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Leadership communication styles: Adapting to Others

September 30, 2024/in Blog /by Scott Schwefel

Leadership communication styles

Adapting Leadership Communication Styles to Enhance Team Dynamics

Understanding your own personality type and recognizing the personalities of others is a powerful tool, especially in business settings. While managers hold authority, the most effective leaders know the value of adapting their leadership communication styles to suit their team’s diverse preferences. By doing so, leaders foster a more harmonious and productive environment that thrives on collaboration and mutual understanding. This approach allows for both personal and professional growth within the organization.

Leadership communication is not a one-size-fits-all skill. In fact, understanding how to adapt your communication style depending on the situation and the individuals involved is key to fostering a positive work environment. Effective leadership communication bridges the gap between strategy and execution, ensuring that team members remain aligned with organizational goals.

In this blog, we will explore practical strategies for managers to adjust their communication methods and styles to maximize team performance and drive better results.

Tailoring Communication Methods for Maximum Impact

A significant difference between personality types lies in how they prefer to communicate. Introverts often favor email as it gives them time to process information and respond thoughtfully. In contrast, extroverts may prefer in-person conversations, engaging in real-time collaboration to bounce ideas off colleagues. Meanwhile, multitaskers may opt for phone calls, which allow them to tackle multiple tasks while addressing key issues.

Understanding these preferences is critical for leaders looking to create an efficient communication environment. Managers need to recognize that personal communication preferences are integral to a person’s work style. According to studies on leadership communication styles, individuals who are allowed to communicate in a way that suits them are more likely to be engaged, productive, and contribute meaningfully to their team.

However, business necessities sometimes demand immediate communication, regardless of personal preferences. In such cases, managers should prioritize the task at hand, but when possible, it’s beneficial to allow team members to communicate through their preferred channels. For instance, permitting an employee who excels via email to respond in that format can result in more thoughtful and productive outcomes (Communicating with the Four Color Personalities).

One strategy leaders can use to accommodate different communication styles is to establish flexible communication protocols. These protocols allow employees to engage in their preferred modes of communication while still adhering to organizational standards. Leaders who incorporate adaptability into their leadership communication styles ensure that their team members feel heard and valued, fostering a culture of inclusion and respect.

Adjusting Communication Styles for Clearer Conversations

Just as communication methods vary, so do communication styles. Some employees prefer concise, bullet-pointed instructions focused solely on the essentials. Others thrive on detailed explanations that give them insight into how their role fits into the bigger picture. These differences can lead to misunderstandings if managers fail to adjust their communication style.

By observing and noting the communication preferences of their team members, managers can tailor their messages more effectively. For example, a task-oriented employee may appreciate bullet points, while a relationship-oriented individual may prefer a more extensive discussion. When addressing larger groups, a manager can cater to both styles by presenting key points first, followed by a detailed explanation for those who need it (Adapting and Connecting, Inside and Out). For teams, an Insights Discovery Team Building workshop can further enhance communication and understanding.

Leveraging Emotional Intelligence in Leadership Communication

Emotional intelligence (EI) plays a pivotal role in leadership communication. Leaders with high emotional intelligence are aware of both their own emotions and the emotions of others, enabling them to communicate more effectively. Emotional intelligence allows leaders to perceive and regulate their emotions in ways that promote understanding and collaboration. It also enables leaders to recognize how different communication styles affect their team members emotionally.

Leaders who practice emotional intelligence in their communication are better equipped to handle conflicts, navigate difficult conversations, and inspire trust among their team. Emotional intelligence is closely linked to self-awareness in leadership, which refers to a leader’s ability to recognize their strengths, weaknesses, and emotional triggers. Leaders who are self-aware can adapt their communication style based on the emotional needs of their team.

For instance, when delivering feedback, an emotionally intelligent leader will consider how the recipient might react. A high-EI leader would tailor their message to be constructive, supportive, and empathetic, ensuring that the feedback is well-received and encourages growth (Valiant CEO: Emotional Intelligence in Leadership).

Running Effective Meetings for All Personality Types

Meetings are a necessity in most organizations, but they can often feel draining, especially when personality differences clash. A key challenge that managers face is facilitating meetings that cater to the needs of all participants, ensuring that introverts and extroverts alike are able to contribute effectively.

By setting clear goals—whether brainstorming, troubleshooting, or planning—managers can help keep meetings focused and productive. For instance, a meeting designed for brainstorming will likely encourage extroverts to voice their ideas freely, but introverts may need more time to process and reflect before contributing. In such cases, setting an agenda in advance allows introverts to prepare their thoughts ahead of time, ensuring a more balanced and inclusive conversation.

