LDR 4302: Communication Skills for Leaders -Unit 1 Project

LDR 4302: Communication Skills for Leaders -Unit 1 Project

Unit 1 Project

Part 1

Communication is an art and a science skill possessed by leaders. Communication is a science because it can also be tested in the environments that can be controlled. Communication is a two way process in which information is effectively passed on from one person to another or from one person to a group of people (Disanza & Legge, 2017). The principles of communication discussed in this project act as the best ways to guide how the people in the society communicate and talk to one another. In technical communication, the policy makers, leaders and the scientists must ensure that

they distill the communication process in the most accurate way that will bridge the gap between the members of the public and the scientific community. The five principles of communication that will be discussed herein are: 1) Leaders have a high level of awareness of communication between themselves and other people.2) they effectively make use of and further interpret the verbal languages and other communication cues 3) Leaders can effectively, easily and properly use and apply the nonverbal messages. Listening in a thoughtful manner and putting in place a proper response to others is the fourth principle. The final principle is that the leaders can easily adapt the messages they want to pass across to others in an effective manner.

Communication awareness of leaders

The first principle states that the leaders are fully aware of their own communication and how they communicate with other people. Being aware is getting to know the effectiveness of one’s communication process (Disanza & Legge, 2017). When a leader is fully aware on whether they are effective in their overall communication process, it becomes easy for these leaders to create a unique connection between themselves and other people, specifically the subordinates in the organization. As a leader in my small organization, an example of where I have applied this principle is when I used to personally ask for feedback from the team members every time one I would present a suggestion or given instructions during the Monday meetings (Disanza & Legge, 2017). I encouraged the team members to be forthright and very honest in their feedback. The feedback that I obtained was sufficient to help me get the hang of the communication and also improve immensely on the areas that needed to be improved. The communication skill applied here is the act of listening and getting direct feedback from the team members. I could say that this method was successful because it made me correct few things that could be a miss. With time I became perfect.

Leaders effectively utilize the verbal messages

The great leaders have mastery in oratory and they use the verbal messages to put their point across (Disanza & Legge, 2017). When the verbal messages is correctly passed on to other people in the organization, the work of the leader becomes easy because the level of comprehension needed in this type of leadership situation is low. The subordinates do not really have to struggle for a while before they understand what one is talking about. I applied the verbal messages principle during the monthly retreat in the organization. I could speak with a squeaky voice but which was clear. I ensured that every word I uttered was spoken with a purpose. In the communication practice, every word that came from my mouth was measured, careful and one which created meaning in the people. This was also effectively done through the avoidance of too much technical words and jargon. It was not necessary for me to use a lot of words to sound very important yet I was not communicating. In most instances, the communication was effective because very few people looked fidgety and people were willing to listen to me for ages.

Effective usage and interpretation of the nonverbal messages

Nonverbal cues in communication add a personal touch to what is being spoken about and it ensures that there is a buildup of a sense of rapport between the listener and the speaker (Disanza & Legge, 2017). With the proper verbal communication process in place, there is a fusion of verbal, vocal, voice and the physical body movements. Leaders who use the nonverbal communication demonstrate a greater understanding of their subject area and they are willing to go all the lengths to ensure that the people actually understand what he or she is talking about. In my professional life, the application of these leadership principles has been a learning curve scenario and situation. I have not been able to effectively use them and my ability as a leader to use the nonverbal cues is still in progress. What has been effective in this regard is the delegation. There are some members of my team who are very good in nonverbal cues. It is these people that I always call upon to present on ideas that require nonverbal communication. The application of this skill through delegation ids effective because the manager will increasingly put his focus on the things that matter in the organization and on the things that he or she has a lot of skills in.

Listening to others and also ensuring that they respond more effectively and thoughtfully.

Good leaders have the ability to listen to other people slowly, keenly and without instilling some undue pressure on the people (Disanza & Legge, 2017). Leaders who listen become more creative and innovative and productive. This is because they will tap into the skills and the connections of the employees and they do this by listening to the ideas and the perceptions of these other people. I have always prided myself for being a good listener. As a result of the good listener tendencies, the team members feel that they are free to talk to me because I give deep advices and sometimes when I listen to people, I give comprehensive responses that are neutral because there are so many cases of failed marriages. As a result of the listening skills being imparted, the human mind can then wander and discover ways of helping the individual resolve some of these problems. Listening has promoted team work, togetherness and social cohesion.

The leaders have the power to appropriately adapt the messages to different audiences

Leaders in the organization may adapt the message and the communication to different groups of people because they have different audiences (Disanza & Legge, 2017). Sometimes the leaders are speaking to the Chief Executives in the organization while other times they are speaking to departmental heads and the subordinates. Adapting the message is done by these leaders by first understanding their needs. The leaders need to know what the audience cares about and they should link that with what they communicate. The communication skill I adapted while communicating to this group of leaders was researching.

Through research, I got to know the aspirations, the feelings and the needs of the audience and therefore during the communication program, I was able to effectively adapt the message so that it can fit with the aspirations of the audience. This way, I avoided a situation where the audience would bombard me with questions or where they would look bewildered because I have not delivered the speech to their expectations. Adapting message to the audience enables one to be effective and also helps the audience to get more out of the communication process at hand.

Reference

Disanza, J. R., & Legge, N. J. (2017). Business and professional communication : plans, processes, and performance. Pearson.

Part 2

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