- Today, we're going to talk
about two key areas of leadership skills:
task communication and relationship communication.
It seems no matter who we talk to
or no matter what research we read,
if leaders are underdeveloped
in either of these two key areas, they will struggle.
And I like to treat this
as a bit of a self-assessment for you
so that you can see where you are on these two skills.
You can listen to the examples and explanations
and see where your strengths are.
So let's get into the details.
(upbeat music)
I'm Alex Lyon and I'd like to invite you to take a look
at the online classes I have
at the Communication Coach Academy.
I will put a link to that
in the description below this video.
Most research and practical experience
agrees on this basic foundation,
leaders generally communicate in two key ways.
On the first axis is task-related communication.
As a leader, you have to move your projects forward,
and to do that, leaders frequently talk about priorities,
goals, deadlines, responsibilities,
and other concrete information.
And when they do that,
it's important that leaders are clear and concise,
and they keep everybody on the same page
as the team moves forward toward those desired outcomes.
The second axis is equally important,
that leaders communicate in ways that develop
and maintain positive relationships.
Effective leaders need to connect with people,
to show consideration when they interact,
and to listen well
so that followers feel as if they are connected
to the leader and to the team.
When leaders are equally skilled at both of these,
they will be consistently high performers.
But when leaders don't have both of these skills,
it can be extremely frustrating for their team members.
So let's talk about three supervisors that I know personally
and I will use fake names to protect the innocent.
The not so innocent, in some cases.
But as we talk about these three leaders,
I want you to see which one sounds the most like you.
The first supervisor from long ago, I will call him Bill,
he was really unbalanced
and would communicate entirely on task-related issues.
He talked about deadlines, responsibilities,
the various jobs that needed to be done
and he did this pretty well,
and I would give him a score of about nine out of 10
on task-related communication.
He was clear and concise,
but Bill was a little cold on the side of relationships.
He made very little effort to connect
and it was difficult to work for him
because you did not feel
as if he cared about you as a whole person.
I would give him about a two out of 10
on the relationship-oriented communication that he did.
And I noticed there was a really high turnover rate
at that organization as a result.
People came and went
and didn't really feel too bad about leaving
because there was no relationship to Bill
or to the organization.
It was obvious to me and to other people who worked there
that Bill needed to get a little better
at his interpersonal dynamics,
but he kept defaulting back
to his task-related communication.
On the flip side of the coin is the second supervisor
I worked with at a different organization
and we'll call her Heather,
and she had strong relationship-driven communication.
She was excellent at connecting, showing consideration,
and I would give her a nine out of 10
on relationship-oriented interactions and communication.
Heather was the kind of person
that you could sit and talk to for an hour
and enjoy every minute of it.
You felt supported and it was fun to work there.
I'm being honest, however,
and if I say I frequently did not really have a clear idea
of what I was supposed to be doing.
So Heather was well-liked by me and the others
but she overemphasized relationship communication
and our goals and responsibilities
were really blurry as a result.
And like my supervisor Bill,
Heather's shortcomings were pretty well known
by the people on the team.
I would give her a score of about two
on task-related communication.
We would often ask for clarification
and ask for more concrete deadlines, tasks, and goals,
but on that side of the equation,
she just didn't seem to have that strength.
The third supervisor I'll talk about did both task
and relationship communication really well.
We'll call him Mike, and his name actually is Mike,
but since he's the best example, I can use his real name,
and he also sometimes watches the channel
and deserves all the credit.
So hello, Mike, if you're watching.
He was really balanced,
he was clear and concise on our goals,
our tasks, our deadlines, our responsibilities.
We always knew exactly what we were supposed to be doing.
Mike was equally skilled at asking you how you were doing.
He was a great listener,
he showed you consideration
and made you feel like you were part of the conversation
and part of the broader team relationship wise.
And I give Mike a nine out of 10
on both tasks and relationships.
Mike's friendliness and people skills
even showed through when we were all under pressure
and working on deadlines.
The team was extremely productive when Mike was in charge
but what I believe truly sets Mike apart
was that he was able to read the room, as they say,
and know when to be a little more task-oriented
and went to be more relationship-oriented
to fit the situation.
So if somebody on the team needed corrective feedback,
Mike would not hesitate to be really clear about it.
He gave me direct feedback
on more than one occasion when I needed it,
but he was also really quick to engage us socially
when that's what he sensed people needed.
He was very adaptable in that way
and I believe that Mike's equal skill
in task and in relationship communication
allowed him the flexibility
to adapt to whatever the situation called for in the moment.
So my question to you is who do you sound more like?
Are you like Bill,
pretty heavily oriented toward task communication?
Or are you like Heather,
where you lean mostly
toward interpersonal relationships and communication?
Or are you like Mike, are you equally skilled in both?
And what would your score be?
From zero to 10,
what would you rate yourself on task-related communication
and from zero to 10,
what would you rate yourself
on relationship-oriented communication?
See what that reveals to you, if anything,
about your overall strengths and weaknesses in these areas.
Now, I personally know Mike,
and happen to know because I've talked to him about it
that he put a lot of effort
into being both strong on tasks and clear and concise
and really knowing that we were all on the same page,
and he put a lot of effort into relationship communication,
he made sure that he was connecting with people
and he worked at it.
And what that means is it's so can you.
He was deliberate and you can be deliberate as well.
His skills have gotten better over time,
and your skills can get better over time
with deliberate practice and effort.
So let me know what your scores are below,
and who you relate to the most, Bill, Heather or Mike?
And remember, wherever your scores are right now,
that's just a snapshot,
a temporary picture of where you currently are
and you can get better from there.
I look forward to reading your comments below
and don't forget to take a look at the classes I offer
on the Communication Coach Academy.
I will put a link as I mentioned in the description below.
So thanks, God bless, and I will see you soon.