Engaging leaders as effective communicators is one of the biggest challenges faced by internal communication in organizations. According to the annual surveys by the Brazilian Association of Business Communication (Aberje) in partnership with the agency Ação Integrada, this difficulty was identified by 64% of companies in 2024, 74% in 2023, and 70% in 2022. These data clearly highlight the challenge for companies: in a corporate world that produces and receives information constantly, leaders need to be understood by their followers, not just heard.
The secret? According to the TEDx Speaker and communication expert, Giovana Pedroso, the key is first to understand. “Going beyond superficial conversations and initial word exchanges is essential. It’s about listening to what has not been said, which presents a significant challenge,” emphasizes Giovana. “Often, the issue lies in the context, revealed by non-verbal signals. An employee who starts arriving late and, when questioned, blames the alarm clock may be dealing with more severe personal issues. Body language, such as looking down or closed posture, can reveal much more,” she adds.
To decipher the subtleties, Giovana highlights trust and respect as fundamental attributes. “Unlike respect, trust doesn’t merely stem from formal authority. The relationship between leader and follower is built on the exchanges that occur every day, in good, clear, and frequent conversations, in small demonstrations of interest, and genuine concern for others,” points out the communication specialist.
Best practices for managers
According to the expert, the benefits of clarity and humanity in a leader’s communication go beyond healthier relationships in the professional environment. “They can represent, in the bottom line, the increase in the company’s results, considering that building healthy professional relationships reduces turnover and stimulates creativity,” she points out.
Thinking about this, some practical contributions can help managers understand and be better understood:
○ Clear objectives for meetings: clearly define the purpose of the meeting and educate the team to do the same. The more specific the objective, the more productive the conversation will be;
○ Facts over opinions: decisions should be based on facts, avoiding personal biases that can distort reality;
○ Objective and prompt feedback: focus on the situation and not on personal judgments when giving feedback, but be direct and prompt in providing feedback;
○ Encourage team ideas: encourage participation and idea sharing, but don’t focus on authorship of ideas, it’s more about dialogue on the proposal than about who the author is;
○ Think before speaking: question your own thoughts before communicating. Cris Argyris, from Harvard Business School, suggests dividing a sheet in half: on one side, write what you think; on the other, what really should be said. This helps avoid biases and hasty judgments.
