Managerial Leadership and Communication

Communication is the underlying fundamental characteristic of all relationships in the natural world. Consequently, it exerts a substantial influence on virtually every facet of our lives whether this constitutes social activities such as companying and eloping with friends or negotiating whose turn it is to do the dishes (Braithwaite, 2021). In fact, even a mere semblance of communication can carry unintended meaning, so it is not surprising that this aspect is also the life force of an organization. Conveying and interpreting messages determines a manager’s ability to lead and therefore will dictate their success or failure in an administrational role. This in turn has greater implications for the firm as a whole as it will govern the subsequent economic gains or losses the organization will experience. Customarily, companies promote individuals into upper-level positions due to their high levels of technical expertise. While these aptitudes may have led to these individuals to climb the corporate ladder, the role of a leader necessitates additional interpersonal skills such as fostering collaboration among members of the team. Effective managerial communication precipitates instituting a communal understanding, mitigating conflict, and building trust. Certainly the faulty preference system has given rise to many candidates who have become cognizant of their lack of communication skills after their promotion. Astoundingly these individuals can cost an organization up to six figure losses, with that additional reckoning of forfeited momentum, team morale and premier clients (Wareham, 1991).

To sum up, the field of communication is a broad domain; it involves sending and receiving information, from other people through written, spoken, or oral mediums. In order to improve in each one of these areas it is important to reflect on one’s personal strengths and weaknesses. Since, although we cannot control external factors such as the circumstances, facts, or conditions of a situation we find ourselves in, we can alter how we choose to respond to them. Once we become aware of our natural instinctive behavior, we can make a conscious effort to rectify it to encourage the best possible outcome. It is also critical to know oneself when establishing an attainable goal or target in life. For this reason, a proper self-assessment can help set realistic expectations and will reveal what drives you and thus evince your inner motivation.?

As a basis for self-evaluation services such as Disc Flex can be utilized. Disc-flex is a research-based questionnaire hosted by Indaba Global that provides individuals with exclusive personalized information based on their highest four behavioral factors. The four primary DISC factors are D (dominance), I (influence), S (steadiness), and C (compliance). Emblematically, my DISC flex report generated after the completion of the fifteen-minute assessment indicated elevated steadiness and compliance patterns. For clarification a person who ranks high in steadiness places preeminence on sincerity, cooperation and dependability. Other steadiness behavioral tendencies include patience, persistence and thoughtfulness (Herrity, 2019).? To a large extent individuals who exhibit this factor prefer stable environments and perceive change as a threat. Moreover, they are also usually more reserved in manner, but people oriented, nonetheless. The compliance factor is the most complex of the four DISC factors; the source of this complexity lies in the combination of control and receptiveness. In brief, an individual who scores high on this factor is exceedingly rule oriented. Compliant workers are also notorious for their rigorously structured schedule, as well as their attention to detail and precision. For this reason they are often referred to as the "analyst type". Profiles that include both high steadiness and compliance factors reflect individuals with strong potential for technical work. This is because they combine accuracy and precision with the patience needed to work a problem extensively until it is complete. In the most general sense this personality type is best suited for jobs such as accountancy, computer programming or engineering.?

It should be noted that the descriptions above were largely wide-ranging, general principles that were primarily unspecific. However, by and large the interpretation provided by Indaba Global was a fairly accurate portal of my dispositions. With this in mind I would now like to analyze my assorted behavioral strengths and weaknesses as they relate to the discipline of communication. To start, a compelling fact that became evident to me after discussing this topic thoroughly with friends, family and coworkers is that, most individuals concurred with the areas that I have identified for refinement of my communication skills. In essence, the recommendations they gave me were relatively parsimonious with my own. I believe that this is due to the slightly eccentric nature of my personality (more on that later). All in all, the communication modes of expression I need to round off the most are oral, and interpersonal, antedated closely by managerial and strategic communication. In contrast, the medium I am most proficient in is written communication. To assist me in reaching my overarching goal: which is to become a more effective conversationalist, I will set five smart goals for myself to help me mitigate my weaknesses in each communication channel. In any case, SMART, like DISC, is also an acronym; it stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. That is to say, it is named after the criteria of the framework that guides you towards your ultimate objective.

Oral communication is characterized by strictly word of mouth, it includes discussions, speeches, and presentations. My principal strength in this medium is that I am relatively good at finding the right words. In my opinion, this is greatly influenced by the fact that I spend a considerable amount of time planning or thinking about how I will respond before I actually start to talk. Likewise when I give presentations, I tend to speak loudly, clearly, and at a steady pace which I think gives me exceptional stage presence. Nonetheless, it is small group meetings or one-to-one conversations where I struggle the most with oral communication. On a scale of 1 to 100, with a hundred being acutely extroverted and one being profoundly introverted, I am probably about as close to 1 as you can get. This means I usually do not proffer common courtesy such as encouraging the speaker to continue which may make them question my attentiveness. In fact I usually don't talk at all unless explicitly prompted to do so. In order to gain greater competence in the oral medium my smart goal is to go to at least four live events hosted by Kennesaw such as the cookout arranged by Coles Center for Student Success on the Campus Green on April 29. To complete my objective I must talk to at least three new people at each of the four events that I attend and every conversation that I have must be at least five minutes long to count as valid. I will make sure to monitor the time closely on the stopwatch application of my phone. With that being said, my target completion date for my Smart goal is Monday, May 15th

Interpersonal communication encompasses all face-to-face interaction with other individuals; it includes exchanging information, and emotions through verbal as well as non-verbal messages. In this medium, aspects not related to syntax such as, tone, word infliction, and cadence also play a significant role in conveying meaning. Furthermore, listening and body gestures are also important characteristics of this medium. Unequivocally, my major strengths in this area include that I am an active listener, can read non-verbal cues accurately and interpret other people's emotions executionally well. Notwithstanding however, I do not make eye contact with people and normally do not face them while talking. Similarly, I feel as if my posture could also be improved considerably. Therefore my next smart goal is to make eye contact and face an individual while talking for at least 30 seconds in a conversation during the four events that I will attend. Additionally, I must keep my back straight as well as my shoulders and head up the entire time that I am at the event.

