The Power of Broadcasting

Did you have a favorite radio station as a teenager? Was there a popular morning or evening radio DJ that made your commute easier? Did you listen to the news, pop, country, hard rock, smooth jazz, or classical? A few FM stations had most of the audience if you lived in a large metro area. In some ways, picking a station was similar to choosing a favorite sports team or college. There were even rivalries between the stations and fans.

One thing was clear and simple when you were scanning the radio. The country station played country songs, the hard rock played hard rock, and the smooth jazz played nothing but jazz. You knew what you were getting. It would be very odd if you tuned into the classical station and heard hard rock. There would be a dissonance between expectations and reality.

In the same way, leaders should be consistent in the way that they "broadcast" their messaging to their team. The team should know your "brand" of leadership, whether hardcore, disciplinary, military-style, or a softer, people-focused, emotion-based leadership style. People should know what to expect, and it should be as consistent as possible. Consistent messaging allows the team to decide if they want to remain part of a team.

We often hear that people don't quit companies; they leave managers. One primary reason for leaving is because they don't know what type of manager will appear. It's hard to accept your reality when it's constantly changing. Many employees will stay with an authoritarian, overbearing leader if they are consistent in their leadership style.

How can you tell what leadership signal you are broadcasting?

One way to tell is to review the types, style, length, and overall tone of messages that you send (or don't send) to your team. Are they overtly positive or negative, punitive or praiseworthy, factual or emotional? What are you communicating? Is it updates, schedules, and other work-based information, or are you inviting conversation and dialogue? Do you have a forum where you recognize and reward team contributions? Do you provide a space for questioning and feedback?

A quick exercise is to look at the past week's worth of emails or written communications. Look and see what type of punctuation you use. Do you tend to use more question marks, periods, or exclamation marks? Do you write short or long messages? (I once had someone tell me that my messages include multiple exclamation points per sentence and that I needed other ways to communicate my excitement. )

Radio stations without enough listeners are at the risk of having someone else take over the hosting or the station format. In the same way, reviewing the response rate is the other way to gauge if your leadership broadcasting is working. We typically respond more quickly to messages we like and will either delay or not respond to ones we don't like. The response time is a good, but not always perfect, indicator that the message is being received. Look at how quickly people respond to your communications to indicate your broadcast ability and consistency.

Lastly, actively seek feedback. Ask your team for three words that best describe your leadership and communication style. Be very clear that you are asking for style vs overall performance. Ask your team what they find valuable in your communications and where there is room for improvement. Do this frequently and in various settings to make it routine and clear that there will be no repercussions for critical feedback.

By refining your messaging and being consistent, you will have a leadership "broadcast" that will be highly effective.

I have been broadcasting weekly through this forum for nearly a year. Your feedback helps to determine what topics should be covered, so please keep them coming. I welcome all comments, thoughts, questions, or ways to improve. Thank you!