Leadership (Part Three: Communication)
Posted: April 28, 2016
In the last couple weeks, we’ve looked at how leaders are planners, and how leaders take action. This week, I want to talk about some other characteristics of leaders.
Good leaders know how to communicate their own personal vision. Great leaders inspire people to make that vision their own.
One of the most compelling ways we can communicate is to share one’s belief in something. An even more powerful way of communicating is by demonstrating that belief. We do this by putting what we say into practice in our own lives.
Kids growing up in families where exercise and working out is a culture, tend to be more active than kids from families that don’t. It’s the same thing with faith. If a family lives out their faith, the whole family tends to do it.
If you grow up around a culture of hunting, you’re likely to enjoy hunting yourself, and are at least familiar with the whole process. just like families that are “gear heads,” building and racing cars. Their kids typically know their way around a garage and a wrench.
Rachel Cruze says, “More is caught than taught.” This means that people often learn more from what they observe about you than from what they hear from you.
Leaders also never stop learning. They listen, evaluate and make course corrections. They’re willing to admit mistakes, and change direction when necessary. All of these things require communication.
But before any of that, a leader has to communicate that they care. I’ve heard this quote from several speakers, but it’s originally attributed to Theodore Roosevelt: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Communicate that, and you’ll be able to communicate everything else. Sometimes you don’t even need words. Remember, “It’s not just what you say, it’s what you do!”