Effective Communication

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Effective Communication makes Effective Leader

SidsAvenue



In the last 3 posts of the series about leadership. I shared my views on significance of leadership by taking an example of airport operations, then analyzed Anna Hazare to understand what makes him the youth icon of India at 74. The post how leaders achieve goals was used to talk about importance of processes. This post is to talk about the significance of yet another important tool a effective leadership has to use well. And its Communication.



As usual, I will take an example to emphasis on the significance of effective Communication.



I was waiting for my train and a couple in the early 50s reached me asking for the coach B1. They have been on search for their coach for sometime and probably decided to ask some body and that was me.I was standing at the end of platform where my coach was supposed to arrive.I checked their ticket and realized their coach was at the very entrance of the platform. The couple has travelled the entire platform unnecessarily.



The scenario of running the length of the platform to find your coach was India till last few years. There was no way of knowing in advance where the coach would come. A lady would announce a few minutes before the train arrives on the speakers but you need special hearing capabilities to decipher what she said . The best bet was the local coolie.



But these days the scenario is changed. Indian rail has modernized and now the coach number is displayed on LED display well in time before the train arrives. People have ample time to get aligned to the place where the coach is expected to come.



The couple didn’t realize that the coach location is displayed on the LED display overhead and they just kept on walking and searching. This was probably very much in sync with what they have experienced since their younger days. So the thought of a LED display didn’t strike them probably. Or may be even if they saw it, they didn’t believe it somehow.



The point I am trying to make is that effective communication to the couple would have saved their energy burnt in travelling a few meters of platform. A one-liner on the ticket itself would have made their day. An SMS on their mobile would have been the best thing to do. May be I am expecting too much from Indian Rail.


In short, India rail has been quite customer friendly and innovative in getting the Coach number displayed. This awesome piece of work would have been much more effective, would have achieved its purpose of easing travellers journey pleasant to a great extent, would have held the spirit of the act way too high if it communicated well.



For an effective leader, its very essential to have effective communication skills to broadcast his vision for the organization, to get the workforce inspired and aligned to the goals, to propagate the ideas and techniques he intends to use to make the vision a reality.



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