How much is too much communication?

As a leader, talk as much, and only as much, as you’re listening.

That way, your words are relevant to people and ‘speak’ directly to what they need to hear, rather than to what you want to say.

Your listening, and then talking will be most impactful if you:

• Listen to what constitutes “good” and fuels people’s optimism, then share a compelling and optimistic vision of the future - rinse and repeat.

• Talk about your most important values and beliefs, and how they inform your leadership of people in the current moment.

• Ask people what they need to be successful right now, then enthusiastically share the actions you’re taking to respond to those needs and the outcomes you’re confident they will render.

• Thank people from the literal bottom of your heart- that place where you keep your reserves of authenticity, vulnerability and warmth. Let those parts of you as a human and a leader open doors to them identifying, connecting and being inspired to follow you.

• Keep talking- you may feel like you’re repeating yourself, and that’s okay.  Share what you can, as soon and as fully as you can. When change is coming, say so. Talk to everyone who is affected by a change in any way. Outside of presents and parties, people don’t really like surprises, especially from their leaders.

• Keep listening more than you talk.  If your key performance metric was listening, and only listening, how would you be doing?  What would be different in your cohesion with other executives, team members and stakeholders?  How would your results improve?

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