Understanding Communications:

A Key to Effective
Leadership
Greg Anderson Greg Anderson
University of Chicago University of Chicago
Educause Midwest Regional Conference
Rules for living
Work like hell . . . .
Tell everyone everything you know. . .
Close a deal with a handshake . . .
Have fun!
---Harold E. Doc Edgerton
How well use our time today
!Effective communication & leadership
!Communication Behavioral Style
!Style flex
!Planning your communication
!Communicating with other styles
!Active listening
!Email & asynchronous communicatons
!Meeting management
!Conducting difficult conversations
Your Change Signature
and communications
You have a unique change signature
that represents your leadership style.
Your communications are core
components of that signature.
Todays Goals:
!Enhance your leadership style by optimizing
communication skills
!Understand how your preferred style of working
comes across to other people
!Read other peoples behavior so youll know the
best way to work with them
!Find common ground with people while maintaining
your individuality and integrity
!Adjust your behavior in small ways that dramatically
improve results among different styles
!Relate effectivelyno matter how others react to
you
Reflect
! Consider the leadership role your organization
expects of you and how you fulfill that role
! Think about an individual or group that would
benefit from either a start to a positive
relationship or would enhance an existing
relationship. How can you make a difference?
! What behaviors does this individual or group
exhibit most of the time when dealing with you
and/or others?
! What is said, how are things said and heard,
and what are the reactions in these
communications?
Give me six hours to chop down a tree,
and I will spend the first four sharpening
the axe.
----Abraham Lincoln
Plans are worthless; planning is
indispensable.
-----Dwight D. Eisenhower
Spend time up front to plan and understand
your communications style and leadership
Planning
Distributed Leadership:
One model to consider
Distributed Leadership - Peter Senge
Leadership is the capacity of a human community to
shape its future a collective versus individual
How do people collectively create? What makes a great
team? The answer usually is: Several people who have
accomplished something signicant. It is a collective act
versus an individual accomplishment.
Leadership is:
A collective phenomenon (not individualistic and not
leader as hero)
Linking to innovation
Accomplishing things that have real meaning.
An impact on a scale that matters
Distributed Leadership - Peter Senge
LEARNING
Organization learning Learning means developing
the capacity to do something I couldn!t do before.
We need the capabilities/capacities to help people do
things differently.
All learning is about doing
Learning means being vulnerable.
Don!t be so invested in being right.
I!ve never let schooling interfere with my education.
--- Mark Twain
Distributed Leadership - Peter Senge
Competencies in the distributed leadership model
Vision: whose vision? When does it become shared?
What is the personal and collective vision?
Relationships: the importance of networks (network
leaders); interpersonal relationships (sense of trust,
candor, emotions); the quality of the human relationships.
New ways of working: highly distributed
Sensemaking: different mental models, how to shift those
models; the human perception of the world around them.
Distributed Leadership - Peter Senge
Sense
Making
Building
Relationships
Creating a Vision
Inventing new ways of working
(Network)
(Interpersonal)
Network Leaders
Highly distributed
Perception of the world
Personal & Collective
Yin
Y
a
n
g
Yin - who we are
with one another
- relatedness
Yang - where were
going, directiveness,
aim, aspirations
Think about Distributed Leadership
Its complementary John Kotter
Leadership is about coping with
change:
Setting a direction
Developing a vision
Aligning people
Communicating the new
direction - empowering
Motivating and inspiring
Keep people moving in the
right direction
Recognize & reward success
Management is about
coping with complexity:
Decide what needs to be done
Planning & budgeting
Develop capacity to
achieve the plan
Organizing & staffing
Ensure that staff achieve
the plan
Controlling & problem solving
Thinking about Communications
and its consequences
The situation. . .
"What we've got here is...failure to
communicate.
-- From the film Cool Hand Luke.
Do you want me to do my work or do
you want me to communicate?
-- Heard frequently . . .
The consequences
Failure to communicate . . . leads to . .
Failure to collaborate . . . leads to . . .
Failure to execute . . . leads to . . .
Poor performance and loss of respect,
credibility and integrity with clients
and sponsors
So, communication is
!Understanding between and among people;
!An interdependent process;
!Not necessarily agreement;
!Constant. You cannot NOT communicate. We
constantly give and receive communications.
!Good communication is a habit: Habit is habit and
not to be flung out of the window by any man, but
coaxed downstairs a step at a time. - Mark Twain
Principles of communication
!People are not mind readers
!People judge you by your behavior, not
your intent
!Successful Communication is dependent
on what is heard not what is said
How we communicate
!What people can see
!What people hear
!What we actually say
!Communication is in the mind of the
recipient: Youre just making noise if
the other person doesnt hear you.
Structure of communication
Every type of communication has three components: Every type of communication has three components:
! !Content: Content: what is the communication about what is the communication about
! !Context Context: : those attributes that surround the content those attributes that surround the content
and give it linkage and meaning with its and give it linkage and meaning with its
surroundings surroundings
! !Structure: Structure: the the bones bones of the communication; how it of the communication; how it
is organized, how it is delivered, and the is organized, how it is delivered, and the
framework for interpretation. framework for interpretation.
Structure of communication
A Russian proverb says, Once a word goes
out of your mouth, you can never swallow
it again.
Or . . .
Do you want to be on the top fold of the New
York Times?
Comparisons
Who was the primary speaker at the
Gettysburg Cemetery dedication on
November 19, 1863?
What do we remember about that
speech?
Lincoln was the secondary speaker.
What do we remember about Lincolns?
Comparisons
Edward Everett, perhaps the most popular
orator of the day. His 13,607-word oration
lasted for two hours.
Lincoln was the secondary speaker, a bit of
an afterthought. His address was 272 words
delivered in two to three minutes.
In words, as in architecture, sometimes, . . .
Less is More.
Its not just about words
Face to Face:
!Verbal (words) 7%
!Body language 55%
!Vocal (tone) 38%
Telephone:
!Words (verbal) 12%
!Vocal (tone) 87%
!Body language 1%
Every part of you is involved in communications -
it defines who you are the type of interaction you
want with your listener
Communication is not just about words
Well DONE!
WELL, done?
Well done.