Leaders from the top of organizations, to the front lines often point to poor communication as the cause of problems ranging from technical, operational, and human. It’s a common source of frustration and leaders often tell me they can’t possibly put any more effort into communicating than they already do. One CEO even yelled, “I’m sick and tired of people not listening!” The reason they aren’t listening to his particular leader isn’t about his use of language or frequency of messages. It’s because his messages don’t reflect a sense of connection to the people he’s addressing.  

This leader, like many, is focused on what he is saying and why it is important to the business. What he didn’t realize, until recently, is he didn’t have a good sense of the people to whom he was speaking. He thought that content was all that mattered, but that isn’t true. A sincere connection with an audience makes people want to listen while a leader who feels foreign, finds their messages are viewed with far more skepticism, or even ignored. 

The good news is it is possible to make dramatic improvements in communication, by engaging in efforts to connect. A little time spent genuinely connecting, yields huge benefits. In this video, I talk about three things leaders can do to improve connection. Try them out and let me know what happens. 

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