Courageous Leadership Communication

Courageous leadership

communication ARTICLE BY Natalie

I

t was management consultant, Tom Peters, who said that there’s no such thing as a great leader who communicates poorly and I couldn’t agree more.

Communication doesn’t just lie at the heart of great leadership; it’s the lifeblood running through any organisation. Communication makes or breaks organisational change, employee engagement and getting that well-crafted strategy off a piece of paper and into action. But, despite communication’s importance and inherent familiarity with us all, it takes particular skill and courage to communicate with employees clearly, passionately and sensitively each and every day!

Before we look more closely at leadership communication and the role that courage plays, it’s worth taking a step back and thinking momentarily about courage itself.

History shows that courage ranks people morally. In fact, Aristotle recognised courage as a cardinal virtue – a golden mean. Alongside prudence and justice, he named it as a habit of the soul. Aristotle

Benjamin

considered that, to be truly brave, one must have fears and the ability to recognise them with ease through deep self-awareness, a well-trodden concept in leadership commentary.

It doesn’t take a deep dive into the literature to recognise how much emotion that courage and its quest evoke and that’s not surprising when you look to its linguistic roots. The word courage comes from Latin ‘cor’ which literally means heart. There are always multiple definitions in any tale of courage but fear and risk are always the central characters. I would argue, therefore, that courage doesn’t just lie at the heart of leadership; it’s the backbone to impactful communication.

This article aims to link some of the thinking about courage explicitly to communication and specifically to leadership communication in organisations. Surprisingly, courage appears largely unexplored in the communication discipline. So, firstly, what is courageous leadership communication?

In Lane4’s experience of working with senior leaders, HR professionals

and internal communications practitioners over the last sixteen years, we’ve noticed six consistent themes requiring courageous communication.

1. Ownership of the message It is inevitable that leaders will, at some stage, deliver something that they don’t like or haven’t created.

It won’t always be easy to really ‘own’ that message and to deliver it with authenticity to others.

2. Giving tough feedback Giving tough feedback often takes courage. Many of us will have an impulse to tell people what they want to hear because it may evoke fewer or more favourable reactions. But courage is not about not being scared. It’s being scared and still doing it anyway.

Courageous communicators don’t allow their actions to be influenced by fears of reaction or disappointment.

3. Sharing bold decisions There’s a reason that leadership is not always easy. At the crux of

it lies making tough, bold and often unpopular decisions that people won’t always like. This is synonymous with courageous communication.

4. Against preferences Going against your natural personality traits can take courage.

For example, a natural introvert might find standing up in front of a group difficult. Everybody’s looking at them. They’re visible and vulnerable to employees’ comments and views which can often evoke fear. But introversion is a preference, not an excuse when it comes to communicating courageously.

5. R eally listening Standing up and speaking takes courage but so does sitting down, really listening and helping people to make sense of organisational messages. It’s one thing perfecting a presentation, it’s another to open the floor up for questions, giving people a voice and really meaning it. What if they ask you something you don’t like or, worse still, to which you don’t know the answer?

M.A.D. – Message, Audience, Delivery I’ve written previously about the full spectrum of communication approaches available to leaders and, critically, the often overlooked informal and everyday conversations that can really influence organisational change1. I’ve also suggested that operating in your ‘safe’ communication forum (an email, for example, rather than getting out among employees to have real conversations) is a preference or an act of convenience rather than an excuse when you’re

a leader. It certainly takes courage to operate outside your preference but that’s no excuse. It should be a non-negotiable requirement of all leaders, particularly at the most senior level, to operate outside their communication comfort zones.

As important as the delivery mechanism of any piece of leadership communication is, truly great leadership communication is about more than powerful delivery.

Two key things must happen before – working out your message and understanding the needs of your audience. In fact, I often say that it’s M.A.D. to think about where you’ll tell your story before you think about what your story is and who needs to hear what from it.

Crafting a compelling message was the first thing I learnt at journalism school and it didn’t stop there. It was drilled into us by some of the most respected news journalists in the industry – who, what, why, when, where and how.

In fast paced-news journalism the message serves primarily to inform.

The newsworthy element is if it’s the first time something’s happened, if it’s had the biggest impact or if it has the potential to affect many people’s lives. But, in my transition from news journalism to business communication, it didn’t take long to appreciate that leadership communication or a leadership message isn’t news reporting.

