Answer Maven

This week I am attending the Special Libraries Association (SLA) Leadership Summit in Savannah GA.  Amidst the beautiful architecture the leaders and future leaders of SLA are developing their leadership skills, polishing off or beginning plans for future educational and networking events and networking with old and new colleagues.This morning’s Keynote on Leadership boiled down to a few key points:  positive statements, words to avoid and perception.  These three things are all part of communication, whether in delivery or reception.

So as I reflect upon Mr. Stephen Garvey’s overall message I am prompted to wonder if leaders are thus because they communicate well or if they communicate well because they are leaders.  This is just another iteration of the chicken and egg dilemma.

And as with the chicken and egg dilemma, the point is really moot.  The important thing is that leadership and communication go hand in hand.  Effective leaders communicate well.

This fact should inspire self-evaluation.  Power does not equal leadership and leaders who have gained power don’t always remain leaders.  Sometimes the power plays force a change that results in poor communication.

Organizational leaders benefit from sharp communication skills.  Listening, comprehending and relating are more important than the 3 words Garvey warned listeners to avoid:  try, understand, but.

Are you “understanding but” or are you “relating and”?  Leadership requires upkeep.  Once a leader does not guarantee a lifetime of leading.  What can you learn from others?  How do their methods meet the organizational goals?

Knowing your mission, vision and goals are base level management skills and are often the most overlooked part of organizational leadership.  Are you receiving full business value in your new projects because they have been planned with purpose or are you missing effective opportunities with poor planning?

Any information management project should be led with a full commitment to furthering business value that supports the goals of the mission.  Without that purpose the leaders are shooting into the dark.

Success requires leadership and leadership is communication.  So to be successful communication is a necessary priority no matter the task at hand.

Constance Ard January 15, 2009

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 4:48 pm and is filed under Business, Information Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.