Strategic communication is purposeful; it is used to fulfill a specific mission or objective. For the most part I am highly competent in this medium of communication. When I engage in strategic communication I am ordinarily concise and formal. Also, I always “read the room” or assess what is expected of me by other higher ranking individuals before negotiating my proposition. Astutely, I tailor my message to the person for whom it is intended, as I am aware that each audience has a different preference in content delivery, language, and timing. Above all it should be noted that technology has changed the way in which the world communicates strategically: phone calls, email, video conferences or traditional face-to-face meetings, etc. This denotes that if a person wants to reach their aim, they must also choose the most effective communication channel to get their messages across to the desired individual. Likewise, since each medium necessitates different codes of conduct, the state of affairs is greatly complicated for the sender. Not to mention different communication channels such as video conferencing or face-to-face meetings have their own designated advantages and disadvantages which need to be considered first before constructing the message. When it comes to strategic communication mediums, I believe the channel I can improve the most on is video conferencing. For just as I do not converse readily in face-to-face meetings, I also tend to hold back extensively during video calls. With this in mind, my smart goal is to call three associates on Skype and talk for at least half an hour with them on the platform. I believe that this exercise will help me become more comfortable with video-telephone communication and learn the code of conduct associated with the medium. Again, my target date of completion for this goal is also May 15th.?

Managerial communication is also largely functional, yet it differs from strategic communication in that it consists solely of the interaction between managers and their subordinates to promote organizational success. Having taken all of the different communication mediums into account I believe managerial communication is the medium I have the least experience in. Nonetheless I do display some attributes of a good manager. For example, I have the ability to identify the origin of a conflict. In similar fashion, I also tend to stay neutral and not let personal bias impact my decisions. For this reason I am a good mediator and tend to dissuade conflict in the groups I lead. However, managers need to be able to speak effectively and they also must know the material they are going to present to subordinates. I believe my speaking skills can be greatly enhanced in this area by practicing lines in front of a mirror for major meetings. This also helps improve timing, eye contact and flow. Developing these skills precipitates other additional benefits since the supplementary practice could transfer and ameliorate my habitual conversations capabilities as well. So decidedly, my smart goal is to spend ten minutes a week practicing my speaking skills through fictitious conversations in front of the mirror, from April 29th to May 15th.??

Lastly, written communication is literary; it includes platforms such as instant messaging, reports, emails, blogs, postcards, memos, and proposals, etc. In the modern era the relevance of this form of communication has heightened with the advent of the internet. Overall, I believe written communication is where I am most competent. This is because I tend to have an underlying goal in mind, stay intent on a topic, have a large vocabulary and use the appropriate word tenses in my writing. Customarily, I spend a preponderance of my day writing reports and proofreading essays. Immemorial wisdom states: the more you write, the stronger your written communication skills get. Furthermore, contemporary written communication platforms such as instant messaging are anonymous and largely decentralized. For this reason, I don't hold back as often in the written medium as I would in face-to-face or voice driven mediums. Despite the written word being my strong suit, there are still ways in which I could become more proficient in this medium. For instance, passive voice is when the object of the action becomes the subject of the sentence (Trimble 2020). Although in some written reports for specific factual statements this layout is acceptable for the most part passive voice should be avoided as active voice makes your writing more engaging, impactful and easier to understand. My knowledge of passive voice is greatly lacking since I cannot discern it in my own writing. For this reason my smart goal is to spend two days a week researching passive voice and subsequently rewriting sentences into active voice.?

In conclusion, it should be noted that my smart goals for oral, intrapersonal, strategic and managerial communication are interrelated and that the completion of one will also expedite another. To illustrate, my managerial goal which includes practicing phrases and speaking in front of a mirror on a biweekly basis will help me accomplish my oral communication goal which is to talk to three new people at a live event. Likewise, it will also help me accomplish my interrelationship goal which is to maintain eye-contact, refine my posture and face the individual while talking. On another note although I am generally an active listener, I often find myself distracted or contemplating other thoughts while people are talking. For this reason, I would like to set one auxiliary smart goal for myself and that is to perform mindful exercises like meditation to grow accustomed to staying in the present (Raypole, 2020). In particular my last smart goal is to spend at least ten minutes meditating three days a week until May 15. I will measure my progress in all of the areas listed above by creating a chart with the five communication categories where I will list all of my objectives on a piece of paper. After completing an activity such as attending an event I will put a checkmark next to the pursuit. Since no other individual will be reviewing my progress I will need to be very honest and forthright with myself. However, in the end the only person who can really precipitate a change in my life is me. While others may influence or inspire me when all is said and done I am responsible for my own actions. Reality is that it would be hard for another person to appraise my progress since many of the activities I have set for myself are highly individualistic. Of course, all things considered it can be easy to lose interest in a goal so in order to motivate me to complete my smart goals I will reward myself with tickets to a concert if I accomplish these objectives. To end, professional communication skills go far beyond the basics of everyday communication. It also includes skills such as the ability to do an analysis of organization communication, demographic scrutiny, and the utilization of modern communication styles. To sum, communication is a quite compelling field of study and I am really glad I took this course. Going forward I will be sure to put into practice all that I have learned this semester to adeptly and dexterously navigate the complex landscape of the corporate world.?

References:

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