Every leader is faced with a lot of adversity and any skills that might help out in making the best out of situation might come in handy. In this article we will focus on communication skills for any leader or executive to improve that side of the job. 

The ability to convey ideas, inspire teams, and build strong relationships between employees is crucial to the success and growth of the company or any business. Effective communication is very important, for example when we look at sports and teams who have won three-peats in NA, it was all made possible by the use of effective communication between the teammates, managers and the entire locker room. It is proven that over a few years, that ability stayed strong and allowed these teams to be so successful. Let’s dive straight into the most useful tips all gathered into one simple list.

Active Listening 

Many people confuse active listening with hearing the words that are coming from the mouth of other people and the difference couldn’t be more significant. By just hearing what others are saying you are staying in the conversation, but you are closed off on any enormous potential ideas. Active listening is a basic skill that allows executives to gather ideas from their employees and managers, get the best feedback possible, and everyone has ideas that are worth listening to. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Try to listen actively and demonstrate empathy to others and open your mind to new and interesting ideas. Any workplace needs people who can listen to others, and ideally make notes. 

Be Clear and Concise 

Being able to communicate quickly but with detail is a hard skill to master, but the more you do it the easier it becomes. As an executive, you will find yourself quite often in situations where you will have to communicate some information to others. The better you do it the more time and money you can potentially save. If the messages are clear and concise it leaves less room for misunderstandings. All the information going out from you should be clear to understand and individual to a person on the other side. You might phrase one piece of information different to a programmer than to a graphic designer for example. The less time and words it takes the better. 

Implement Non-Verbal Communication 

Non-verbal communication is almost as important if not more than the words you are saying. You can say the exact same sentence, but change its meaning by changing your voice, your facial expressions and your body movement. It is good to always show your intentions with everything around the spoken word. By aligning verbal and non-verbal communication allows you to show confidence, decisiveness, build trust with others, and make it clear to understand. You might also find yourself on the other side of the fence and you might be in need of some executives. No matter if you are the executive yourself or an employee, non-verbal communication is important for everyone. 

Feedback and Constructive Criticism 

A key role of every executive is to lead and to do that you need to give feedback to others, praise clever ideas, and give constructive criticism to fewer inspiring ones. It is particularly important to learn how to express your intentions and put into words what you need to tell others. It is worth writing down some pointers for you not to forget the specifics while holding a conversation. It is also a good idea to always give written feedback, so the person that gets it can always double-check everything. Another great practice is to give a lot of examples while giving feedback, or something is done better elsewhere, or how things could look like. The changes made by feedback can be easily implemented at any workplace. 

Mediation and Resolving Conflict 

Being an executive often comes with a lot of human interactions, and you will have to speak with others, and the more people, the more problems and room for conflict. It is your role to resolve that conflict, or even better, prevent it. However, if you are not able to prepare in advance then conflict resolution is a basic ability that you should have. Mediation between parties can ease the blows and give needed clarification on specific issues. Make sure to stay as impartial as possible, but do not let others get over your head. Always be firm while resolving conflicts, but make sure to utilize an individual approach. Every human being is different, and someone just needs something to be explained, others just want to feel justified in their thinking. Make sure to turn a win-lose situation into a win-win situation for all people involved. 

Communication Skills: Promoting and Cultivating 

A very important part of any communication skills is the ability to teach others. All the advice should be cultivated inside your job, not only by the executives but by everyone else. It is worth training your employees in effective communication because it always gives back. As an executive you should foster the means of transparent communication, and if everyone knows how to communicate, then it allows all the people involved to save time and money for themselves and for the whole company. 

Developing Emotional Intelligence is a self-paced journey designed to understand what EQ is,why and how, as a Leader in the digital area, developing EQ is the path to a more conscious, mindful and sustainable (efficient) way of being and working. It is a training program with coaching focused on identified pain points.

Domains & competencies

Emotional Intelligence is the understanding of the interactions between Mental, Body and Soul, as a way to continue to grow and thrive.

Leadership is a naturally stressful mandate, being responsible for the fate of hundreds or even thousands of other people can take its toll.

Leaders who are emotionally intelligent foster safe environments, where employees feel comfortable to take calculated risks, suggest ideas and to voice their opinions (collaborative working culture).

They can use emotions to drive the organisation forward. Leaders often have the responsibility of effecting any necessary changes in the organisation, and if they are aware of others’ possible emotional reactions to these changes they are able to plan and prepare the most optimal ways to make them.

Furthermore, emotionally intelligent leaders do not take things personally, are able to forge ahead with plans without worrying about the impact on their egos and address situation without being fraught with emotions. Personal vendettas between leaders and employees are one of the commonest hindrances to productivity in many workplaces.

Self-awareness

Self-awareness is like a deep dive to understand the root causes of our thoughts, decision-making and behaviours, which are only consequences of a personal intricate system.

The ability to take an honest look at your life without attachment to it being right or wrong. – Debbie Ford

• Communication style
• Leadership style
• Problem solving style
• Identifying underlying beliefs & values
• Cognitive dissonance & wellness wheel

Self-management

Self-management is the taking of responsibility for one’s own behaviour and well-being.

Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still. – Chinese proverb

• Emotional self-regulation: Understanding the role and usefulness of emotions is the key of self-regulation.
• Adaptability
• Achievement orientation: Nurturing our personal needs to perform at our best.
• Positive psychology / Building resilience

Social awareness

Social awareness is the ability to comprehend and appropriately react to both broad problems of society and interpersonal struggles: accurately interpret the emotions of people with whom you interact.

The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance. – Nathaniel Branden

• Empathy
• Organizational awareness

Relationship management

It is all about our ability and willingness to impact in the way we want people: family, friends, colleague, and other stakeholders, in order to get the best out of others.

Time is not the main thing. It’s the only thing. – Miles Davis

• Influence
• Coach & Mentor Posture
• Conflict management
• Teamwork
• Inspirational leadership