Leadership communication is a sophisticated and dynamic process that contributes to influencing employee’s attitudes, beliefs, behaviours, and feelings. Leaders set the tone and the culture for communication in their structured environments. They spend 80% of their time communicating through several media channels such as email, text, phone, social media and face-to-face. Effective leadership communication is key to sense-making in organisations. It is how leaders construct the organisational vision into a comprehensible map to create a shared reality. Time, uncertainty and ambiguity play a major role in the sense-making process. Individuals make meaning by drawing from their past experiences, therefore, leaders are required to continuously redefine situations, shift paradigms and test their employee’s underlying assumptions. Transformational leaders often use information-rich face-to-face channels to communicate with their teams to inspire, energise, direct, and motivate them. They communicate openly and critically understand the motivation behind their words. They anticipate interruptions and interferences through audience analysis and then develop a communication strategy that controls the rhetorical situation and facilitate the effective transmission of the intended message. Individuals understand meaning in a context, therefore, it is very important to frame the content into a context in order for the other person to understand. There is a positive relationship between leadership styles and employee proactive behaviour. Leaders who demonstrate authenticity, empathy, and transparency in their communication efforts can promote trust, increase employee engagement and enhance strategic alignment that can positively drive the organisational performance. Leaders who fulfill their communication roles by being visible and providing opportunities for a two-way dialogue can achieve higher results by providing support and recognising achievements. This co-creative communication shifts the focus from a top-down approach to a bottom-up exchange of information.
To promote better dialogue, leaders can:
• Plan their message in advance.
• Display confidence.
• Understand the fundamentals of their message.
• Listen empathetically.
• Use stories and visuals to help clarify meaning and articulate a vision.
• Welcome suggestions and feedback.
Interpersonal communication competence is essential for effective interpretation, management, and expression of emotions. These skills can be improved through practice and constructive feedback that builds awareness.
