Leadership Communication
In every business or organization, you have writers, orators, and those who struggle in communicating their thoughts and ideas personally and professionally.
In my business leader coaching I find myself in the middle of these situations where a leader is either good at writing or speaking or completely deficient in one or both. My advice is to have a trusted person on the team become the communications lead for all written formats on behalf of the leader. I never advocate for having someone else speak for the company or business.
When the leader steps back from the important work of being the face of the organization, confusion begins to rise and questions begin to float throughout the workforce and community. Who is in charge? Why is someone speaking for our leader? Why is our CEO not addressing issues and representing our company? What’s going on? When the leader steps back, fear and doubt flood into the space. It’s human nature.
If you are a leader who struggles with verbal communication, public presentations, and being the face of the organization that comes with public obligations, there are steps to take to address this situation. First and foremost, embrace what you do not do well in this area and start your training to improve. Host small group opportunities with the workforce – department meetings – coffee chats – lunch breakouts – to address the team on matters of importance. A group of 10 in a room is less intimidating than 500. You get the point.
The next steps you can take is start scheduling time to attend local network gatherings, professional industry events, and conferences where you can host a breakout session. All of these are platforms for you to put yourself out there to speak. Remember the adage, practice makes perfect! Here’s what’s true; no one is perfect and you will not be either. However, embrace your imperfection because being the best leader demands not giving up in your pursuit of achieving exceptional communication.
If you would like more leadership, business, and communication advice, send me a direct message or an email at cameronmcurry@gmail.com
