Strive to be a communicator

by Dr. Robert A. Kemp

Being an effective communicator is our fifth and final lesson on leadership in supply management. Each of the previous four lessons established a leadership attribute that will help you succeed. It’s impossible to say that any one lesson is more important than the others, because they all go together. Even so, good communication makes the other lessons easier to achieve and more effective.

Great communication requires: 
• good listening ;
• empathy;
• proper communication processes (verbal and non-verbal);
• follow-up; and
• consistency.

We have two ears and one mouth, which suggests we should listen twice as much as we speak. Empathy and listening go together. To understand our people, suppliers and customers, we must know what they think, how they see things and why. That is empathy and we build it by listening to people. To listen well, we have to suspend our own thoughts, evaluations or judgments to direct our attention to the other person or people and concentrate on what is said verbally or displayed non-verbally. Your reactions while listening are non-verbal feedback to the speaker. We must ensure that this feedback is absolutely positive.

Applying proper communication processes demands that we understand the creation of messages, the way communication flows and the obstacles to the process. The model on this page demonstrates the two-way communication flow we all must understand and use.

Essentially, all communication flows both ways. Unfortunately, much of the communication that flows to and from leaders is missed or ignored due to interference and noise. Noise is everywhere. It stems from poor message preparation, other organizational activities, other people, misunderstandings, mistrust, organizational culture or stress.

As leaders, we must know our communication channels, the media available and how to use them effectively. Our message must get through all our channels and to all our people, internal and external.

Follow-up includes all the actions we take to ensure that messages and communication are getting through the noise, being understood and applied. Follow-up includes reports, meetings, and formal or informal personal contact. We must go face-to-face to know that our team is receiving and responding to the message. Face-to-face contact has the most impact.

If we recall the other four leadership lessons, we can understand the absolute necessity for consistency.

A leader’s communication must always demonstrate that she or he is concentrating on organizational objectives, knows what is going on and is thinking ahead. Also, every message must show the process is building people and their team. The messages must be consistent over time and show congruency between verbal and non-verbal components.

Communication helps keep our people with us in operations, and helps them understand our objectives. It provides the will for service, and motivation for people to grow. As a leader, your message should always be a positive force that builds people by informing and inspiring them to improved performance.

Strategic leadership is about creating vision and inspiring people to change. Strategic leaders get others actively involved in building and supporting the process by being great communicators. Great communicators practice five things:

• directness in every message;
• presentation simplicity;
• absolute honesty;
• their own sense of humor; and
• personal security in the process.

Learning and applying these communication skills shakes your organization to its roots and builds dynamic people and teams.

Robert Kemp is a consultant and the former president of the Institute for Supply Management. If you have a procurement question, contact Coach Kemp at or e-mail him at .

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