One strategy for enhancing meetings is using active listening in leadership. Active listening involves fully concentrating on what is being said rather than just passively hearing the speaker. When leaders actively listen to their team, they are better able to facilitate discussions that incorporate diverse viewpoints, making team members feel valued and heard (GrowthTactics: Active Listening in Leadership).

Using a structured approach—such as round-robin sharing followed by open discussion—ensures both introverts and extroverts have opportunities to contribute in ways that suit their strengths. Structuring meetings this way also helps avoid personality conflicts, as everyone has a clear understanding of when and how they can contribute.

Presenting and Teaching with Diverse Learning Styles in Mind

When presenting or leading workshops, it’s essential to remember that both personality and learning styles vary. Some individuals absorb information best through auditory presentations, while others prefer visual aids, group discussions, or hands-on learning. Leaders who are adept at recognizing these differences can make their presentations more engaging and effective.

For example, during a team presentation, a leader might combine auditory elements (speaking), visual elements (slides), and interactive elements (group exercises) to cater to different learning preferences. This not only ensures that the information is accessible to all participants but also keeps the audience engaged.

Moreover, adapting communication in leadership is critical when presenting to diverse teams. By adjusting the depth and complexity of information based on the audience, leaders can ensure that their message is both understood and actionable. Incorporating storytelling, practical examples, and real-life scenarios can also enhance the effectiveness of the presentation (MindTools: Learning Styles).

The Role of Adaptability in Leadership Communication

Adaptability is one of the most important skills a leader can develop. In fact, the ability to switch between leadership communication styles is critical for navigating the complexities of modern workplaces. Leaders must learn to assess the situation and determine which communication style will be most effective, whether it’s directive in a crisis or participative during collaborative projects.

Adapting communication in leadership also means being attuned to the needs of the team. For example, during times of high stress, employees may need more reassurance and guidance, while in more routine situations, they may prefer autonomy and minimal supervision.

Leaders who are adaptable can move fluidly between different communication styles. Whether a leader needs to be authoritative, coaching, or laissez-faire depends on the context and the personalities involved. By practicing empathy and self-awareness, leaders can determine when it’s time to switch styles to achieve the best results (Wudpecker: Leadership Communication Styles).

Building Trust Through Transparent Leadership Communication

Honesty and transparency are essential components of effective leadership communication. Employees are more likely to trust leaders who are open about the company’s goals, challenges, and opportunities. When leaders communicate transparently, they create an environment where employees feel safe to express their thoughts and concerns without fear of retaliation.

Leaders who practice transparency in their communication build stronger, more cohesive teams. Transparency is especially important during times of change or uncertainty, where clear communication can help alleviate fears and confusion among employees.

For example, during a restructuring or organizational change, transparent leaders will keep their teams informed about the reasons for the change, the expected outcomes, and the impact on individual team members. By providing regular updates and being open to feedback, leaders can ensure that their teams remain aligned and engaged throughout the process (Valamis: Leadership Communication Tips).

Encouraging Feedback and Continuous Improvement

One of the most effective ways for leaders to improve their communication is by actively seeking feedback from their team. Encouraging feedback not only helps leaders understand how their communication style is perceived but also opens the door to continuous improvement.

Leaders can foster a culture of open communication by regularly asking their team for input on how they communicate. This feedback can help leaders identify blind spots and areas for growth, enabling them to make necessary adjustments to better meet the needs of their team.

Moreover, feedback allows leaders to demonstrate their commitment to improvement. When employees see that their feedback is valued and acted upon, they are more likely to engage in honest, productive conversations with their leaders.

Conclusion: Lead with Flexibility and Understanding

Adapting leadership communication styles not only improves communication but also enhances team collaboration and overall productivity. Leaders who take the time to learn and apply these techniques will find that their teams are more engaged, motivated, and aligned with company goals. By fostering a culture of transparency, adaptability, and empathy, leaders can build stronger relationships with their teams, resulting in long-term success.

For more insights into personality types and their impact on leadership, feel free to contact us to explore how our programs can benefit your organization.

4 Ways to be a Better Communicator on Zoom

April 16, 2023/in Blog /by Scott Schwefel

4 Ways to be a Better Communicator on Zoom

Not even a global pandemic can stop us from communicating. While video calls aren’t optimal, there are things we can do to reduce “Zoom fatigue” and feel more connected to the people on our call. Learn these 4 ways to be a better communicator on zoom and ensure success.

