[August 13, 2016] Politicians provide fertile examples of leaders with communications problems; giving us valuable lessons. There is no other profession that experiences such a high degree of miscommunication, errors, omissions, and deliberate commissions of the corruption of information than a politician.
It is serious business for a leader to talk and write with absolute clarity; to make clear their intent and vision. When they use factiousness, sarcasm, jokes, or subtleness they increase their risk of failure as an effective leader. In the right environment these are acceptable methods but not for general public consumption.
I wrote just a few days ago that leaders should avoid factiousness (see link here). The reason? People will misinterpret leaders, often mistakenly but more importantly it leaves the leader open to deliberate attack by those who wish to destroy. Such is the environment of both U.S. presidential candidates: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
In High School, a group of us were “jokesters” and as such were popular as boys who were fun to be around. We were neither good athletes nor adequate students; scoring poorly in literature and English subjects but slightly above average in science and mathematics. Turns out that our teachers didn’t consider us serious and it explained why none of them wrote letters of recommendation for us to attend college. The assumption of our teachers was that jokesters would never succeed so why encourage us.
“If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time – a tremendous whack.” Winston Churchill, Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
I learned that the methods of good communication meant being clear, concise, logical, and forceful. Factiousness, sarcasm, joking, subtlety, etc. does not meet the test of making one’s self understood. The lesson for leaders is simple; when your message is important don’t resort to methods that are easily distorted or misinterpreted.1
When miscommunication occurs, it is incumbent upon all leaders to set the record straight without adding to the confusion. I like to think that politicians never get the chance to be schooled in how to communicate well. The best talkers are the ones that drift to the top, not necessarily the best leaders. That may explain why they can be so polarizing during election time.
[Don’t forget to “Like” the Leader Maker at our Facebook Page.]
———————