By Jeff Farmer
Are you an effective communicator? Can you communicate your direction, vision, and how to overcome hurdles to meet your objectives?
In my experience, intentional leadership is the bedrock of building trust within an organization, team, or family. Additionally, management skills are required to effectively “keep the trains on time.” Deliberate verbal and non-verbal communication, integrated with focused mindfulness, can create effective communication, whether you are a leader or contributing member of a team.
Oral
While working in the Department of Defense, I observed the most influential of communicators, from the tactical to the strategic level. They were effective because they could deliver a precise elevator pitch, even when expressing the thoughts and ideas of others. Mary Sharp Emerson of Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education writes, “Communication is primarily about word choice. And when it comes to word choice, less is more.” Concision and tone often lead to being heard, and being heard can create an entry point to the orators’ achievement of their goals. I worked for a fantastic leader once who always counseled us by asking: “what is the desired effect you intend to achieve by saying what you are about to say?” Brilliant, yet simple. However, this advice can save others from misunderstandings, misperceptions, and often the misallocation of resources, time, and energy.
Written
Ernest Hemingway once won a bet with his friends that he could tell a story in six written words. The bet commenced and Hemingway won with this simple sentence: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Of course there were different interpretations of what the sentence meant, so maybe this method did not create a shared understanding, but it did create a message that focused readers immediately, stimulating their thoughts and imagination. Learning to write concisely and impactfully is not only tantamount to efficient and effective communication, but it saves organizational time. This skill gives time back to others to accomplish tasks, and makes an organization more effective in achieving its goals while efficiently allocating resources. Sometimes less is more.
Body Language
In my past military leadership and followership experiences, I found that body language can resonate throughout teams—intentional or not. After witnessing and sometimes participating in these often unintentional communicative experiences, I now spend more deliberate time mentally preparing myself for daily interactions, whether it be work-related meetings, coaching little league baseball, or engaging with my spouse. I once worked for an individual that routinely and consistently demonstrated active listening. He was a senior leader who was always busy, but when I spoke to him, he physically stopped what he was doing and made direct eye contact. It felt as if he was peering into my soul. I was taken back by his willingness to provide his laser-focused attention to such a junior officer. Through his deliberate listening and focused attention, he indirectly taught me to be fully prepared with my message so as not to waste his time. His body language taught me to be in the moment. While not perfect, I now concentrate energy on being deliberate with my body language through exercises such as meditation, focused breathing, or even visualizing how I want others to perceive my presence in a specific moment.
Systems
How do we bring these communication skills together? Regardless of whether you are in a leadership position at work, raising a family, or coaching today’s youth or adults, what systems do you utilize to communicate effectively? I once worked for a supervisor who oversaw a small eight-person team that held daily eight o’clock morning meetings. The only problem was that you never knew what time the eight o’clock meeting was going to start! Sometimes it was 10:30 a.m., sometimes it was 11:15 a.m.—one would often hear “Hey team, what time does the eight o’clock meeting start today?” This underlines a very important point. Systems are great until leadership does not enforce them or empower others to run the systems in their stead. Well-defined and routinely exercised systems allow organizations to function in the absence of key members and execute organizational responsibilities. Whether it be a refrigerator calendar for your family, an application on your phone for soccer practice, or the implementation of a “battle rhythm” meeting, if one executes systems, organizations will find time freed up to do other things. Whatever your system of choice is, emphasize this accepted system and enforce its utilization. If the system is implemented, acknowledged, and rehearsed, communication flow and the productivity of your team will improve.
In the end, we all possess different skills and attributes that influence our leadership style. These are usually the skills we are most comfortable with and often impact how we choose to communicate. However, not all audiences receive and process information the same way. This often requires leaders and team members to tailor their communication style to an individual. Learning to hone verbal and non-verbal communication skills—combined with well-defined and exercised systems—will aid you in communicating more effectively. You might even find that those within your influence feel heard, and feel that their thoughts and unique contributions matter—something we should all strive for as leaders.
Jeff Farmer is a strategic planner at NORAD & U.S. Northern Command. Jeff has served from the tactical to strategic levels throughout his tenure in the Department of Defense. He retired from the U.S. Army on February 29, 2024, and resides with his family in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He has been previously published at the Lethal Minds Journal and the U.S. Army Infantry official website.
