Good communication is a must for any leader who wants to become successful. The exchange of ideas between the leader and his subordinates depends to a great extent on effective communication. For this reason, the leader should work at constantly improving his or her skills in communicating with people, both verbal and non-verbal. Here are some tips on how to develop and improve this vital leadership skill:

1. Listen more than you talk.

The longer you talk without letting the other person express his or her thoughts, the lesser chances you have of influencing that person. Leaders know that listening to others is twice as important as talking. They know that if they listen long enough, they will find the answers that they are looking for. Listening intently allows a leader to become familiar with the way other people around him think and feel. This places him in a position where he can influence other people by understanding their motives and desires.

2. Feed the message back.

In many cases, it is important for the leader to show the other person that he understands the message being said. If someone approaches the leader regarding a specific problem, the leader usually answers along these lines: “So from my understanding, you are having some difficulties with this and that, am I correct?” Clarifying the message is very important in communication, especially in instances when vital information is being transmitted from leader to subordinate, or vice versa.

3. Use proper timing.

No matter how important is the message that the leader wants to communicate to a subordinate, the meaning will be lost if the timing is not right. For example, abruptly interrupting conversations just to give a directive can be considered as bad timing. Another example would be to try communicating a message while the other person has tons of other distractions. Before a leader talks, he makes sure that the timing and the place is appropriate to the message he is trying to convey.

4. Focus on the person you are communicating with.

Very often, busy leaders try to communicate to their people while doing other things. They think that they are making effective use of their time if they multitask. So while they are communicating to someone, they take phone calls, write something down, check their email, or greet other people in the room. This is a mistake because it lessens the impact of any conversation. In effect, the person talking to the leader ends up feeling worthless and not valuable enough to be given undivided attention. A better way to converse is to focus on the person you are communicating with. Let the person feel that you are giving him or her complete attention. You will find that you will save more time and achieve more with people by focusing on them one at a time.