Communication in Leader

"Are we a leader?" The answer is "Yes, we are a leader". As a muslim, we believe that Allah S.W.T has addressed the believers as Ummah, which implies the necessity of leadership in Islam. Allah says to his Prophet Mohammad S.A.W "...I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion" (Surah Al-Maidah). Mohammad S.A.W says "Every one of you is a shepherd (leader) and every one of you is responsible for what he is shephers (led) of" (Sahih Al-Bukhari)

Generally, we all are a leader. First and foremost, we lead ourselves. Then, through our influence, official or unofficial, personal or proffesional, we lead others. Leadership is essential to accomplishing every goal in life, and as a leader we must grow in order to succeed. John. W.Gardner observed, "If I had to name a single all-purpose instrument of leadership, it would be communication." If we cannot communicate, we will not lead others effectively. A leader who has poor leadership communication will find leading far more challenging than a great communicator. Respect and confidence on the part of staff, the executive team and board will be much harder to earn.

Nowdays, there are many successful leaders that have a great communication skills. For an examples are we can look at the performances of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to see the role that effective leadership communication has played in their successes.

Bill Clinton is widely regarded as the most effective communicator to ever enter the White House. His communication skills and in particular his charisma were regarded as central to his ability to consistently turn opponents into friends and to build strong alliances with world leaders. His informality and openness were central to the connection he was able to establish with audiences and individuals including former Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

More recently, President Barack Obama, described as the 'Communicator in Chief', connected with and inspired millions of Americans during his Presidential campaign. His performance as an orator and use of leadership body language is virtually unprecedented for a politician. Critically, Obama possesses a conversational and relaxed communication style that is critical when seeking to connect with people. By way of contrast the recent lack of success by Caroline Kennedy and John McCain demonstrate the consequences of poor communication skills.

The Key Components of Effective Leadership Communication.

To be truly effective as a communicator a leader must:

1. Develop the mindset of a leader. Given that our nonverbal communication reveals to the world what we feel inside, emotional mastery is critical to congruent, credible communication.

2. Be able to connect with people on an emotional level. This is important for leaders, because people form opinions and make decisions based on their emotions.


3. Develop leadership charisma. There is an important distinction between 'leadership charisma' and 'regular charisma'. The distinction is that a leader must always maintain authority whilst communicating is charisma.



4. Learn to move like a leader. Body language communicates your emotional state to the world. A leader must become aware of and take control of, the signals they are broadcasting, as these signals may be odds with the messages they wish to communicate.

As a conclusion, a leader who has strong leadership communication skills will find it easier to conect with others (increasing trust and respect), steer a country, organization or community through stormy weather, build morale, manage conflict and inspire people.