The Importance of Communication and Collaboration in Leadership

Patti Gilchrist, PMP, is a Senior Technical Manager with more than 20 years of IT experience. Visit her website at www.freepmstudy.com

  Communications Management   Leadership  

As individuals move up through the organization to become leaders, communication skills become even more critical. Skills that served you well in former positions may not be sufficient to be successful in next-level roles where the focus shifts to effectively leading and developing a team, building trust and commitment, fostering team work and collaboration.

So what can you do to assess and enhance communication skills that you will need to be a successful collaborative leader? Let’s consider a few questions, and think honestly about how you would answer these.

When things go wrong, how do you react?
Is your response proportional to the situation? Do you yell loudly or belittle the team? What is your leadership style? Do you behave similar to that of a drill sergeant—authoritative and abrupt, frequently barking orders at your staff?

Or do you bring calm, objective perspective to the situation and help coach and guide a solution? Remaining calm under pressure is a difficult, yet in my opinion, the most underrated ability of high-performing leaders.

The reason I say this skill is underrated is because throughout your career, you may encounter individuals who erroneously perceive the ability to remain calm under pressure as lacking a sense of urgency to action. Think about it. When you stay calm, you are not projecting an outward depiction of decisive …

Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.