The Voice of Leadership

By Florence Stone

Abe Lincoln and Winston Churchill—many consider them the most inspiring statesmen in their respective countries’ histories. What turned a gangly lawyer into a world leader and a stuttering adolescent into a catalyst for allied peace? It was their ability to communicate—not only to speak well, but also to communicate their visions dynamically. That same ability is critical to corporate leaders. Churchill himself said, "The difference between mere management and leadership is communication."

It isn’t a matter of words or phrases. There are skills that leaders develop that can encourage followers. For one, they learn how to use stories—war stories and success tales about other leaders and from their own company’s past—to motivate and inspire their employees and other constituencies to action. They develop an understanding of body language and, with this know-how, they can determine others’ reactions to their words and learn what to say next. They also master their own body language—the expressions on their faces and their posture.

Body language speaks volumes to others. William Danforth, founder of Ralston Purina, once said, "When a man sits straight, I believe he thinks straight." Likewise, when someone slouches as they speak, they communicate a lack of self-confidence. Good posture exudes good self-esteem. So managers who want to become more effective leaders need to learn to stand up tall and strong. If they want to build trust in their words, they need to directly face the people they lead.

Further, they learn that communication is not a monologue—it’s a dialogue. Ineffective leaders just don’t listen one-on-one or to groups. They forget that communication is a two-way process. The problem with listening can happen to all of us in the course of the day—we get so wrapped up in what we want to say that we forget to listen to what the other person is saying. So communication doesn’t even occur, let alone be effective in building support or loyalty or trust. It doesn’t matter who the speaker or listener is—even great people have suffered from others’ failure to listen to them.

President Franklin Roosevelt repeatedly complained during his administration that nobody really listened to what he was saying. On one special occasion, he decided to prove his point. The story goes that as he greeted guests to a formal occasion at the White House, he whispered to each, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." As the guests shook his hand, they enthusiastically responded with statements like, "Marvelous! Keep up the good work." "I am proud of you." "God bless you, Sir." Not until the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador of Bolivia, were his words actually heard. With the tact that comes with the position, the ambassador leaned over and whispered, "I’m sure she had it coming."

If you wish to develop your voice of leadership, you need to develop a keen listening ear. That means constantly listening to and reading the intent of the other person or group, and communicating back verbally, as well as nonverbally. Value the other person by listening to what he or she is saying even more than your own opinions. Do this, and you’ll find yourself respected. People care much more about what is happening in their own lives than in the lives of others. So managers encourage followers and thereby become leaders by asking people questions about themselves, then, being quiet and letting them talk about themselves. Because you are demonstrating a willingness to listen to them, they will be forever behind you—and work hard to make your vision a reality.

The art of listening and thereby leadership is tied to another skill: the ability to build relationships with others.

Outstanding managers who evolve into outstanding leaders develop a genuine interest in the persons they are trying to communicate with. After all, communication is the means by which we build relationships. A study by Harvard Business School identified the character traits that the most effective U.S. presidents had in common, one of these was empathy for others.

Like listening, empathy is a learned skill. Most of us are self-oriented rather than other-focused. But empathy, like any skill, can be learned if you apply time and effort. Further, it only takes us a short time to learn to see situations, conversations and relationships beyond how they impact us. Demonstrating this can communicate more about our interests in others than we could ever express in words.

Genuine concern for others will win us friends and influence the way people connect with us. Again, the voice of leadership is not the compelling messages we craft—or our public relations manager crafts for us. Seeing situations from the viewpoint of others and learning to be genuinely other-focused, is not only good practice in conversations, it’s just good leadership. It is through our authentic dialogues with our employees and customers that we can deepen our relationships and rally support in difficult situations.

This article reflects information covered in AMA’s seminar, The Voice of Leadership.

Author Bio: Florence Stone is editor of MWorld, AMA’s quarterly journal and author of 15 management books.