Listen to communicate and motivate

by | Feb 22, 2015 | Articles about Leadership, Leadership

For Peter Drucker (The Practice of Management), it is the director who fixes the objectives that need to be reached (Covey’s 2nd and 4th habits), and organises the necessary activities (Covey’s 3rd habit). A director then motivates and communicates. He or she assembles a team that accomplishes this through the relation that he or she has with other people that are directed (Covey’s 5th habit).
A director needs to urge on the personnel that work in the company to be proactive, and he or she does this using two instruments: motivation and communication.
The Reasons Why a Director Must be a Listener – Communication in any business is very important, and not only as going from top to bottom. In order for the director to know very well the organisation that has been entrusted to him or her, it often happens that he or she must listen to the bottom. Only in this way can he or she understand the business adequately.
The principle motives for which the directors have to listen to his or her subordinates or dependents are:

  1. Because the others deserve it.
  2. To know what happens in the business. A large part of one’s knowledge of what happens in any business comes from knowledge obtained from one’s subordinates. Frequently inconveniences and discontent manifest themselves horizontally––through and to colleagues–– and not toward superiors.
  3. To know people and know if each is in the right place. As Drucker notes (The Effective Executive), it is important that employees focus on their own work for the efficiency and forward progress of the business. The manager must therefore understand where each can do his or her work in the best way. To understand this, the director needs to communicate with everyone.
  4. To understand the problems and to be able to resolve them. For example, assigning to someone a specific task or allowing more time to something. This will be understood upon communicating with one’s subordinates.

The Reasons Why a Subordinate Must Listen As it is essential to communicate with one’s dependents (descending communication), it is likewise very important that the subordinate communicate with his or her superior, or among themselves, for these reasons:

  1. Because the others deserve it. Respect has to be mutual, from both ends.
  2. To know what is expected of me. It could happen that expectations of the director and those of the subordinate do not coincide. It could happen that, without intending it, the subordinate does not do his or her work in the best possible manner, and, worse still, he or she does the work precisely thinking that his or her boss will be proud of it. It is enough to talk, dialogue, and dedicate a bit more time to knowing exactly what the others expect from me. This upward communication is of capital importance because it aids the deposits into one’s Emotional Bank Account, improves relations and stimulates promotions.
  3. To enlarge my circle of influence. To succeed we must absolutely be very attentive to the indications that we transmit. Only in this way will we be able to positively impress our superiors.
  4. To understand problems and be able to solve them. We are not robots, to be able to put all of our capacity into play (imagination, creativity, intelligence), we have to listen in such a way as to make it our problem. This is the only way we will be able to resolve the problem.