#4 Communicate personally and professionally.
This issue is difficult in every non-profit organization I have worked with. I see it all over the place. Our communication is horrendous. It’s awful. Our communication with one another as team members is not good. Our communication to our constituents, our donors is not good. Our communication to our board is not good. What we have to do as part of us learning to lead is to get better at communication. I have to learn. I have to get people who are good at communicating say, “The way you did this was good. The way you did this was not good.” “The way you wrote this was good.” “Your email had this kind of tone when it should have had that kind of tone.”
We have to learn how to communicate professionally and personally. We’re in a business where we desperately need people. Sometimes we treat our people like robots, like ATMs. We don’t engage with them as individuals. We’re in the people business at the end of the day. If we isolate ourselves as leaders and people can’t engage with us personally and professionally, then we’re hindering the mission. Are you easy to reach? Can your staff actually sit down with you and have a conversation? Or are you just running from this thing to the next thing?
I was at the airport, traveling between speaking engagements, and I realized I needed to get together with my operations manager when I arrived home. I called him to ask if he could meet me at the local coffee shop at a certain time, and I noticed my own mind was focused on whether or not I had my boarding pass and the fact that I had to get through security. I was distracted. When it came down to it, I had to move everything off the table and focus on him, realizing I was engaging with a person, not an object. So, personally and professionally, we have to communicate. Communication is not just delivering a message. Communication is a two-way street. It’s making sure the listener has heard and understood what it is that I have said without confusion or misinterpretation. That takes time.
What would you add?