Revisiting Leadership Communication: A Need for Conversation

Effective communication is critical for leaders to influence and create an impact within and outside organizations. Despite this, questions are raised regarding the efficacy & effectiveness of organizational leaders in conducting meaningful communication & conversations with their teams. Often, organizations are unsure of the specific leadership communication attributes and their outcomes at the individual, team and organizational levels. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of leaders' communication on the feelings and thoughts of subordinates and to identify attributes for a possible measure of 'effective leadership communication'. On the basis of 'communicative leadership' theorization by Johansson et al. (2014), primary data was collected from employees' across organizations. The study reveals gaps in the leader's communication competence and suggests a need for more meaningful conversation with subordinates. The study proposes a tool for leadership communication assessment comprising two factors: transforming thoughts and transforming individuals.