Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J.

Barrett

Transformational Leadership
Through Effective Internal
Communication

Lectures Based on
Leadership Communication, 4th edition
By Deborah J. Barrett, Ph.D.
Copyright 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

Discussion Topics
Selecting an appropriate leadership style
and communication approach
Recognizing the strategic and cultural role
of employee communication
Using visions and missions to strengthen
internal communication
Designing an effective change
communication program

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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

Leaders Should Select Their

Styles Carefully
Visionary
Coaching

Highly
positive

Affiliative
Democratic

e
v
i
it
s
Po

Pacesetting
Highly
negative Commanding
Source: Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee. (2002). Primal Leadership: Realizing the
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Power of Emotional Intelligence. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

Different Leadership Styles

Should Be Used Appropriately
Style
Visionary
Coaching
Affiliative

Democratic
Pacesetting
Commanding

How builds resonance When appropriate

Moves people toward
When changes require a new
shared goals and dreams vision or a new direction is
needed
Connects a persons
To help an employee improve
wants with the
performance by building longorganizations goals
term capabilities
Creates harmony by
To heal rifts in a team,
connecting people to
motivate during stressful
each other
times, or strengthen
connections
Values peoples input
To build buy-in or consensus,
and gets commitment
or to get valuable input from
through participation
employees
Meets challenging and
To get high-quality results
exciting goals
from a motivated and
competent team
Soothes fears by giving In a crisis, to kick-start a turnclear direction in an
around, or problem employees
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emergency

Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

Transformational Leaders are Mostly

Visionary and Affiliative
Transformation leaders

Emphasize new possibilities

Promote a compelling vision
Connect with others individually and in groups
They depend on the following when
communicating with internal audiences:

Authenticity and credibility (a positive ethos)

Emotional intelligence
Mentoring and coaching abilities
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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

The Objectives of Effective

Employee Communication
Educate employees in the organizations
culture, vision, and strategic goals
Motivate support for organizations goals
Encourage higher performance and
discretionary effort
Limit misunderstandings that may damage
productivity
Align employees behind organizations
performance objectives and position them
to help achieve them
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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

Strategic Employee
Communication Model

Supportive
Management
Targeted
Messages

On-going
Assessment

Wellpositioned
Staff

Effective Media/
Forums

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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

Best Practice Definition of

Model Components
Component

Best Practice Definition

Strategic
objectives

Communications used to reinforce strategic

objectives and to ensure employees
understand new direction

Supportive
management

Top-level management involved in and

actively assuming responsibility for
communications

Targeted
messages

Targeted, consistent, frequently repeated

messages designed to clarify company
vision, strategy, and direction

Effective
media/Forums

More emphasis placed on informal, face-toface communications than on formal vehicles

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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

Best Practice Definition of Model

Components (continued)
Component

Best Practice Definition

Wellpositioned
staff

Employees positioned strategically and

deployed as change agents

On-going
assessment

Change communication success measured

frequently against clearly defined goals;
communication effectiveness included in
individual performance appraisals

Integrated
processes

Change communications integrated into

business processes with communication
milestones included in business plan
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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

Establishing and Using

Missions and Visions
What are missions and visions?
Why should you use them?
When are they most effective?
How do you build one?

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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

What is a Mission Statement?

The mission is why a company exists.

An effective mission does the following:
Defines a companys basic business
Ensures employees are pointed in the same
direction
Establishes a single, noble purpose and an
enduring reality

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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

What is a Vision?
The vision is what the organization wants
to become.
An effective vision does the following:

Reflects the leaders willingness to project

into the future
Expresses aspirations
Describes an inspiring new reality,
achievable in a reasonable timeframe
Guides internal actions
Usually starts with the words to become
or to create
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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

Why Use Mission and Vision Statements?

Establish a firm foundation of goals,
standards, and objectives to guide corporate
planners and managers
Satisfy both companys need for efficiency
and employees need for group identity
Inspire individual action, determine behavior,
and fuel motivation
Provide direction to keep everyone moving in
the same direction

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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

Approaches to Building an
Effective Mission and Vision
Build the mission and vision from the inside
out, using one of the following approaches:
CEO/leader developed
Leader-senior team visioning
Bottom-up visioning

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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

Steps in Building an Effective

Mission and Vision
1. Create the initial draft
Of the mission by
Defining what the organization does
Identifying the core products or services
Determining its value proposition
Of the vision by
Deciding what the organization wants or
can become
Establishing the critical success factors
in the marketplace
Identifying strengths and weaknesses
Clarifying the opportunities and threats
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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

Steps in Building an Effective Mission

and Vision (continued)
2. Clarify the meaning
3. Tell the world in 25 words or less what you
are and want to become
4. Develop the strategic objectives to make the
vision specific and actionable
5. Create a final version and hold meetings
with employees to test it

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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

Relationship of Mission and Vision to

Strategic Objectives
The Future

Mission
Mission

Vision

How we get to
the vision

Strategic
StrategicObjectives
Objectives
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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

What are Strategic Objectives?

Strategic objectives help to make a vision
more meaningful and actionable
They should be

Specific actions designed to help

accomplish the vision and bring sustainable
competitive advantage
Longer-term measurable targets, usually
divided into two categories:
Quantitative goals
Qualitative goals
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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

Levels of Change
Communication Effort
Level 3: Major
Level 2: Strategic
Level 1: Basic
Targeted,
strategic
messages,
mostly onedirectional,
with periodic
assessment

Strategic
messages, using
all vehicles but
relying primarily
on interactive
meetings with
periodic program
and performance
assessment

All of strategic
program plus
employee workshops to redefine
work habits and
change employee
behavior at all
levels with frequent
program and
performance
feedback and
assessment
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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

Essential Change Communication Steps

Form a cross-functional, multiForm a cross-functional, multilevel communication team
level communication team
Assess current employee communication
Assess current employee communication
practices against best practices
practices against best practices

Target gaps in communication

Target gaps in communication
for immediate improvement
for immediate improvement
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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

Essential Change Communication Steps

(continued)
Develop a vision and strategic
Develop a vision and strategic
objectives if needed
objectives if needed
Conduct cascading vision,
Conduct cascading vision,
strategy, job redefinition
strategy, job redefinition
workshops
workshops
Monitor the results and make
Monitor the results and make
adjustments if find communication
adjustments if find communication
breakdowns
breakdowns
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Leadership Communication, 4th edition by Deborah J. Barrett

Discussion Summary
Leaders need to use their knowledge and
understanding of the people they lead to select the
best leadership and communication style to use
Effective internal communication holds an
organization together and allows it to function
effectively and efficiently
Effective internal communication requires leaders
to ensure all important messages, such as
missions, visions, and strategic objectives, are
understood by all employees
To succeed, any major change program must be
supported by change communication
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