Every leader knows that communication is a key leadership skill. Yet many leaders find themselves frustrated when they call meeting after meeting or send email after email, only to find that their attempts to communicate are going unheeded.
In this case, leaders may be communicating, but not connecting.
How to Tell If You’re Not Connecting With Your Team
You may have a connection issue if any of the following scenarios sound familiar:
- You’re running out of ways to rephrase the same information, but your team still doesn’t seem to hear you.
- You’ve gotten frustrated during a presentation because your audience didn’t seem to understand.
- You’ve sought a promotion or raise, but even though you provided information about your value to the team, your boss doesn’t seem to see it.
- You want to improve your relationships with colleagues, friends or family members, but you’re not sure how.
Ways to Build Connections With Those You Lead
Building connection is about behaving intentionally. It is a conscious effort to find common ground with others and share it with them, so that the two of you can better understand one another.
To build connection:
- Seek out shared values. What do the two of you believe is right, good, or necessary with regard to the current situation? For example, you and a member of your team may agree that a particular task is essential to success in a client’s case, even though you disagree on how best to accomplish that task.
- Set a common goal. What are you both working toward? While leaders are used to setting goals for their teams, understanding each team member’s personal goals with respect to a project can help you find shared ground for which to strive.
- Pursue a common venture. What work do you both want to do, or what done, that reflects your shared values and achieves your common goal? Identify these tasks and work with your team members on how to share the burden of completing them.
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