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Hello everyone. Trust you’re having a great time. Welcome to Leaderview, my name is Olabisi Obayomi. On today’s episode of Leaderview, we’ll be considering Effective Communication Skills for Leaders and we’ll be considering the life of our perfect example and model, Jesus. One very important thing to note as we begin is that your leadership ability determines your effectiveness as a leader and the impact you make in an organization. One of these many abilities is that ability to communicate effectively as a leader. Communication is very key in every relationship of which the relationship between the leader and the team members is not left out.
Listen to Podcast: Effective Communication Skills for Leaders
Some of the issues that are faced as a leader in an organization are communication issues. When visions are not properly communicated. You know it is key that you communicate your vision, it is key that you communicate values, it is key that you communicate goals effectively to your team as an effective leader. You know, there are some very important skills to communicate effectively as a leader.
The first one is clarity. It is important that you are clear in your communication, clarifying thoughts and conversations, you know, they help us to reduce and avoid all forms of confusion. It is not enough to communicate; you have to be clear. People need clarity. They need to know what the vision is, the strategy to use, the goals they need and all that is expected of them to know to carry out their task effectively. Don’t communicate in ambiguity. Be direct, candid, be honest and be open. This does not mean your team members don’t have their own parts to play. But proper explanation and description of the bigger vision will help your followers run with the vision. Let’s look at our perfect example in Luke 4:18-19. You know, He said it as it was written of Him in Scripture. It says:
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”
So, he knew the vision, he knew how to locate it. He understood what he needed to run with his vision and then he communicated it effectively Luke 10, as well from verse 3-12, when he was communicating to His disciples and telling them to go out and preach the gospel, he said to them, “Go your way Behold, I send you out as lambs and not Wolf’s, carry me that money bag, knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one along the road. But whatever house you enter first say peace to this house and if a person if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it, if not it will return to you.” On and on and on like that; He described what they were going to meet, up until verse 12, we can always study that (Luke 10:3-12). He explained everything that they needed to know. He explained their parts to them, he explained the bigger plan. They had the task however, to take initiative and break it down for themselves as well and work with it. There is no confusion when a vision is clear.
Luke 24:36, as well Jesus gave direction. It says: “Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day…” This was the path when he was going back, he was ascending back to heaven. “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” So, he told them what to expect. And when he told them what to expect, it actually happened in an act. So, Jesus was really clear with his vision with what he wanted them to do, with the goal, with the direction. But when it comes to clarity, it could be in two ways; in communicating with your team members, and in listening to them speak as well.
So, in listening to your team member speaking is important that you understand what they are saying to you, and not assume any thoughts. If there is anything that is not clear, ask them questions, and get them to clarify as well. One key thing you can do as a leader is that you say to them, what you hear them say, and clarify if it was what they meant. Ask them questions. And don’t be quick to discard their thoughts. There are lots of assumptions in spoken words you know, you want to be sure that you got the heart of the person that is speaking to you.
Let’s look at scriptures in Matthew 18:21-27. “Peter asked Jesus and he said Lord how often shall my brothers sinned against me and I forgive him? up to 7 times? he was asking him a question, he needed clarity, he needed a clarification. And Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven, this is what I say to you. So, he had to clarify to Peter, I’m not saying 7×7, I’m saying 70 x 7. So, get what I’m saying clearly. So, Jesus communicated this with him, and he made clarifications, look at what Jesus now did in verse 23. “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle the accounts, one was brought to him who owned 10,000…” So, there was clarity in everything he said, even if he had to do with him going into telling stories to make his followers understand it. And this will take me to my next point, which is context, very importantly is understanding context.
What do we mean by context? Context is the circumstance that form the setting of an event, a statement, an idea in terms of which it can be fully understood. So, you’re setting context when you’re saying something and explaining further. And we’ll look at this in the life of Jesus. He was always giving examples. He was always talking, you know, in parables, giving stories, so that people can really understand what he is saying. In Matthew 18:1-5, the Bible says: “at that time, the disciples came to Jesus saying, who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And Jesus called to little child to him, and saying in the midst of them, and set us shortly I said to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of God.
So, they asked him a question. Well, he had to tell them a story. He saw someone around, he saw a little child around and he called the little child quickly and explained in context, that is what it means when you say, you are explaining things in context as a leader. Always have a reason to explain bigger, let people understand the vision, provide the why, share the stories behind the goals, share the stories behind the strategies, share the story behind the vision, let them understand it. Once it is clear to them, they can run with it.
Another very important point is consistency. It is important that you’re consistent in your message, your values, your demeanor. You know, you don’t have to be changing with moods and with wind. You know as a leader, you have to keep your demeanor cool, and learn to put your body and feelings under just as Scripture says. It is not putting up appearances when you’re trying to you know put yourself together. It’s not like you’re putting up appearances, but it’s just a sign of following Scriptures, following the example of Jesus. Be a consistent leader. Do what you say you will do and expect others to do likewise. You can’t expect what you can’t give, you know it will really be unfair.
Act 1:1 says: “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.” Until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” Jesus was consistent in his leadership and life approaches. Verse 1 told us about the fact that Jesus began both to do and teach. So, what he was saying he was consistent spirits. So, Jesus was always giving directions. As an effective leader, you communicate clearly, you clarify all doubts, you provide context to the vision and goals and consistently do what you say.
I trust you have been blessed by this podcast. Please share with your friends and also share your thoughts in the comment section below. We would really love to hear from you. My name is Olabisi Obayomi.
God bless you!
[Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
