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Farhnaz Fazli (she/her/hers), Low Entropy Volunteer Writer

Whether you’re a leader in your classroom or a major CEO, communication skills are ultimately what differentiate a bad leader from a great one. The two are closely connected. But why are communication skills so important to have as a leader? Well, one of the main responsibilities of a leader is to guide the pursuit of group ideas and the achievement of goals. These require two things from a leader: the ability to earn trust and the ability to encourage collaboration. Leaders can build trust and encourage teamwork through their communication skills. As a result, these skills are ultimately what determine whether or not leaders (and their groups) achieve the goals they set out. 

Whom we choose to follow the lead of is ultimately based on our impression of their degree of trustworthiness. A leader can gain a sense of trust through their communication skills. It might be commonly said that actions speak louder than words, but when you’re a leader, your words matter just as much. Word choice, tone and body language are all elements of communication that play a role in encouraging trust in a leader’s message, ideas and goals. It’s a big part of what makes someone want to follow a leader. If you consider the world of social activism, we often see crafty slogans or chants play a part in morale and loyalty. It is what keeps a movement alive. Oftentimes, slogans or chants come from memorable or inspiring quotes from a leader. Words that stick out in this way don’t usually happen by accident. Great leaders know how to communicate well in this manner and build trust over time with their communication skills. Nailing this skill is essentially the first step in becoming a leader or being selected as one. For this reason, I think it’s unlikely that someone without communication skills would ever be crowned a leader. It’s just that important of a skill to have.

In addition to building trust, it’s important for leaders to have communication skills in order to unify the group that they lead. A disconnected group of people cannot reasonably achieve anything, nor can a group that’s in the midst of conflict. Thus, it’s a leader’s responsibility to bring people together and encourage collaboration and the pursuit of goals. In a way, leaders use their communication skills to set the tone (or “mood”) and bring a sense of structure within their group. If leaders didn’t have communication skills, people would become confused, disconnected and aimless due to the lack of structure that is otherwise provided by a leader’s communication abilities. This would hinder goal achievement. Think of a coach and a sports team. If a coach cannot effectively communicate their frustrations and their coaching expertise, they can easily demotivate players and destabilize teamwork. This would be a recipe for loss and failure. A leader must have communication skills in order to encourage and maintain group cohesion as much as humanly possible. While disagreements are inevitable in groups, it’s a leader’s job to use their communication skills to keep people focused on effectively collaborating and pursuing their goals. This is why it’s so important for a leader to have these skills; otherwise disconnection and chaos would ensue. 

The presence of communication skills is the first step in becoming a leader and, in the long term, succeeding as one. It is what people judge in others to determine whether they will trust and follow someone’s lead in the first place. These skills are what help a leader earn their title. Communication skills also play an important role in completing leadership duties like pursuing group ideas and goal achievement. These tasks heavily rely on group cohesiveness and the collaboration of ideas. A leader must have communication skills to build this sense of togetherness and foster a respectful or collaborative environment. Without these skills, groups become disconnected and directionless. This disconnection and lack of structure can hinder the achievement of goals. Communication skills are essentially at the very core of what makes a person a leader.  

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