Leadership & Communication: Demystifying the Steps to Success

Leadership is in the eye of the beholder (Fairhurst, 2016). And often the main criterion used to determine the quality of one’s leadership is one’s communication ability. Without adept communication skills in place, the leader is not likely to rack up too many successes, or those wins are likely to be short-lived. At its heart, leadership means to influence. Moreover, as the employee with more position power, the leader is charged with communicating on behalf of their team to argue for additional resources or remove organizational obstacles. This chapter provides leaders and employees with concrete steps to sharpen their communication skills. This chapter coaches readers on how active listening differs from simply hearing and presents the myriad benefits research shows of active listening. In addition to focusing on active listening and intentional word choice, immediacy behaviors—or nonverbal behaviors—are also presented to translate empirical data for immediate integration into the workplace. This chapter also provides readers with tangible solutions on how to navigate conflict between a leader and a member, among two or more members, and gives leaders tips for how to approach interpersonal challenges they may have with their own leader.