In this piece, we establish the relevance of types of communication that is verbal and non-verbal in leadership development and management, and that a great part of communication is non-verbal. This piece also notes that there are other communication considerations such as conversational intelligence, radical candor and participative management theory that are important for leadership development and management.
Communication in Leadership and Communication Types
As the world moves more towards more humanistic and transformational leadership, certain concepts such as communication, job design, employee engagement, amongst other social and organizational concepts have been brought to the fray of leadership development and management.
While all of these elements are critical for leadership, we adjudge that communication is the most basic and critical leadership function. It is the means by which information and feedback is shared. It is also the tool used to build trust, improve motivation and direct individual employees and entire organizations. The implications of communication have been considered from several perspectives. The list starts with the basic communication framework which delineates communication into two types; verbal and non-verbal. The verbal type focuses on communication as spoken, and the non-verbal as use of body language, the elements of voice and tone, that is, non-spoken communication. It is critical to note that the verbal type is dominant in leadership management, while the underlying role of the non-verbal element is downplayed unconsciously.
Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication: Implications for Leadership
It is important to note that verbal communication is just 7% of human communication, while non-verbal communication makes up a whopping 93%. This surely has implications for leadership, especially line management. This also begs certain questions; how does tone of voice and body language affect performance appraisals and creative meetings? Does the voice and facial language of the leader affect the climate and motivation levels of employees? One of our consultants was at a meeting where a startup owner was scared to sign a deal because the body language and tone of the financiers was hostile. They sounded nice literally, but the non-verbal component of the discussion appeared hostile. These questions and their likely implication should be pondered.
Communication and Related Management Concepts
While the communication types provide a good foundation in understanding how communication aids leadership, it is important to note that there are communication related concepts that are critical for leadership. Some of which are conversational intelligence, radical candor, and participative management. They as discussed below.
Conversational Intelligence
This concept was developed by Judith Glasser in her book; Conversational Intelligence: How Great Leaders build trust. The core theme of conversational intelligence concept is that conversations can help give legitimacy to leadership. It is also about how trust, partnerships, collaborations can lead to mutual success in the organization. The operation of this concept is such that conversations should not be treated casually in organizations. Leaders should seek to achieve development of desirable attitudes, beliefs, motivation and other necessary behaviour that support success in the organization. Though this concept is not explicitly captured in any academic literature on communication, it is relevant in day to day communication of leaders.
Despite the possibilities that can be derived from having deliberate conversations targeted at building trust for performance, some managers struggle with giving feedback, holding on to their negative opinion of subordinates, thereby reducing the opportunity for positive engagement and improvement of the particular employee. This is where another concept called radical candor comes in.
Radical Candor
Developed by Kim Scott, the idea behind radical candor is that what make a good boss sometimes is openness and the ability to give criticism in a way that improves performance. The argument about radical candor is that leaders must have empathy and they must truly care so that they can get the best out of their people.
Let us refer to the point that 93% of communication is non-verbal. If leaders are more open and truly care, it ensures that more information or feedback that is embedded in their non-verbal communication is translated into open speech-verbal and that aggression or tendency to communicate negative emotions through the body or other non-verbal means is reduced.
There are many communication- in-leadership concepts that suggest how leaders can get the best of their people. The ones discussed so far focus leader-employee type communication that is individual level communication. However, there are systemic considerations for communication which leaders have to mind. There is no better concept that illustrates and explains this by what we have defined as or known as Participative Management Theory, developed by Rensis Likert
Participative Management Theory
This theory was developed by Likert in 1961, and it try to look at the interplay between leadership, decision-making and communication. Likert used 4 systems to explain the types of communication and decision making systems that exists in various organizations. These included the; i) Systems 1: Exploitative-Authoritative System 2. Benevolent-Authoritative System (System 2) 3. Consultative (System 3) 4. Participative (System 4)
Exploitative-Authoritative (System 1)
Here decisions are taken without the input of other stakeholders in the organisation. The organization is defined by limited communication and the premium placed on team work is low. Organizations such as these use threats to drive performance, instead of empathy, improved job designs and other more humanistic tools. This results to only top management having a sense of mission and responsibility for the goals of the organization.
Benevolent-Authoritative (System 2)
In this system, organizations maintain a master-servant relationship between managers and their sub-ordinates. The system thrives on patronage. Employees get motivated based on rewards. The system is fraught with low sense of ownership, poor communication and poor team work.
Consultative (System 3)
Leaders under this system trust subordinates to an extent, but not completely. Employees get motivation through a combination of rewards and involvement. Employees under this system expect more involvement that previous systems. Teamwork and communication is also improved under this system.
Despite the favourable characteristics of the consultative system- System 3, there is an opportunity to design organizations in a manner that ensures that information is not controlled or overly centralized in the hands of management. System 3 is quite flexible, compared to other systems, but not as much as Systems 4 which is discussed below. Systems 4, the participative system focuses on greater feedback from the external environment, thereby enabling a multi-flow of communication in organizations. This system is more empowering, and it helps organizations transform into the practise of organizational learning.
Participative Management Theory (System 4)
This system is firmly based on trust and confidence in employees, such that information is shared freely across the organization, from frontline to topline employees. Goals are contemplated in unison and there is a common basis of goal ownership, as well as a heightened sense of responsibility and motivation. Rewards are also rooted in the performance systems. There is open communication and there is a great incentive for teamwork.
Other typical characteristics for this system include;
- Group relationships are stronger, especially between leaders and employees. Empathy is great, and collaboration is the natural order of things.
- There is an unconscious consensus that people’s opinion and humanity must be respected.
- Problem solving is done in groups.
- There is tendency for gatekeeping, as natural leaders may arise within the group.
Recommendations and Conclusion
We recommend that leaders consider more empathetic, humanistic and open communication practices in their daily operations. Particularly, we recommend that leaders pay more attention to participative management and impact of non-verbal communication. They should also consider employing conversational intelligence and radical candor as these will help them build more trust, motivation and success in their organizations.
While various concepts and communication types have been discussed in the context of leadership development and management, the subject of communication in leadership cannot be exhausted. The dynamics of communication in team building, sustainability, strategy implementation and organizational performance are areas that this series will consider in subsequent releases.
