighted, "Every little positive thing we do is building marbles." This "marble jar" concept illustrates that every positive interaction is a deposit, while missteps are withdrawals.
Publicly praise and acknowledge effort to reinforce desired behaviors. This is crucial for shaping the employee perception of value and the right behaviors.
Leaders must stretch beyond their comfort zone to provide necessary recognition. As Fredrickson firmly asserted, "Your job is to make sure people hear the things that they're doing well, acknowledge the work, acknowledge the effort, acknowledge the good and reinforce those behaviors." Hill further emphasized this point, reminding us that "It's not about you any longer, it's about them."
Cultivating Conscious Communication for a Lasting Impact
Your words as a leader are extremely weighted and directly influence employee perception and overall leadership impact. Recognizing this power and practicing intentional communication are vital steps in effective leadership. We encourage you to seek feedback and continuously work on your self-awareness to ensure your impact of words is positive and productive, demonstrating strong leader accountability.
At Revela, we believe effective leadership communication is a cornerstone of a thriving organization. To dive deeper into mastering your message and enhancing your leadership impact, we invite you to listen to the rest of our Leadership Hustle podcast!
About the Hosts
Andrea Fredrickson
Andrea Fredrickson is a thought leader and consultant at Revela, an organization based in Omaha, Nebraska specializing in the development of leaders, culture alignment, and business strategy for private and family businesses of all sizes. Revela is one of the region's most experienced thought challengers, helping individuals and companies find their greatness. Andrea has built an amazing team by believing that fundamentally people want to be successful and become better versions of themselves.
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Andrea has degrees in education, management, and business. She is the author of Insight Unseen; How to lead with 20/20 business vision. She helps people see things differently, self-reflect, and never stop looking for ways to improve themselves on a personal and professional level. Andrea has spent more than 30 years researching and developing methods to help people communicate and lead more effectively.
When Andrea isn’t working with clients, you’ll find her spending time with her family & friends and making memories by exploring new cities.
Michelle Hill
Michelle Hill is a master facilitator and coach at Revela, an organization specializing in the development of leaders and aligning the culture of privately held and family businesses of all sizes. Revela is one of the region's most experienced thought challengers, helping individuals and companies find their greatness.
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An ambitious leader, Michelle has the natural ability to create forward momentum to build teams and get results. She inspires others to look within themselves and to challenge the status quo. She helps create high-performing environments. Michelle brings a diverse background: operations, employee development, and sales in the steel, hospitality, and consulting industries.
Outside of work, you will see her competitive side engaged in her daughter’s sports and ISU athletics. She loves life, her four-legged companions, and captures all the moments through her camera’s lens.
TRANSCRIPT
Andrea: Hi there. And welcome back to the Leadership Hustle. I'm Andrea Frederickson.
Michelle: I'm Michel Hill, and we are here to talk today about a topic for you people who are in a leadership role. And most of the people who listen to this podcast are in a leadership role. Yes. And maybe you've even heard us say the phrase words. Words matter. So nobody's going to argue with us that words matter, right? But have you thought about how weighted your words are compared to everybody else's?
Andrea: so, um, I believe and I'm assuming you believe, but we'll figure that out here. I believe that people, um, want to do and, um, be appreciated by people they look up to. Right. Yes. And because of that, when you think about people that they look up to, it could be a parent. It could be a person of authority. It could be their boss, the person they report to. It could be a person that has. Specific knowledge. But people want to, um, they give their attention to and want to be appreciated by, by those folks.
Michelle: They want to be recognized by. They want to feel appreciated.