Human Communication As A Panacea To Leadership Problems~Prince Eze Ugochukwu.
~Prince Eze Ugochukwu.
When we communicate as humans, we express our emotional state. We communicate our thoughts and emotions. We do so, through our body language and through our verbal language.
In todays world, burdened by numerous and divergent problems ranging from health, security, economic downturn etc, communication assumes a greater significance, as it helps people to reach mutually beneficial agreements.
Between a leader and those he govern, communication is a bridge to harmony.
Through human communication, a leader can find "points in common" with the lead. It allows parties to express what each wishes to say, it allows parties to listen to each other and thus helps to establish shared solutions.
A leader who wishes to make a positive impact, must develop skills of inter-personal communication. Skills are very important for every activity, and goes with attitude, which is a way or manner of applying a skill.
In order to succeed, a leader needs the instruments of assertiveness, empathy and feedback to achieve his set goals and objectives in governance.
An assertive leader is one who can deliver his message clearly, firmly, directly and respectfully.
A leader must always ask himself the following questions; What does the people need from me, what emotion are they feeling, how do I feel about the situation of the people, and what communication channel is most appropriate to reach the people.
Through assertive communication, a leader can promote collaboration and teamwork, by allowing points of views to be expressed and make decisions collectively.
Often, a leader pays attention to technical issues of governance only. In other words, he tend to ignore the emotional state or mood of the governed and this can damage inter-personal relationship.
This is where empathy comes in. With empathetic listening, a leader can understand messages from his people, not only by paying close attention, but also with emotional understanding.
Many a time, those in authority inadvertently allow techinical issues of policies and programs to overwhelm them and make them to forget that people have different ways of thinking and acting.
Leaders are faced with daily conflicts of governance. There are natural tensions in human interactions. The solution lies in dialogue. Dialogue helps to remove obstacles by achieving understanding and making it possible for stakeholders to work together.
For any leader, dialogue comprises of the ability to communicate and the ability to listen. By talking, people come to understand each other, and by listening empathy is achieved.
A leader can through errors of his own, hinder empathy, thereby allienating himself from the people. This will occur when a leader ignores or does not pay attention to what the people are saying, or when he pretends to listen, but having his attention elsewhere, or when he listens to the aspects that interest him, ignoring others that are not relevant to him, or when a leader identifies only the technical aspects of work tasks, ignoring the emotional states or moods of the governed, and constantly imposing his authority as a leader.
These communication errors cause rejection, and distancing of others, thus weakening and breaking our interpersonal relationships.
On the other hand, feedbacks helps a leader to adjust better and makes him capable and able to direct, guide, teach and motivate the governed after receiving and analyzing messages from them.
For a good leader therefore, the pathway to success lies in the clarity of his message to his people, the respect that goes with it, how he pays attention to the emotions of his people, and how he digests information from the governed. If these are properly harnessed and applied, landmark achievements will be recorded by a leader.
Prince Eze Ugochukwu, writes from Nkwerre, Imo State.
