Relevant Leadership #3

Relevant Leadership = Relevant Communication
By Kenton Lee

Communication is at the center of most everything that leaders do. Whether it is organizing an event with multiple parts, publicizing something to the community, or speaking one-on-one with someone on your team – leaders have to communicate their messages in ways that people can receive them effectively. What is one of the best ways to communicate? People want communication that is relevant to how they prefer to send and receive messages. But what is relevant communication?

Relevant communication is finding the best way to communicate with someone and then taking the initiative to communicate with them through those means. It is texting the person who you know never checks their email. It is Facebooking the person who you know checks their Facebook page everyday. It is calling the person who is constantly on the go. Relevant communication is not about what is easiest for you…it is about what is easiest for them.

How Do You Do It?

In order to communicate in the most relevant way with those around you, there are two things that must happen:

1. You need to know the people around you. Develop relationships with those with whom you need to communicate. You need to get to the point where you know them so well that you identify their preferred means of communication. This cannot happen if you lead from afar. You need to get in close and know the people around you.

2. You need to take the time and give the effort to go above and beyond in your communication. Granted, sending out a mass email is easy and does not take very long. But is it the best way to communicate? Nope. Take the time to relevantly communicate with people in ways that will truly get the message across to them. Give the extra effort to reach someone the way they want to be reached. By going above and beyond to communicate relevantly, you will reap a harvest of understanding, accuracy, timeliness, and response.

Leaders who want to communicate relevantly and effectively with the people around them will find out their preferred method of communication and take the time and effort to utilize it.

How do the people around me like to communicate best?
Are there more relevant ways that I can communicate my messages?
Who do I struggle communicating with? Do I know their preferred method of communication?

Am I willing to take the time and effort to communicate relevantly with those around me?

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Kenton Lee works with student leaders on a daily basis and is committed to helping them be relevant in all areas of life. Got a question for Kenton? Email him.