One of the most important skills for leaders to develop is effective communication skills. It is definitely worth a leaders’ time to invest in and receive coaching related to their communication skills.
But, before you run off and invest in a communications coach, let me invite you to consider your strategy.
Most of the “communication coaches” that I see in the marketplace are primarily focused on public speaking, presentation, and storytelling skills. While I think these skills are really important and these coaches can be incredibly helpful, these areas are not generally where leaders misstep in their communication.
Here are areas where I see leaders struggle the most with their communication:
- They do not communicate and regularly reiterate their organization’s or group’s purpose or values
- They do not bring in necessary perspectives of key stakeholders or team members
- They provide too much information
- They are not clear on their priorities
- They do not provide feedback, and when they do, it isn’t very effective
- They do not communicate well across siloes
- They do not set up change effectively
- They do not set clear performance expectations up front
- They shut down the ideas of others, leading to lower engagement
- They do not communicate enough in times of crisis
Seeing this list, we would do well to ask ourselves: Why do leaders struggle with communication in these ways?
The Biggest Issue in Leaders’ Corporate Communication Skills
From my experience, these leadership issues can best be explained by understanding the three vertical development levels.
Adult developmental psychologists have found that leaders possess internal operating systems that (1) vary in their quality and sophistication, and (2) are programmed to fulfill different needs.
7% of leaders operate at the lowest vertical development level, Mind 1.0, and are programmed to operate as “Good Soldiers,” focused on ensuring that they feel safe, comfortable, and like they belong.
85% of leaders operate at a moderate vertical development level, Mind 2.0, and are programmed to operate as “Progress Makers,” focused on standing out, advancing, and getting ahead. This means that they strongly emphasize results, outcomes, and other financial or growth metrics in their leadership.
Only 8% of leaders operate at the highest vertical development level, Mind 3.0, and are programmed to operate as “Value Creators,” focused on contributing, adding value, and lifting others. At this level, these leaders are strongly connected to purpose, values, mission, and culture. They recognize that if they can get these things right, the results, outcomes and other financial or growth metrics will take care of themselves.
Considering these three levels, at what level do leaders struggle with the communication issues above?
Mind 2.0. The reason why Mind 2.0 leaders struggle with the communication issues above is because they are generally wearing their “performance” or “get ‘r done” hat, too focused on accomplishing the results in an efficient way to be thoughtful and intentional about their communication.
Mind 2.0 leaders believe that if they slow down a bit to regularly communicate purpose and values, take in the ideas of others, provide feedback, communicate across siloes, set up change, set clear performance expectations, or just communicate more generally, that these efforts will negatively impact their ability to make progress and hit the results they are shooting for.
How Do Leaders Improve their Corporate Communication Skills?
When we understand that the root of most leadership communication issues are rooted in leaders’ vertical development altitude and the quality of their internal operating system, we should immediately recognize that:
- Most communication development trainings (e.g., public speaking, presentation, and storytelling) are not suited to address the root cause of leadership issues
- If leaders are wanting to improve their communication, they will need to engage in vertical development efforts, to help them level up to Mind 3.0
Until this happens, until leaders shift their wiring from being a “Progress Maker” to being a “Value Creator,” they will not create the appropriate space for effective communication.
The Power of Vertical Development for Improving Leaders’ Corporate Communication Skills
I have been working with an executive team for the last two years. And, I have seen most of the communication issues amongst their leadership over the last two years. I have also seen, as we have emphasized vertical development, their communication naturally improve.
For example, when I first met them, I asked the COO how she measured success. She answered, “double-digit growth year-over-year.” This is a standard Mind 2.0 answer.
After going through vertical development efforts and helping them become more Mind 3.0 leaders, if you were to ask them that same question, they would say, “the degree to which we are fulfilling our purpose of ______________ for our customers.”
Before making this shift, the COO admitted misstepping. She said that she held a company-wide meeting, and during that meeting, she spent 100% of her time focusing on the numbers.
Now, the guidance I have given them is this:
- Every time you talk about the numbers, you also need to talk about purpose
- You should be talking about purpose when you aren’t talking about the numbers
As a result of this, the executive team is doing a much more effective job communicating with their employees, which is paying dividends in the engagement and productivity of their employees.
I would love to help you elevate your communication effectiveness by helping you vertically develop (either you personally or the leaders in your organization). If you want to explore the power of vertical development, let’s connect and have a conversation about how my vertical development programs can help elevate both your leaders and your organization.
