Crucial Communication from Leadership
One thing that has become even more crucial within organizations in the past couple of years is how leadership communicates. Both within their organizations and to their clients or customers.
How we communicate, what we communicate, and how it is received are all important parts of creating a culture of kindness.
Over the past two years, concise communication helped employees feel less overwhelmed. This was done by changing weekly, sometimes daily procedures and protocols they were expected to follow. This allowed them to do their jobs better. Succinct communication was an example of how leaders showed grace and kindness during an incredibly stressful time, which was highly beneficial for employees.
Examples of Successful Communication
Three examples employees shared for my recent book about successful communication during the pandemic:
- Leaders communicate clearly, succinctly, and compassionately.
- Leaders make time to listen to what their employees needed to succeed.
- Leaders provide information that was immediately relevant to their employees’ daily job duties.
An added bonus was if communication was two ways. This increases employees’ feeling of being listened to and cared about which was crucial over the past couple of years.
Crucial Communication with Customers
Last Friday, I received a video message from Ben Minicucci, the CEO of Alaska Airlines. The short video apologized for the difficulty in their operations, sharing why it is happening and what they are doing to make it right. Of the 1200 flights they operate every day, they’ve been canceling about 50 of them a day due to staffing shortages. That’s 4%. He told us that May will continue to be choppy, it takes time for a complex operation to turn a corner.
They expect by June they will have made significant changes to ensure reliability. I am an Alaska user. We all know that cancelled flights are inconvenient and certainly not what an airline desires, and I appreciated the email, I appreciate as a customer knowing the whole story and what they are doing to fix the problems.
A nonspeaking valedictorian with autism shares her voice in commencement address
(CNN) – “Life is for service.” Those are the words Rollins College valedictorian Elizabeth Bonker lives by — words that inspired Rollins’ most famous graduate, Mr. Fred Rogers. Bonker, who is nonspeaking and has autism, gave a remarkable address during her school’s recent commencement ceremony in Winter Park, Florida.
Read the article from CNN here.
