I saw it written that behaviour is communication. I also read that 93% of our communication is delivered through nuanced, indirect communication and only 7% via words.
Based on the stats, it's true behaviour is communication.
The take out of this if you're in charge of your company or the CEO of a complex business (say over 200 employees), you're responsible for getting the core message of your business to everyone that matters. Of course you have limited opportunity to have your finger in every piece of your business pie so you have to rely on your direct reports, your leadership team and senior managers, who in turn can intimately influence the teams they manage, both internal and external stakeholders. As the leader you have ultimate responsibility for your strategy and the allocation of capital and resources. In large hierarchical organisations, leaders have to have visibility and take responsibility to communicate the business strategy in a way that is:
· Visionary
· Appeals to the heart and mind and connects with the spirit
· Moves people into action because it aligns with their values
· Communicates simply, consistently, and repetitively, and
· Act courageous in the face of resistance to your message.
Communicating with these principles in mind you have more chance of your message being heard, understood and acted upon. The crucial element is the 'acted upon' because it signals you have influence over your stakeholders and it supports your strategic intent. My favourite book on influence is Dr. Robert Cialdini's classic Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. It's plain speaking and really informative. It's even better to read it to know when someone is using undue influence on you.
A leader that leads according to these steps, inspires others through a waterfall action. I like the idea of a waterfall, with ideas and actions spilling out and infecting the next level in the company. Energy is contagious, and positive energy multiplies. It makes sense that leadership communication is like a waterfall action. What you don’t want your communication to be is like Chinese whispers where the next level mistakes what they head and mis-information is spread to the next level and so on. That’s why as a leader you must get out from behind your desk and meet your people directly as often as you can. Perhaps even attend some random meetings to get amongst your wider team. Don’t leave your communication to chance or hide behind your next in charge. Be actively involved.
