What Leaders can Learn from Howler Monkeys
I was traveling in Costa Rica a few years ago where I had the pleasure and amazement of hearing the howler monkeys daily at dusk and dawn. I was curious to learn more about their very distinctive call. As it turned out this was the leader of the howler tribe’s way of staking out their feeding territory for the day and keeping away competitive howler groups.
Similar to howler monkeys, leaders need to be clear and consistent in their communication to employees. Unfortunately communication is only too often regarded as part of leadership style when in fact it is a leadership essential. Moreover, leadership skills have become an increasing area of attention for North American companies, and yet there appears to be a lack of commitment to on-going leadership skill development.
Deloitte recently reported that:
Despite the importance of developing company leaders, it is clear current programs and supporting infrastructure are not hitting the mark. Alarmingly, only one in five of those surveyed consider the leadership programs in their organization as excellent. In fact, almost half rate their ability to develop leaders at all levels in their organization as weak.
A human resources publication ranking of leadership soft skills, identified communication as the key skill for hiring. Moreover leadership communication was defined as both the ability to articulate clearly and to effectively listen.
As a leader, you need to be able to clearly and succinctly explain to your employees everything from organizational goals to specific tasks. Leaders must master all forms of communication, including one-on-one, departmental, and full-staff conversations, as well as communication via the phone, email, and social media.
McKinsey Consulting Insights just shared new research suggesting that the key to developing effective leaders is to encourage four key behaviours. These are defined as: Be Supportive; Seek different perspectives; Operate with strong results orientation; and Solve problems effectively. One might argue that the first two behaviours identified are key elements of effective communication, reflecting both the ability to be sensitive in one’s articulation and effective in listening.
Building a strong brand is about simplifying and being consistent in key organization communications with employees as a priority. This builds from sensitive, consistent, relevant communications both internal and external to the organization. Again not unlike our friends the howler monkeys what and how we communicate is key to survive and grow in today’s competitive environment. It really is a jungle out there!
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