Communicate!

Leadership is an Art
- Max DePree 

In most vital organizations, there is a common bond of interdependence, mutual interest, interlocking contributions, and simple joy. Part of the art of leadership is to see that this common bond is maintained and strengthened, a task certainly requiring good communication. Just as any relationship requires honest and open communication to stay healthy, so the relationships within corporations improve when information is shared accurately and freely.

The best way to communicate the basis of a corporation’s or institution’s common bonds and values is through behavior. Communication through behavior happens all the time. With large organizations spread out all over the world, we must have additional ways to communicate besides behavior, especially to communicate crucial and fragile information to widespread groups of people.

What is good communication? What does it accomplish? It is a prerequisite for teaching and learning. It is the way people can bridge the gaps formed by a growing company, stay in touch, build trust, ask for help, monitor performance, and share their vision. Communication clarifies the vision of participative ownership as a way of building relationships within and without the corporation.

Good communication is not simply sending and receiving. Nor is good communication simply a mechanical exchange of data. No matter how good the communication, if no one listens all is lost. The best communication forces you to listen.

At the root, communication and one of its forms, language, are commitments to a convention, a culture. Dishonest or careless communication tells us as much about the people involved as it does about anything else. Communication is an ethical question. Good communication means a respect for individuals.

The real challenge is to make good communication a handy and well-used tool. Then you are likely to pick it up and use it without thinking.

Everybody is more likely to use familiar and trusted tools. Among a leader’s most trusted and familiar tools are communication skills. Whether or not we use them well is another question…skillful communication comes with obligations.

A number of obligations go along with good communication. We must understand that access to pertinent information is essential to getting a job done. The right to know is basic. Moreover, it is better to err on the side of sharing too much information than risk leaving someone in the dark. Information is power, but it is pointless power if hoarded. Power must be shared for an organization or a relationship to work.

Everyone has a right to, and an obligation for, simplicity and clarity in communication. We owe each other truth and courtesy, though truth is sometimes a real constraint, and courtesy inconvenient. But make no mistake – these are the qualities that allow communication to educate and liberate us.

We are obligated to practice the art of scrutiny. The art of scrutiny has to do with several things: a respect for the English language, an acknowledgement that muddy language usually means muddy thinking and that our audience may need something special from us. The art of scrutiny will uncover what I call “third class mail,” missives without meaning. Junk mail serves no more purpose in the corporate setting than it does in our homes.

If we think of good communication as a tool and remember these obligations, we can avail ourselves of a way to expand our work and our lives. Communication performs two functions, described by two “action-prone” words: educate and liberate.

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