L01: What is Leadership Communication?

In the business world, leader is one of the most crucial persons who affect the success of the team. The group or organization carefully chooses leader to guide and be in command of others. A leader must be able to communicate effectively and have the skills to influence others to listen to what he/she is saying. Having a good communication skill is not an easy task. A leader needs to know how to develop effective communication which impacts on how the leader guide, direct, motivate or inspire others in the organization.

When individuals get ahead in business, he/she must be able to communicate, to make sound decisions, and to get things done with and through people. The leader also has to ensure that the communication is clear, context is understandable and the right medium is chosen.

In this chapter, we will get to know the leadership communication framework which will improve leader’s skill to become more effective from leader’s core skills. In the framework, the leader will learn to analyze the audiences and develop the communication strategy combined with good writing and speaking skill. This framework will also help the leader to master the skills at the core as well as expand those skills in order to lead and manage the groups. Eventually, the skills will enhance the successful delivery the messages.

Interestingly, although the leader will have good communication skills, positive leadership ethos is also very important to successfully develop effective communications and influence others. Ethos can be described as the ability and the character of the leader to persuade others and influence the audiences. The confidence, the credibility, and the ability to induce others to listen to his/her communications are a must. It is important that a leader knows how to build a positive ethos and develop a good character which makes him/her more persuasive. Positive ethos can affect leader’s success in delivering the messages as well as induce the audiences to believe and trust what leader’s saying. Although it may be difficult for a business leader to be perceived as honest and trustworthy, after practicing, the leader will understand that the ethos is very helpful and can be the most persuasive tool for leader to become effective communicators.