How Leaders Use Communication to Execute Strategy in the 21st Century

This article discusses how leaders use communication to execute strategy in the 21st century. It covers the supportive and directive approach, proper listening, and employee orientation. The article emphasizes the importance of effective communication in leadership and provides examples of successful communication strategies.

Running head: LEADERSHIP
Leadership
leadership

LEADERSHIP 1
Date: (Submission Date)
To: Directors of Communication (Name)
Through:
From:
Subject: 'How do leaders use communications to execute strategy in the 21st century?'
Supportive and Directive Approach:
In the present scenario, the leaders are using the directive approach along with the supportive
approach to help the team members and the execution of the desired and planned strategy in
an effective manner. The leaders of the 21st century do not use command approach to get
work done by the team members and employees as this approach is not helpful in providing
satisfaction to the employees. The command approach sometimes also makes fell them a
servant to the company (Hitt, et al., 2017). It increases the communication gap whereas the
directive approach makes feel to employees as an important asset to the organization. It can
also be said that the "An order communicated with the help of well-crafted messages act as a
tool of motivation for the employees." It enables the sense of being valued in the mind of
employees that motivates them to perform in their best possible way (Luthra & Dahiya,
2015).
Proper Listening:
It is another tool used by the leaders and managers of the 21st Century. Proper listening to the
team members and employees helps the leaders to understand their issues and areas of
problem in a well effective manner. Listening for the message includes hearing the issue and
facts accurately without being distracted or prejudgement about the thought of others. It is
also important for the purpose of analyzing the stress of employees by understanding the
emotions of the communicated words. For this purpose, casual meetings and get together are
organized by the successful leaders which help in communication the expectations of
employees and leaders from each other in a very informal way (Argenti, 2017). The leaders
of today's environment having professional listening skills which include listening for the
issues, messages, emotions and considering the relevant solutions accordingly. Along with
this, proper listening reduces the chances of occurring any kind of misunderstanding
regarding the planned strategies. It can also be said that “Listening works as a sign of respect
for the speaker and also develops respect for the listener (Lawrence, 2015).”

LEADERSHIP 2
Employee Oriented:
The leaders of today's business environment, most of the leaders follow the communication
styles and design their strategies as per the understanding and expectations of the employees
so that satisfaction level of the employees can be increased and planned strategies can be
executed in the desired manner. For this purpose, the leaders use brainstorming sessions
which helps them in understanding the mindset of employees to perform a specific task
(Lawrence, 2015). It includes the introduction of downward as well as upward
communication system within the organization so that employees may feel free to
communicate with the senior level management and can convey their ideas and suggestions
freely. For the application of employee orientated communication style, a leader has to now
the interest and characterizes of the audience or team members. It can also be understood by
the phrase “Employee orientation is a key to become a successful and praised leader in the
long run (Luthra & Dahiya, 2015).”

LEADERSHIP 3
References
Argenti, P. A., 2017. Strategic Communication in the C-Suite. International Journal of
Business Communication, 54(2), pp. 146-160.
Hitt, M. A., Haynes, K. T. & Serpa, R., 2017. Strategic leadership for the 21stcentury.
Business Horizons, Volume 53, pp. 437-444.
Lawrence, T., 2015. Global leadership communication: A strategic proposal. Creighton
Journal of Interdisciplinary Leadership, 1(1), pp. 51-59.
Luthra, A. & Dahiya, R., 2015. Effective Leadership is all About Communicating
Effectively: Connecting Leadership and Communication. International Journal of
Management & Business Studies, 5(3), pp. 43-48.