Communication, Leadership, And Leadership

This work is part one of an ongoing communications portfolio which will be expanded upon weekly. Barrett (2011) describes leadership communication as “the controlled, purposeful transfer of meaning...” (p. 6). The following is a self-assessment (Barrett, 2011, pp. 407-411) which will help gauge my current leadership communication abilities. Each area will be answered with either excel (master of skill) , competent (acceptable but could improve) or need to develop (needs attention).

“Developing excellent communication skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership. The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others. If a leader can't get a message across clearly and motivate others to act on it, then having a message doesn't even matter."

There are many models of leadership that exist across a range of fields (e.g. social work, education, psychology, business, etc.). The ability to transform an organization successfully requires a different set of attitudes and skills. Transformational leadership is an approach where a leader utilizes inspiration, charisma, individualized attention, and intellectual stimulation with their employees (Iachini, Cross, & Freedman, 2015, p. 651). Transformational leadership helps to clarify organizational vision, inspires employees to attain objectives, empowers employees, encourages employees to take risks, and advocates the seeking of alternative solutions to challenges in the workplace (Transformational Leadership, 2015). It allows the leader to engage and motivate each follower identify with the organization’s values and goals.

A leader must listen to its followers and vice versa. Both Gardner and Wooden in their books provide examples that both ineffective and effective communication can affect a group or organization—for better or worse. However, through positive open communication that is produced from the group can lead to positive and effective improvement (Wooden, 2005, p.198-201; Gardner,1990, p.86) for the work environment and respectability between leader and follower.

Transformational Leadership can be defined as a style of leadership in which the leader identifies the needed change, creates a vision to guide the change through influence and inspiration, and

Persons in leadership positions of any business type are subject to make important decisions. These decisions not only affect the business itself, but also the employees and customers of that business. In order to present these resolutions to everyone, it must be done so in an effective manner. Effective communication from leadership is an integral part of any business. This communication may be composed of both verbal and non-verbal forms, and without the two-way communication, between the leadership and the followership, the business or organization may fail.

Leadership is an important attribute in individuals such as managers, academic experts, and researchers. The topic of leadership continues to gain popularity and importance in almost all sectors. The way leaders in managerial positions communicate determines their effectiveness and success in achieving high levels of performance and success in their organizations. There are numerous books that provide an insight into effective leadership and communication. One of such books is by Atwater and Waldman (2012). This paper provides a summary, contextual analysis and critique of the book.

Time and time again through studies, researchers have found communication to be one of the most important skill for leadership. Several studies such as Mumford, campion and morgeson (2007) where 1000 various level of managers were tested and found that oral and written communication were one of the most important aspect of the leadership skills; moreover, maes, weldy, & icenogle (1997) studied what 354 managers identified as the most important competencies for leaders, and they identified communication skill as the most important, which included listening,

It is essential for business leaders to have excellent verbal and non-verbal communication skills, as leaders are often a symbol of a company’s integrity and this affects not only how customers perceive the company, but also impacts the thoughts and actions of lower positioned employees. For example, a leader that speaks using improper grammar, or writes correspondence with spelling errors throughout it, could project a negative image that can be harmful to a company. Customers might conclude that the leader is incompetent and they might decide that they do not wish to purchase goods from a company that hires inept leaders. Furthermore, employees might become less apt to respect an authority that appears to be uneducated, as well as employees might feel that if the leader disregards using proper communication than it is not necessary for them to use it either. Business leaders need to know when to listen, when to talk, and how to share ideas effectively. Clear and concise communication states exactly how, who, what, and when and serves to guide, direct, protect, persuade, and to inform. Communication is essential for decreasing miscommunications and for increasing productivity, motivation, and efficiency. When someone uses effective communication, he or she is more apt to have favorable results and his or her requests will become granted more often. Furthermore, communication builds goodwill. Having excellent communication skills is

1. Leadership and decision-making, involves knowing how to communicate with the all elements of an organization. This includes employees, managers, and customers. Communication is transmitting information and establishing common meanings (Denhardt, Denhardt, & Aristigueta 2013). Each element of management may require a different style of communication. Leaders must be able to adapt communication techniques based on the groups they are communicating with and decisions that affect them (Hatch & Cunliffe, 2013; Denhardt, Denhardt, & Aristigueta, 2013). Given these considerations, the purpose of this essay is to examine how communication impacts leadership and the decision-making process of management.

Transformational Leadership can play a role in creating a successful team. It can also be the process that changes and transforms people dealing with emotions, values, ethics, and standards. Transformational Leadership is the process whereby a person engages others and creates a connection that raises the level of motivation and morality in both the leader and the follower (Northhouse , 186). This applies to a team because you always have to be able to connect and motivate others

A TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADER is a person who stimulates and inspires followers to achieve extraordinary outcomes (Robbins, 2007)It has been shown to influence organisational members by transforming their values and priorities while motivating them to perform beyond their expectations (Rowold, 2007)Increased levels of job satisfaction & reduced turnover intentions are consequences of transformational leadership. It is all about leadership that creates positive change in the followers whereby they take care of each other’s interests and act in the interestsof the groupas a whole (Warrilow, 2012)

Barriers to communication have a significant impact on effective leadership. This barrier is a double-edged sword as they can affect both the employees' actions when communication from the leader is flawed, and also affect the leader's ability to make informed decisions when communication from employees to leadership is not well received. Uniquely, there are various communication channels (formal and informal) within my organization. Some of these channels include the use of emails, Microsoft Lync chat system, memos, letters (snail mail), Facebook@Work, video conferencing, telephone, town hall meetings, intranet, etc. Furthermore, leadership strives to make all initiatives known to employees and uses all means to make sure the message is well received and understood. We do however experience the full spectrum of poor to skilled communication every day in meetings, emails, and critical conversations. Highly effective communicators use other people’s time and attention wisely and would encourage the people disseminating the message to know the audience to whom the message is intended. Also, I would recommend to individual leaders to strategically plan their communication to make sure they accomplish the desired result.

Transformational leaders inspire their team members because they expect the best from everyone, and they hold themselves accountable for their actions. They set clear goals, and they have good conflict-resolution skills. This leads to high productivity and

Research shows that interpersonal communication can have a profound effect in the workplace in both positive and negative manners. Successful communication can ease conflicts and create open channels in conflict management situations. Consequently, choosing the right medium of communicating is key to conveying the intended message; at the same time, active listening also plays a factor in how the intended message is received. “Communication is a topic frequently linked to leadership; however, the linkage often is