Council Post: Nine Communication Habits Of Great Leaders (And Why They Make Them So Great)

Communication is one of the most essential skills that a business leader needs to master to be successful. Great leaders may develop their communication skills early on in their careers, but they also have created and maintained habits that help them communicate more effectively.

When you watch great leaders address an audience or interact with others, the practices they cultivate to help them communicate so well may not be immediately apparent. Even so, their effectiveness is unquestionable.

Here, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council share the habits they believe all great leaders have and explain why these help make them such powerful communicators.

1. Listening With Intention

This is a habit I’ve recently learned about which has transformed the way I communicate. Be slower to speak, listen attentively, repeat back what you think you heard to get confirmation and ask for buy-in at multiple points during the conversation. “Am I understanding this correctly?” “Are we on the same page?” “Does that make sense?” These are all great questions that show you’re processing and hearing and seeking confirmation. Active listening helps you avoid conversations where you aren’t exactly sure what happened or what they meant at the end of the conversation. It helps less get lost in translation. It’s building in multiple checkpoints during the conversation to make sure you are on the right path together. – Joel Mathew, Fortress Consulting

2. Communicating Without Judgment

Great leaders are able to communicate with others without passing judgment or projecting their own feelings onto the situation. Instead of making the problem about themselves, they’re concerned with the other person and how to help them succeed. Great leaders care about their employees and want to see them perform at their best. By actively hearing out your employees and making objective suggestions, you eliminate the stigma of being open and vulnerable. It allows your team to come to you when they need help so they can do their best and bring your company the best results. – Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms

3. Being Present

Every great leader has harnessed the power of being present. They know how important it is to “be in the moment” and use their voice, body language and posture to constantly communicate this. They stay engaged with the group or person they are speaking with by making eye contact, joining the discussion and expressing interest. Projecting a leadership presence starts with being present. – Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

4. Being Genuinely Interested

The best leaders are genuinely interested in other people. If you think about all the good communication skills that people usually talk about like listening, making eye contact, asking questions, etc., these are all things that you will do naturally if you are sincerely interested in the person you are talking to. There is nothing people love more than being able to share their opinions with someone who is truly interested in them, but there is also nothing that annoys us more than insincerity. It’s a simple concept but takes time to cultivate. Great leaders can talk to anyone and find something in that person that they admire and something that interests them. – Reuben Yonatan, SaasList

5. Tailoring Their Messaging

Most leaders are great orators. They may not get a chance to interact with all of their employees in person owing to their busy schedules, but they can tailor their messages in such a way that even if they are speaking to 100 people at a time, they can make everyone feel like they are talking to them individually. It’s a great way of building a rapport with each of the employees despite their inability to interact with them directly. – Josh Kohlbach, Wholesale Suite

6. Maintaining Eye Contact

Maintaining eye contact in a casual manner marks a good communicator from everyone else. Leaders, by necessity, have to interact well with other people. So, they try to make people comfortable by using body language, including making eye contact and other techniques. You can feel sure that a leader is a good communicator when you notice that they appear physically comfortable and make you feel the same way too through their actions and demeanor. – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner

7. Clearly Delegating Tasks

Being able to clearly delegate tasks and to-do lists makes a leader great at communicating. If you can clearly communicate what you expect from your team, they’re able to do a better job and do so confidently because they know what you want. Too many leaders fail to communicate properly and this causes rifts between team members and within projects. Make it a habit to communicate your expectations clearly and regularly. Don’t assume that your team knows what you want unless you’ve already stated it. – Jared Atchison, WPForms

8. Speaking With A Positive Energy

Phenomenal leaders bring energy and enthusiasm into the room when they speak. Being in a positive headspace can be extremely influential on a group of people. They are great to listen to and learn from because their excitement and passion is infectious. – Rachel Beider, PRESS Modern Massage

9. Helping Others Communicate Better

I believe every great leader should have the habit of listening first and creating open forums where people from all teams and levels feel encouraged to speak up and contribute. A great meeting is one in which the leader doesn’t have to give directions, but rather facilitates an environment where the team drives direction and contributes to meaningful work. By moderating, actively listening and helping steer the course, great leaders get others to communicate, which expands the benefits of open communication exponentially. – Bill Gerber, AccountingDepartment.com

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