Communication For Effective Leadership

By: Julie Teixeira, Director, Client Services

Congratulations! You have taken the next step in your career and stepped into leadership. With this new responsibility comes the exciting opportunity to guide your team, develop strategy, implement plans, and help achieve your organization’s goals.

Yet, the challenge is that your success as a leader is not defined solely by your technical expertise or even your vision. It hinges on something more fundamental: your ability to communicate effectively.

Shot of a diverse group of coworkers shaking hands and talking in an office

Maybe you have been promoted to lead colleagues who were once your peers. Perhaps you are new to the organization and navigating unfamiliar surroundings. Or you may be an experienced leader striving to take your team’s performance to the next level. Whatever your starting point, one principle holds true: the way you communicate with your team can determine your success or failure.

So, how can you become a truly exceptional communicator?

Focus on Developing Great Questions

Let’s start by taking stock of the questions you are asking when looking for feedback. One best practice is to ask open-ended, probing questions to encourage the person to elaborate on their thoughts as opposed to providing you with one-word answers. Of course, there are times when you are looking for a simple yes or no, but it is important to think about what you are trying to accomplish before you ask.

Take a moment to ask yourself: What do you want to know? Why are you asking the question? How do you utilize the information? Who is your audience? This skill takes forethought and practice to master, but the outcome can save you time by collecting all the information you need during a single conversation. Once you have gone through this process, you can tailor the question to effectively gain the information you need.

Want to determine your team’s budget needs for the upcoming year? You know it will be impossible to work every request into the budget, so you need to gather as much information as possible to help guide your decisions as you develop your plan.

Take this simple question for example: Budget meetings are coming up. What needs do you have for next year?
With a simple question, you can expect simple answers. In this question, you asked for WHAT. You did not ask for the WHY. A thoughtful tweak of the same question would allow you to get more information upfront.

Let’s try again: Budget meetings are coming up. Would you please share your funding needs with me as well as the outcome you would expect if we were able to earmark the funds?

A simple tweak to the question asks both what and why. This saves you time from going back and forth multiple times to achieve the same end result.

Now that you have developed a strong question, you can engage in the practice of active listening – a skill which is often overlooked. Frequently, we ask questions, and we have a preconceived notion of what we want the answer to be or what outcome we expect. In other instances, we ask the question, but we are thinking about what we want to say next. Be an active listener and ensure you make a conscious effort to be engaged in the discussion with your team members. Practicing active listening allows us to become more self-aware and ultimately more effective in our communications.

One key to being a good active listener is to look for non-verbal cues and ensure you are not just hearing the words. Body language plays a huge role in effectively listening. Look at the person with whom you are speaking. Is their body language telling you something different than what you are hearing? Noting these non-verbal cues can provide you with the opportunity to ask another question and help engage an upset or nervous employee.

Alternately, it is important that you also think about your own body language. Are you sending signals that you are closed off? Are you showing signs that you are engaged in the discussion by nodding your head or other non-verbal cues? Your employee will likely be more open and engaged when you are engaged and not simply going through the motions.

When clarifying a response, start by expressing your appreciation. This can further the engagement of your team members and then you can take the opportunity to clarify. For example, “I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me. Earlier, you said                 , and I was hoping you could elaborate on that topic a bit more for me. Tell me more about how you feel including this request in the 2026 budget can help us meet our department goals.” This shows you were not only listening, but you are interested in learning more of their opinion on the topic. The person you are speaking with feels like they are being heard, and they are perhaps even more likely to share additional information with you at this time and in the future.

Another area where you can continually become more self-aware is in how you respond. It is in our human nature to react quickly instead of taking the time to think through our reply. Becoming an exceptional communicator includes practicing your response and reaction. Following a discussion with a team member, particularly after a difficult conversation, it is again imperative to thank the team member for sharing. It is also perfectly fine to let your team know you need time to think things through and will follow up in a timely manner with a response. Taking the time to formulate the right response can take emotions out of the equation and make you a more effective leader.

Leadership is not about having all the answers. It is about creating an environment where your team feels heard, valued, and empowered to succeed. By mastering the art of communication, asking better questions, listening actively, clarifying responses, and replying thoughtfully, you lay the foundation for trust, collaboration, and results.

As you grow in your role, remember: the most effective leaders are not simply great strategists. They are great communicators.

Picture of Julie Teixeira

Julie Teixeira

Director, Client Services

Julie specializes in nationwide searches for highly specialized and hard-to-fill positions. Her diverse industry background allows her to successfully recruit for a wide range of roles, from staff to leadership to the C-suite.