1. Hide your own video.

When we’re effectively communicating with someone in person, there is a level of self-awareness involved in understanding how you’re showing up and how the person would like you to engage with them. This self-awareness is taken to an unhelpful extreme when there’s a video of yourself staring back at you. This would be like staring into a mirror when talking to someone in person. Awkward and distracting, to say the least.

The good news is that on Zoom, you can hide yourself without turning off your camera. Others can see you, but you won’t be staring at yourself—the closest you’ll get to the experience of talking in person. If you’re in Gallery mode, all you have to do is right-click your video to display the menu and choose “Hide Self View.”

It might be easy to say, “Well I just don’t/won’t look at myself,” but it is nearly impossible to not pay attention to your every blink, wiggle, and stray hair. To really be present, you’re better off hiding your video and giving your full attention to others.

2. Optimize your onscreen appearance as well as others’.

Optimizing your appearance is about more than just looking good, it’s about the ability to read subtle facial cues, which are hugely important to effective communication and essential for being a better communicator on zoom. Human beings are extremely sensitive to one another’s facial expressions, and expressions of emotion are a detailed display of muscle contractions, particularly around the eyes and mouth, often subconsciously perceived, and essential to our understanding of one another.

It’s important to give everyone their best chance at picking up these clues that underpin any dialogue by placing yourself in a well-lit space, placing your laptop or digital device on a firm surface, and allowing your face to take up no more or less of one-third of the screen. These conditions most closely mimic an in-person interaction where you can see clearly the nuanced projection of thought and emotion.

If you’re having trouble seeing someone’s face, if their camera is shaking and swaying, or if their face is too far or too close to the camera, let them know. Facilitate a conversation that will allow you to communicate more easily and effectively on this two way street.

3. Make sure you have a strong internet connection.

While this tip seems to go without saying, having a poor internet connection on a video call does more than alter the quality of transmission, it alters the emotional value of the interaction. We cannot be our most effective communicator when there’s an underlying feeling of frustration or disconnect.

Psychologists, neuroscientists, and computer scientists say that distortions and delays in video communication can make you feel anxious and isolated. The brain is in a state of dissonance trying to make sense of the fragmented information it’s receiving. This cerebral confusion translates to emotional discomfort. You may not even be aware that the symptoms of a weaker internet connection are causing stress and fatigue.

Communicating through a screen is hard enough without the extra burden of audio or video going in and out, lagging, or being distorted in any way. Again, the most effective communication happens when we can clearly see and hear the person with whom we’re engaging so that we can better lean into their style. Tip: If your wi-fi isn’t very strong, try hard-wiring into your modem or router.

4. Lean into the others’ style.

This is without a doubt the most important tip for being a better communicator on Zoom or in person.

The best communication happens when we lean into the style of the person to whom we’re talking. The good news about this is we do it naturally. Without realizing it, all of us engage in mimicry when we encounter another person. By mimicking, we are essentially saying “I behave like you do, I fit in here, and we trust each other.” We can mimic someone’s facial expressions on zoom and body language on zoom (even their posture on zoom), but we can also mimic their verbal style of communication.

For instance, some people may get on a work call and immediately dive into an agenda with ferocity and focus. Others may get on and wish to talk about how everyone is doing first and what they’ve been up to before getting into the work. Some people may get on a Zoom happy hour and speak quickly and excitedly, while others may quietly listen and absorb.

Pay attention to the tone, pace, and message of the people on your calls, and lean into it. This is where the Insights Discovery model comes into play. To learn about Insights Discovery, click here. For now, here’s a quick cheat sheet:

If they smile a lot… smile more.

If they’re more serious… smile less.

If they speak quickly… speed up.

If they speak slowly… slow down.

Don’t treat people the way you want to be treated. Treat them the way they want to be treated. You don’t have to fully mimic their behavior and style, but you must be aware of it and lean into it, even just five percent, to build stronger rapport and communicate more effectively.

The days of zoom are far from over. It’s in our best interest to learn how to better communicate on zoom with others, through a screen. In the end, you may find a lot of what you’ve learned applies to more than just Zoom meetings.

Do you have any great communication tips to share? Let me know at scott@discoveryourself.com

Verbal Versus Non-Verbal Communication

May 18, 2018/in Blog /by Scott Schwefel

Non-Verbal communication and personality You may not have heard of Albert Mehrabian, an Armenian-Iranian professor of psychology at UCLA, but you’ve almost certainly heard of his work. He studied human communication, and he performed experiments in the 1960s on the relative importance of words, tone, and physiology in verbal communication.

