A short YouTube leadership talk (Timeout For Leadership) that argues communication is foundational for leaders. The speaker cites a McKinsey Global Institute estimate that leaders spend about 80% of their workday communicating, emphasizes that connection (being heard and understood) matters more than information alone, and invites viewers to a follow-up episode on keys to effective communication.
Welcome back to Timeout for Leadership. Thanks for being part of this growing transformational leadership, community and movement. Let me start today with a question. What percent of your day do you think is spent communicating? That's a tough one. Hey. In A study from McKinsey Global Institute, they estimate that leaders spend about 80% of their workday in one to one communication. This isn't talking about your personal communication or personal time. Now, if this is true, what do you think the chance of us failing to effectively communicate is? It's probably pretty high. So how effective do you think you are at communicating now? I'm not just talking about the words that you speak. I'm talking about the body language. I'm talking about how well you listen, how well you respond to the people that you're communicating with. So if you're to rate your communication effectiveness, on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being terrible and 10 being awesome, what would you score yourself? Let's test your honesty. If you were to ask your wife or your significant other or your children, how would they score your effectiveness at communication? So why is this so important? Well, it's because communication is the foundation for everything that we do. The success of relationships, our business, sales success, team productivity, our marriage, everything hinges on our ability to communicate effectively. All great leaders, all transformational leaders are great communicators. They've learned the art of communication and they unlocked the secret. Do you want to know what the secret is? The secret to all success and effective communication is connection. I bet that's not what you were thinking. Former President Gerald Ford once said, talent's not enough. Experience is not enough. To lead others, you must be able to communicate well. And connecting is the key. Think about it this way. Why do we communicate? What's the ultimate point or desire of communication? Is it to achieve an objective? Motivate someone? Teach? Correct? Lead? You know, when I ask this question to the people that I work with, the overwhelming answer came down to the great need to be heard and understood. Think about it. When you're communicating, what do you need people to do? You need them to hear you. Not just hear your words, but understand. You understand what it is you need or you need them to do. This happens best when a connection is made. It's all about relationship. When communication is only about information, we fail to connect and build relationship. It's not to say there's times where information is important, but the connection is key. We all have the same desire when we communicate, whether we are the boss or the babysitter. When we talk. We expect and desire to be heard and understood. Here's what I know and have experienced when we don't feel heard or understood. What happens what happens when we don't feel heard or understood? Join us next week for part two of Communication is Key when we will talk about the keys to effective communication.
