Effective communication equates leadership

As my blog title implies, this week’s posting is centered around the topic: communicate to lead. Good leaders understand the value of good communication skills and know that in order to effectively lead they must possess great communication skills. I read many articles this week regarding internal and external communications.  Are you noticing a pattern here? I hope to convey to my readers the importance communication plays in our lives, every day. Strategic communications play an even greater role. As Tricia Nolfi explains, “strategic communications create a clear line of sight between communication activities and the organization’s goals”. 

One of the readings this week centered on a public relations crisis that irrupted from a 2011 poisoning of two iconic oak trees on the campus of Auburn University.  A crazed, “self-proclaimed loyal” Alabama fan called into a local radio show and admittedly professed his motives for engaging in such an act. He claimed, his actions were related to the long standing rivalry between the two schools. As you can imagine, the story did not take long to become mainstream, leaving both universities in a panic.  Why am I telling you any of this? Well, because I want to talk about how the universities used internal and external communications to inform their stakeholders and curtail any possible retaliation. If you remember last week blog post, we spoke about how social media and how it is changing the landscape for communication professionals. The example of the two universities using social media to effectively communicate with their respective publics about what transpired is a perfect example of effectively utilizing social media for strategic communications. In her paper, Dr. Susan Waters discussed how Auburn University effectively used an agenda setting framework in order to keep their publics informed. They were successful because they consistently posted credible information regarding the incident to dedicated forums weekly. The universities were able to control the narrative of the crisis thus shaping the issue into a hopeful message, rather than focusing on the negative actions. Likewise, Alabama reacted swiftly by creating a unified internal message which was cross posted among traditional and social media.  Alabama’s external communication effectively used an image restoration theory while keeping their publics informed. During which, emails and press statements were released from such credible sources as the football team's head coach, Nick Saban.  Additionally, Alabama was able to disassociate their reputation from the perpetrator as he had no official ties to the university. Moreover, both schools were successful in their use of strategic communications because their goals were reached. Auburn fans did not retaliate and Alabama was able to convey themselves as a neutral party condemning the actions of the crazed fan.  Due to the well-executed strategic communications plan from both universities, new social media accounts were utilized to show support for one another allowing for  mutual respect to formed. This exemplifies what Nolfi suggests as “the intentional and proactive use of communication competencies to achieve organizational goals”.

 zitscomics.com 2014

                                 

Furthermore, effective communication is synonymous with leadership. Do you believe that? Then why is it that our greatest leaders in government are not very good at communicating? Could it be because the government embodies the top down hierarchy leadership model? We know that effective communication creates a dialogue between people and in order to have dialogue, you must be bilateral. Anyone talking to you from above is yelling… don’t you think? Or do we have it all wrong? After all, those who work in government are called civil servants. As a civil servant myself, I can’t really tell you what the right answer is. Although, what I have noticed is governing bodies are laggards, resisting change up until the very last moment, regardless of the reason. As Matt Anthes mentions, in his Forbes article, “over time, the federal government has been behind the curve as it pertains to effective use of social media”.  I wonder why that is? Is it because other companies must remain flexible to stay relevant in order to survive, and the government does not? Or is it that the  government does not have to effectively use social media in order to maintain its presence? All great things to consider! Although, if more government organizations did utilize social media more effectively the FEMA twitter account could amass just as many followers as Kim K. That’s why I like the “Integrate communications and service delivery” aspect of Bloomberg Cities article, 4 Strategies that are Defining the Future of City Communications.  The government entity views communication and service as one cohesive matter and finds a way to integrate them.  In the article, the authors discuss how residents of a city tag the mayor regarding an issue they are having, via social media platform. From there, the mayor’s office then tags the appropriate agency to help remedy the situation. Once the problem is taken care of, a photo is posted as proof and to provide accountability.  The nice thing about utilizing social media in this regard is the user can digitally follow through and see where the issue is and if it’s being actively resolved.  More importantly, the government can use this platform to create two-way dialogue and foster real-time relationships with the public. After all, isn't that the job of a civil servant, working in service to aid the people?  The government has always been good at delivering messages in a strategic manner. Now, they just need to effectively utilize social media so they can develop a dialogue and foster relationships with constituents.

Thanks for reading! Be on the lookout for next week’s post about strategic communication style that supports a vision.  Please feel free to share my blog through engagement on your own social media platform. As always, you can find my blog by clicking on the link below or by copying and paste the URL in your address bar: communicate2lead.blogspot.com

"The art of communication is the language of leadership" - James Humes