When it comes to leadership, effective communication is a key component.
Leaders are faced with the daily challenge of ensuring that their team members are all “running in the same direction.” If an organization’s employees are not on the “same page” as the leader, things may begin to dive south, rather quickly. So, to help mitigate “miscommunication” in an organization, leaders must not only regularly communicate with their employees, but also communicate and ensure their employees understanding of the “why” when providing a given task.
To provide an example, let’s look at two leadership approaches below. The first leadership approach is missing the “why” and the second approach, providing and ensuring the employee understands the “why.”
In the following examples, place yourself in the employee role and determine which form of communication you’d most appreciate from leadership.
Because I’m a fitness guy, I’ll provide a couple of basic examples that relate to the industry that I’m in.
Below, the leader is playing the role of the personal training studio manager, and the employee, the role of the personal trainer.
Studio Manager # 1:
“Chris, let’s please clean up all of your weights and mats after each of your training sessions. Thank you.”
Studio Manager # 2:
“Chris, let’s please clean up all of your weights and mats after each of your training sessions. This is super key because we want to ensure that you provide your next client, as well as the other team members and clients working alongside you, a clean space to work within. A clean space will allow you and your client to transition more effectively between each exercise, providing a more productive workout. Does that make sense? Thank you so much, Chris!”
Now, looking at the above two approaches. It’s not that approach # 1 is disrespectful, approach # 2 is just a more effective form of communication. Sure, there’s a time and place for quick and direct communication (as we see in example # 1), although in most cases, if the employee is explained the reasoning behind a given task, they’ll be much more willing to perform the given task regularly and effectively vs. completing a task out of fear or without an understanding as to why they’re performing a given task.
Providing the “why” when communicating tasks with employees is a much more effective form of communicating, which will lead to long-term, positive results.
For more on Brad and his Atlanta fitness studio, please visit KoloFit.com