Is Leadership Speaking or Actually Communicating at Work?

Every job is a communication job. Every leader is a communicator—whether they realize it or not. But too often, organizations mistake speaking at people for real communication. 

In this episode, we break down the difference between broadcasting information and fostering true understanding.

Drawing from insights on leadership, engagement, and workplace culture, we explore how great leaders ensure they’re communicating—not just talking. From the power of two-way dialogue to practical ways to measure communication effectiveness, this episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to improve their leadership impact.

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Transcript

Welcome back to Relationships At Work – Your leadership guide to building workplace connections and avoiding blind spots..  I’m your host Russel Lolacher

I’m a communications and leadership nerd with a couple of decades of experience and a heap of curiosity on how we can make the workplace better. If you’re a leader trying to understand and improve your impact on work culture and the employee experience, you’re in the right place.

This mini-episode is a quick and valuable bit of information to help your mindset for the week ahead. 

Inspired by our R@W Note Newsletter, I’m passing on to you… 

Are We Speaking or Communicating?  

I've said it before and I'll say it again and again, every job is a communication job.  

Every role we fill in an organization, has some need of a level of communication to be successful. Whether it's with our customers, our teams, our bosses, partners, stakeholders, boards, etc., it's integral we understand that communication is the reason we can engage and connect with others.
 
 And it's an integral ingredient to great leadership.

I've mentioned self-awareness and situational awareness being foundational to great leadership but it's hard to ignore that the trifecta of that foundation is communication.

So I found it super interesting when author and speaker Tamsen Webster asked a while back the following question on Threads...

"What’s the difference between speaking and communicating?"

Hey, this is exciting for a communication nerd. The answer, in my experience: understanding.

In speaking, understanding isn’t the objective. In communicating, understanding is everything.

Speaking is a one-way action to provide information. It's broadcasting. It's sending a company-wide email. It's conducting an update meeting. It's a townhall that doesn't invite questions. 

Words matter. And as we’ve talked on the show, we have a tendency in organization to call people leaders based on where they sit in the organization, even if they actually are far more managers than actually displaying leadership 

Communication is the same thing. So many people with "communication" in their title actually don't communicate at all. It’s purely about getting a message out. Because their success is about speaking AT. Not speaking WITH. Their measure of success is a binary check box of "did I do the thing?" Did I press send. Did X amount of people come to the event?  Yes/No.

And to do the “speaking with”, that's where the real communication lives. Great leadership lives there too. 

Communicating is prioritizing understanding on both sides. 

We haven't communicated without the sender first, understanding what their message is trying to do, its relevance to the receiver (aka the audience) and how to craft it in a way that allows it to be understood. 
 
 Then the receiver (aka that audience) has to really understand what's being said in a way that matters to them, and possibly take some sort of action based on that understanding. If they don't, communication didn't take place. It’s not just what we want to say, it’s what the need to hear. 
 Good communication is two-way.

So as leaders, how do we ensure we're communicating and not merely speaking at our teams?

·       Employee Engagement Surveys with Specific Communication Metrics: Implement quarterly surveys that include specific questions about how effective communication is. These could ask about the clarity of leadership communication, how often employees feel listened to, and whether they feel informed about decisions. Then track changes in scores over time and identify trends that show improvement or areas needing attention.

·       Feedback and Participation Levels in Meetings: Measure participation in team meetings and feedback sessions by tracking how many employees actively contribute or ask questions. And the queA consistent increase in participation would indicate that communication channels are open and employees feel comfortable engaging.

·       Regular One-on-One Meetings and Feedback Loops: Conduct regular one-on-one meetings and gather anecdotal feedback on communication effectiveness, tracking common themes or concerns. This allows us to personalize communication where needed and see if employees feel heard, valued, and clear on their roles.

Almost every success and failure in an organization can be tracked back to the quality of communication. 

And if we don't care about taking the time and effort to really truly communicate, then we may be far more contributing to failures than the solution to workplace issues.

Great leaders know it’s better to speak with than the check box exercise of speaking at.