Cracking the Leadership Code

Chapter 8CRACKING THE COMMUNICATION CODE

Developing excellent communication skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership. The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others. If a leader can't get a message across clearly and motivate others to act on it, then having a message doesn't even matter.

—Gilbert Amelio, president and CEO of National Semiconductor Corp.

At its core, effective communication isn't about transferring information. It's about transforming information. In physics, transformation is defined as the spontaneous change of one element into another. Transformation is an incredible, active, and dynamic process. Where you end up is vastly different from where you started.

The same is true with effective communication. When you transform information, it stops being mere data, and becomes Shared Understanding. When you achieve Shared Understanding, both parties see reality in the same way. At first glance, this may not seem like a big deal, but it's the key to working well with other people.

Shared Understanding is the holy grail of communication. Leadership success depends on it. It's why you go through all the effort of communicating in the first place.

The reason Shared Understanding is so important boils down to one vital truth:

Shared Understanding is the foundation for all future action.

Just as you wouldn't build a house without a proper foundation, if you make decisions without basing them ...