Master Communicators

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
Master Communicators
MASTER
COMMUNICATORS
Get in sync with others

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Attribution: All images are from sources where a Creative Commons license exists for commercial use. All icons are on subscription
from thenounproject. All clipart is from free sources. The MTL Professional Development Programme is copyright of Manage Train
Learn.
Master
Communicators
Introduction: Communicating is at the heart of leadership. It is what links the
leader to the team and the team to the leader. When leader and team are in sync,
there are no gaps between them. They work as one unit towards one goal. This is
mastery of communicating and this topic will show you 7 ways to achieve it.

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1. LEARN THE
SKILLS
Leadership is a relationship skill. It's about you
communicating with your team and they with
you. In a survey by CREATE, 99 executives were
asked what the most important leadership skills
were. The top 5 places included the following
communication skills: "the ability to trust and
motivate"; "the ability and willingness to listen";
and "interpersonal skills".
If only we talked the same language
Flickr attribution: /ob1/24456349/

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Why Communication Is the Key toAll Leadership Skills
75
66
59 55 50 49 46 42 41 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Ability to trust and motivate (75%) Visioning (66%) Ability and willingness to listen (59%)
Strategic thinking (55%) Interpersonal skills (50%) IT awareness (49%)
Presentation skills (46%) Entrepreneurial skills (42%) Confidence and self-knowledge (41%)
Intelligence and aptitude (40%)
Here are the full results from the survey by the Centre for Research in Employment and Technology in Europe
(CREATE). 99 top executives were asked what they thought the most important leadership skill was. Notice that
over half of the skills in the top 10 are communication-related (ie motivation; listening; interpersonal skills;
presentation skills; and trust).

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2. HEAR THEM
FIRST
You can’t motivate someone who can’t hear you.
If what you’re saying is bouncing off their
psychological armour, it makes little difference
what you say. In order for someone to hear you,
you must first hear them. It doesn’t work the
other way around. It doesn’t work when you
always go first because the other person must
first appreciate that you are on his or her
wavelength and understand their thinking
completely.
Don’t make your mind up until they’ve finished
Flickr attribution: /carbonnyc/1359721335/

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3. GET TO
KNOW
EVERYONE
Communicating with others isn't just a simple
exchange of words; it's a way of telling others
they are worth our attention and have
something unique and important to contribute.
To leaders, people in the team are an endless
source of fascination. You must take time to get
to know every person in your team whatever
their job or rank. That way, when it comes to
critical moments, you'll be able to make
decisions based on knowledge not guesswork.
Pleased to meet you, ma’am
Flickr attribution: /pnoeric/536695163/

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4. FIRST
UNDERSTAND
You don't have to be brilliant to be a good leader.
But you do have to understand other people,
how they feel, what makes them tick, and the
best way to influence them. Ineffective leaders
are so interested in themselves that they never
get around to appreciating what others can do.
Effective leaders are constantly putting
themselves in others' shoes, trying to understand
how they would feel in the same circumstances.
What are they getting at?
Flickr attribution: /wwworks/8081866307/

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Put Yourself Into Other
People’s Shoes
"There are a lot of brilliant people in this world who
are, and will remain, ineffective leaders. Why?
Because they are so interested in themselves and
their accomplishments that they never get around
to appreciating and understanding the feelings of
other people who are sharing this world with them.
Sometimes, usually later in life, these talented,
egocentric individuals suffer painful hardships. They
understand, often for the first time, the kind of
problems less talented or less fortunate people have
suffered all their lives. They suddenly discover a new
and important dimension: sensitivity to the feelings,
emotions, and experiences of other people.
Effective leaders don't wait before they appreciate
the kind of problems others are facing. Instead they
constantly try to put themselves in others' shoes -
try to imagine how they would feel in the same
circumstances. They are constantly aware of what
makes others tick, and try to be helpful at the same
time they ask others to help them.“ (John Luther)

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5. WHEN IT
DOESN’T
WORK…
When communication at work is poor, the effects
can be devastating. It's not just in messages not
getting through but the way we feel. In a survey
by hbr.org about how people felt when others
were rude to them, critical of them, or ignored
them, 88% of people said they lost time worrying
about it. 63% went out of their way to avoid the
offender or to "get their own back". And 78%
said that their commitment to the organisation
declined as a result.
Let’s think of another way
Flickr attribution: /lydur/17975679425/

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12 Great Tips for Better Communication
1
Be the first to speak
2
Smile at people
3
Address people by name
4
Be warm, friendly, and
helpful
5
Be enthusiastic about life
6
Be genuinely interested in
people
7
Look for the chance to
praise
8
Be considerate of others’
feelings
9
Be thoughtful and
respectful of others’
opinions
10
Be a great listener
11
Keep your ear to the
ground
12
Feel connected

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6. ACTIONS
AND
DECISIONS
As leaders, we communicate far more in what we
do than in what we say. People who follow us as
our reports watch our every move and every
decision. That's why leaders need to understand
the implications of their actions and decisions on
others. If there is a doubt over what your actions
and decisions mean, then you need to sit down
with your team and explain what you are trying
to do. Don't leave them to guess, speculate, or
make it up. If you do, you'll lose them.
Be clear what you stand for
Flickr attribution: /snigl3t/1747917718/

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7. SPEAK TO
GOOD
PURPOSE
Being a master communicator doesn't mean
being an excessive talker. And it certainly doesn't
mean being a gabbler or a gossip. As a leader,
you must be a disciplined speaker and speak to
good purpose only. That means watching your
words and only saying something if it helps the
situation. You are responsible for your words.
Learn to control them.
Say no evil
Flickr attribution: /boogafrito/6299767321/

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You Don’t Have to Say
Everything You Think
Marshall Thurber, a partner in one of the most
successful real estate companies in San
Francisco, likes to quote to his staff the words of
Rolling Thunder, an American Indian medicine
man.
“People have to be responsible for their
thoughts, so they have to learn to
control them. It may not be easy but it
can be done. We don’t have to eat
everything we see and we don’t have to
say everything we think. So we begin by
watching our words and speaking with
good purpose only.”
Now Thurber has made it a company rule: “if it
doesn’t serve, don’t say it”. Anyone caught
disobeying this rule forfeits a $20 bill to charity.
Silence is golden

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This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn
AFinal
Word
As a leader, officially or unofficially, your role is to get others to follow you. You do this by getting
others to believe in you, trust you, and want to go with you. The way you achieve this is through
the quality and application of your communication skills.

Master Communicators

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