Leadership lessons from the garden – communication

Why is communication so difficult? Communication should be natural, right? The reality is that there is a lot to communication including listening skills, body language and tone (emotion). For leaders, good communication is key to ensuring that people are engaged. People want to feel part of something, and communication is an easy way to build that feeling of belonging.

As I work in my garden, I can’t help but reflect and compare the communication with nature and communication in business.  Working in the garden, I’m constantly attuned to communication signals from the plants. A plant communicates by its appearance. For example, if the leaves are wilting, the plant may be communicating that it needs water. If the fruit or flower of the plant is not forming correctly, it may be communicating that it has become infected with a disease. If the plant looks healthy and is producing as expected, then it’s communicating that all is well. 

My job as the gardener (leader of the garden), is to closely observe and diagnose these ‘messages’ coming from the plants. Gardeners need to do their research which can include the internet, gardening books and speaking with other gardeners. Gardeners figure out what is wrong and apply a solution. Sometimes, there is no solution and gardeners must live with the consequences and try again. The gardener’s job starts with ‘listening’ to the plants. 

Now, let’s look at communication in the workplace. As in the garden, it is important for the leader in the workplace to observe, listen and ask questions. The leader of an organization has it much easier than a gardener because he/she can speak with colleagues and inquire about how things are going. Leaders in business need to use this advantage.

Communication Strategies

Here are three communication strategies that leaders can deploy to create an environment where people are engaged and productive.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Maya Angelou

1. Be an active listener

Stephen Covey says the most important communication principle is “Seek first to understand, then to be understood”. He goes on further to say, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand, they listen with the intent to reply.” Think about this for a moment. I can think of many times when my goal was to respond and that I really wasn’t listening. You need to put yourself ‘in the shoes’ of the person with whom you are communicating or said another way, you need to get on their ‘side of the table’ to really listen and understand. If you give people the opportunity to ‘open up’ they have the chance to actually figure out their own problems.

A gardener “listens” by walking around the garden and observing. A leader should walk around the office on a regular basis to observe and engage. I once worked for a leader who regularly did this. I was always amazed at how everyone’s spirits were lifted by his engagement. He did not have an agenda; he was just seeking to understand the general mood of the team. This engagement also energized the leader and gave him a real feel for what was happening with the team. When you listen, you learn.

2. Give quality time

This should include a regular 1:1 meeting with people who report directly to you and should include team meetings. If your direct report is in a different location or country, then use some form of ‘face time” for these regular meetings. The communication dynamics are so much more impactful when ‘see’ each other. Albert Mehrabian identified that we communicate our thoughts and emotions through different channels. 55% of what people will take away from a conversation is your non-verbal communication (e.g. eye contact, body movement), 38% is your vocal quality (e.g. pitch, tone) and only 7% is what you say or your verbal communication

Create opportunities for ‘no agenda’ communications. For example, set up a morning ‘chat over coffee’. Either invite a group of associates to join (on a rotating basis) or simply show up in an area and ‘leave the door open’ for anyone to join. No agenda, just conversation. In my last role, I was responsible for developing the Change Management tactics for a large organizational change. We created ‘Meet-Ups’.  A meet-up was an opportunity to engage with the department leaders with no agenda and no presentation. When we discussed the feedback from these meet-ups, we learned that the meet-up was most impactful for the leaders. The leaders were able to speak from experience regarding the mood of the organization and what topics were important.

As a gardener, I must give quality time each day and observe what is happening with all the plants. If I miss and important clue, I could lose a whole crop to a pest or disease. Giving quality time will pay back more than the investment you made.

3. Seek commitments

It is important to be factual and not communicate from an emotional place. Define issues using facts. People appreciate clear factual communication. Once an issue is defined, work collectively toward defining commitments to solve the issue.

I was leading a team that had a deadline to produce content for training. While each member of the team had their own expertise, it was not until we talked through the complete process of training (scheduling, managing sign-up, creating content, reviewing content, training presenters) that we were able to see how all the pieces were linked and needed to be sequenced. Once we understood each other’s perspective, we were able to make commitments and deliver an extraordinary outcome. We put our emotions aside and discussed the facts. The word ‘commitment’ has a lot of power. Think about how you feel when someone ‘commits’ to get something done. For me, I know my level of trust increases and I am willing to support anyone in reaching their commitment.

Just as gardeners are attuned to their plants, leaders need to be attuned to their teams. Good luck!