What is the most important part of speech as communication? It seems obvious that the answers would be the words that the communicator speaks, as they convey information most consistently. But according to Mehrabian, tone and physiology are even more important than words. Put another way: body language speaks volumes louder than words ever can!

Mehrabian’s experiments

Mehrabian was interested in how humans communicate, and whether verbal or non-verbal cues play a more vital role in conveying messages to one another. The idea behind the experiments he came up with was to judge the relative impact of three different factors on verbal communication:

Words spoken (i.e. what is said)
Tone of voice (i.e. how the voice sounds)
Physiology (e.g. body language, facial expressions, etc.)

Mehrabian aimed to compare the relative importance of verbal and non-verbal communication in face-to-face conversations. In the first experiment he ran, participants observed a person saying a single word and then judged whether that word was meant in a positive or negative way. The experimenters varied the communication so that sometimes both the word and the tone was positive (e.g. the word “dear” delivered with a smile), sometimes both were negative, and sometimes the word and tone were incongruent (i.e. the word was positive, but the delivery was negative). From the judgement of the participants over whether the communication was overall positive or negative, Mehrabian worked out how much of the judgement was due to the tone versus the word.

The second experiment compared photos of facial expressions and vocal tone captured on a tape recording. Participants had to judge whether the overall effect of the communication was positive or negative based on the combination of facial expressions and tone. From combining the results of these two studies, Mehrabian found:

7% of meaning came from the words used
38% of meaning came from the tone of voice
55% of meaning came from physiological cues like facial expressions

Over-interpretation

The problem with Mehrabian’s work is that it is frequently over-interpreted and used to make claims that are not actually supported. You’ll hear people claim that “body language makes up 55% of all communication” or that “non-verbal communication is more important than verbal communication.” In fact, this isn’t the case for several reasons.

First, remember that the experiments were performed with the participants listening to single, isolated words without context, which is not at all how humans typically experience communication. Secondly, the physiology factors that were consider were facial expressions, not body language as is commonly claimed. Most importantly, the experimental findings applied only to incongruent situations. This means that when physiological cues and verbal cues do not match, people disproportionately base their judgements on non-verbal rather than verbal communication. The same thing is not necessarily true in other situations.

The real takeaway lesson from these studies should not be “non-verbal communication is more important than verbal communication,” it should be “for clear communication, verbal and non-verbal cues need to match”. So, if you want to convey excitement about a project when you’re presenting, then your tone and body language should be positive as well as the words that you are using.

A final key factor that often goes completely overlooked is that these experiments equated communication to each speaker’s feelings and attitudes. In other words, Mehrabian’s speakers weren’t talking about facts or objective information, but instead their own subjective likes and dislikes.

Think of it this way: if you were at a party and you asked someone if they were having a good time, and they said yes while using a flat tone of voice and not making eye contact, then you’d naturally assume that they were not really having a good time. But if someone tried to tell you that the Earth was flat, it wouldn’t matter how upbeat they sounded or how excited they were, you still wouldn’t believe them. That’s because the person at the party was talking about their feelings, where non-verbal cues are important for your judgements, but the flat earth enthusiast was talking about facts, where you are more focused on the content of their speech.

Other body language studies

Of course, none of this is meant to refute that body language and other non-verbal cues are important in communication. It’s just that Mehrabian’s studies don’t really show what they are often claimed to show. But there have been many other studies over the years that have looked at verbal and non-verbal communication.

A notable example by Argyle and colleagues from 1970 used video tapes to show participants communicators who were either dominant or submissive, and it found that non-verbal cues and especially body posture contributed 4.3 times more to their judgements than did verbal cues.

On the other hand, a 1992 study by Hsee and colleagues analyzed how clinicians make judgements about the emotional states of their clients. They found that participants made judgements about another person’s emotional state based more on that person’s self-report and facial expressions than on their tone of voice. This could be because clinicians are trained to listen more than most people and are very attentive to subtle cues like facial expressions.

So what does all of this mean in practice? Essentially, effective communication requires a combination of words, tone, and physiology that are all in harmony. When you share information, especially if you are talking about your personal feelings, you needn’t be stiff and formal. In fact, you’ll communicate more clearly if you allow your body posture and your tone of voice to convey the same meaning as your words.

Next week we’re going to talk about the reverse of communicating effective – how to listen effectively. Come back soon for that!