Many of you are leaders, managers or consultants with at least 20 years of experience. Like me you cut your teeth in the days of fat communications budgets, power suits and decidedly top-down modes of communication.

Old habits are hard to break. If you tend to think of dealings with staff as “telling them what they need to know” you have the equation only partly right.

Here are the new rules:

1. Listen then talk
2. Ask what they want then provide
3. Don’t write anything until you talk to real people who you want to reach
4. Get to know their interests, what’s keeping them up at night, what gets them out of bed in the morning, and what makes them want to stay home
5. Think of yourself as the United Nations instead of the Vatican - representative vs. traditional authority
6. Forget trying to sell your organization’s message - focus on sharing information and a two-way relationship with the people that are part of it

The old way of cascading, top down information does not work (if it ever did…). We all expect and deserve more. We want connection, answers and most of all, to be heard.

I realize the irony in the above question from a communications consultant who normally talks about the need for communicating. But there is a point where too much is not a good thing.

Perspective is the most important skill an effective communicator possesses. Whether you are working with a person on staff, a volunteer or a consultant, you are wise to listen! A great communicator will not tell you what you want to hear; he or she will advise you on what to do for your best chance of success.

For example, if you are rolling out a project, it is easy to think this is the most important topic for staff across your organization. Most of the time, it isn’t! There is a point where it may be, but an all-staff, all-information approach can backfire on you.

I love this excerpt from a post from Joseph Phillips, a certified project manager, and a savvy communicator:

Communication planning comes down to this key question: Who needs what information, when do they need it, and in what modality?

Who needs what? This tackles two major issues in any project. “Who” describes the stakeholders with whom you and your project team need to communicate. “What” describes the information that they’ll need.

Not all of your stakeholders will need the same information. Sure, that sounds obvious, but have you ever met one of those moron project managers (yes, the guy a few cubes from you) who sends out all project information to everyone who’s even heard of his project? This guy thinks he’s covering all of his bases because everyone has all of the information. The problem with this approach is the same problem with giving your cat the whole bag of cat food at once: Only give what’s needed or things will get messy.

If you asked most people what they think are the reasons employees quit their jobs, the typical answer would be factors like poor pay, conflict with others, or simply a bad fit. The truth is that those things make the list, but are not the only reasons. Organizational psychologists and experts say these are the key ingredients for staff happiness:

1. Opportunity for personal control or latitude in decision making
2. Opportunity for skill use acquisition and development
3. Clear goals
4. Variety in job content and location
5. Role clarity and feedback
6. Positive contact with others
7. Good pay
8. Physical security
9. Valued social position
10. Supportive supervision
11. Career outlook
12. Equity (justice for both the individual and the community)

The secret to a great leader is someone who can recognize potential in others and set them free to do what they do best. Effective communication, as a leader and as an organization, helps to foster this environment.

Here’s an excerpt from an interview with Marcel Lauzière. Current president of the Canadian Council on Social Development and the new president and CEO of Imagine Canada. In a few sentences Marcel captures what true leadership is. Read the rest of the article here. A great introduction to the week ahead!

Leaders need to be passionate because it’s through passion that we actually get people enthusiastic…[wanting] to go in that same direction. That’s the case in every sector. We have to distinguish between leadership and management. You need both for an organization to work effectively. But on the leadership front, it’s very much about communicating a very clear vision and destination, doing it in a passionate way so people get excited about issues. It’s also recognizing that leadership can’t be just at the top of the organization; leadership has to be shared at various levels of the organization. A good leader will normally try to encourage people within the whole organization to play leadership roles at different levels.