In fact, in many ways, it’s far more complex. It’s not there just to tell people about issues and what they need to do (inform). It’s there to get people involved by getting their input (involve), capture people’s imagination (ignite) and invite participation (invite)2. No small feat then.

1 – Contact Natalie.benjamin@lane4.co.uk for further details.

2 – Baldoni, J. (2003), Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders, McGraw-Hill, New York.

So, if we think broadly about why leaders may need to be courageous (tough message, against preferences, fear of feedback) then it’s important to think closely about what makes for an effective message. As hard as leaders must focus on how they want to be when they stand up in front of people, they can’t afford to forget the message. An effective message is free from ambiguity. Its intent is clear. And, let’s not confuse this message with its content.

A leader’s message is the whole reason for communicating. It’s the 30 second take away. If they had to strip everything out of a half an hour team meeting except one sentence, it’s what would remain. It’s the opening line of an email rather than the closing line. An effective message takes preparation, even for the most experienced and skilled leaders.

This is even more important when it’s a tough or seemingly complicated message requiring courage. Thinking about the message, asking trusted and expert views (including peers, Internal Communications and HR) and gathering feedback are all vital preparation points.

Crafting an effective message - Why am I speaking?

- What do I want people to do, think, feel?

- If it’s a tough message, how might they react?

- What does the audience want to hear?

- What is the audience afraid to hear?

- What can your communications do to create unity and engage?

Talking Tough:

Top Tips for Tough Talking

tougher messages. Being honest is more difficult than it sounds but leaders have to make conscious and courageous decisions to support transparency and create a culture of candour in their teams and throughout the organisation.

Their positions as chief role models for candour should not be underestimated.

3. Practice having tough conversations Many of us have an impulse to tell because, as necessary as honesty people what they want to hear, often is, inadvertent damage happens convincing ourselves that it’s better when leaders speak honestly about for them that way. But, I have seen difficult subjects without due too many leaders soften a message preparation and consideration. to make it easier for them to deliver and to avoid a difficult reaction.

4. Set information free. Absolute Courageous communicators deliver transparency is neither possible tough messages despite discomfort, nor desirable in organisations. often finding that once they develop a People know and understand reputation for straight talk people will this. Too often, however, it’s easier return the favour and trust is built. to not share than make tough decisions about what can be

shared and the impact it may have.

1. Think about verbal and non-verbal Silence is not a strategy, however, communication and its impact on and deciding what information message effectiveness. Arriving late is withheld sits at the heart of to a meeting can seem relatively courageous communication. mundane but alignment between actions and words, known as Leadership communication is behavioural integrity, helps to build complex, requiring both courage trust. Do you or your leaders say and thought to deliver messages they care and then vanish for days? that engage employees in the Is there an open door policy to direction of travel of an organisation. discuss change but closed doors Without effective communication, throughout the business? Do you leadership severs its connection with or your leaders say information the people who make organisations will be shared next Monday perform. Communication drives and deliver it on Friday with no engagement and, it’s through explanation? These things matter. engagement, that organisations People are perceptive to, and critical maximise the potential of their of, any mismatch between words most valuable assets – their people. and actions.

2. L eaders are responsible for creating conditions for other people to be courageous, including meaningful opportunities to make sense of

Adrian Moorhouse, Managing Director and Co-founder, Lane4

How I prepare to give difficult messages Delivering tough messages can strike fear into the hearts of even the most experienced CEO. Getting instant reactions to your words and seeing the immediate impact on the faces that gaze back at you can make for uncomfortable conditions. However, in a senior leadership role, the need to deliver tough messages is inevitable and our own insecurities shouldn’t get in the way.

When faced with difficult communication, like any other pressurised situation, I find that preparation is key.

As well as being clear about the message I want to give, my expectations of the audience and how I want to deliver the message, I spend time getting into the right frame of mind. It’s natural to sometimes question ourselves but I find that drawing on four key resources helps me shake off the doubts: 1. I remind myself of past successes I’ve done this well before, so I can do it again.

2.

I think about people who are good at delivering difficult messages I’ve experienced this done really well and seen the positive impact it can have. What were they doing and what can I bring to my own performance?

3. I listen to the positive voices I listen to people telling me that I can do this and make sure I’m telling myself the same thing.

4. I get myself in the right mental and physical state I take deep breaths, clear my mind of unhelpful thoughts and use the adrenaline to my advantage.

These four steps strengthen my belief that I can deliver the message to the best of my ability, remaining true to myself and giving the audience the respect that they deserve.