Ethical leadership development and effective communication

Recently I was reminded of the importance of communication in team building and ethical leadership.  There is absolutely no excuse for verbally bullying staff, especially in the presence of customers and employees.  When one is promoted to manager, the title, new business cards and pay increase do not magically impart the ability to inspire and lead others.  One of the most important components of leadership is communication.  Although many take it for granted, effective communication is both art and science.  Individuals can develop it as a point of differentiation – for example, at sales presentations and interviews.  Organizations can use effective communication as a way of getting the team on the same page and pursuing the same mission.  Lee Iacacco, the former head of Chrysler and author of its turn-around plan in the 1980s said, “The most important thing I learned in school was how to communicate.”

Effective communication is purposeful.  Communication must be clear and understood in order to have its intended effect.  The goal of communication must be carefully considered and planned, even in situations that seem relatively innocuous.  Effective communication is essential for ethical leadership.  According to the Stanford Graduate School of Business, when Anne Mulcahy was appointed CEO of Xerox in 2001 as the company teetered with bankruptcy, she attributed effective communication as the most important element of the turn-around strategy.   "I feel like my title should be Chief Communication Officer, because that's really what I do," she said.  "When I became CEO, I spent the first 90 days on planes traveling to various offices and listening to anyone who had a perspective on what was wrong with the company.  I think if you spend as much time listening as talking, that's time well spent."

Effective communication “sweats the small stuff”.  Ethical leaders care about the fine details of communication.  If the communication does not contain the required information, it can confound the intended recipients of the message.  Every effort must be made to eliminate noise.  In the marketing research data collection business, it was crucial to the success of each project that we saw eye-to-eye with the client on objectives.  If these were not communicated effectively, the project’s end goal would be in jeopardy.   Dr. Gilbert Amelio, former CEO of National Semiconductor stated,

“Developing excellent communication skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership.  The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others.  If a leader can’t get a message across clearly and motivate others to act on it, then having a message doesn’t even matter.”

Effective communication speaks to the heart and mind, providing inspiration.  One of the greatest storytellers in the modern age was Sir Winston Churchill.  He instilled hope in the people of Britain through his emotional and patriotic messages.  Aristotle offers insight into effective communication through his discourse on logos, pathos and ethos. In order for communication to persuade, it must exhibit logos – reason and logic.  Secondly, the communication must resonate with the audience through pathos – an appeal on the emotional level.  Finally, these two elements will not have their intended impact without ethos – the credibility and ethical character of the communicator.  Unfortunately, in this day and age, it is not difficult to achieve the first two.  Doing so without a life of integrity reduces the potency of the communication.  Walking the talk is crucial and there are times when saying nothing at all, but modeling what one believes, is the most profound communication of all.  

Ethical leadership depends on effective communication.  In this technology-laden era of instant messages and social media relationships, a beneficial way to differentiate on both the individual and organizational levels depends on effective communication.  Destination and purpose, focusing on details and touching both the heart and mind are characteristics of effective communication.  Without ethical conduct and integrity, communication – no matter how poetic and logical – loses its effectiveness.  Ethical leaders understand that in order to ask for one’s allegiance, they must touch the heart.   No matter how much knowledge a leader possesses, it is not a substitute for a caring attitude.  Effective communication affords the opportunity to demonstrate compassion everyday.