Leadership communication is powerful. What a leader says can unite, inspire and clarify. Or, just the opposite – it can divide, anger and confuse. We’ve all seen how a single email or tweet from a leader has an enormous ripple effect. Research also proves that the way corporate leaders communicate can directly impact their company’s bottom line. Leaders spend up to 80 percent of their workday communicating and effective leadership communication improves employee engagement and boosts sales. When done poorly, however, it can cost billions in the form of employee turnover, litigation costs, lower shareholder returns, and more.
80% of a leader’s workday is spent communicating
In fact, according to the Quantum Leadership Group, poor communication trickles down through organizations and can cost large companies up to a whopping $9.3 billion. With that kind of impact on the bottom line, skillful leadership communication makes sense (and cents!).
But the responsibility of good communication should extend to everyone in an organization, not just those at the top. Leadership Expert John C. Maxwell contends: “Everyone is a leader, because everyone influences someone.” Here are five tips that anyone, at any level, can bank on for better communications.
For leaders, communication isn’t part of the job—it is the job. Read more on effective leadership communication strategies in Effective Leadership Hinges on Boundary-Spanning Communication.