I’m sharing 8 leadership lessons that I have learned through the years.  You are welcomed and encouraged to share your own below.

#7–When trying to lead others…communicate, communicate, communicate!

I can honestly say that seldom has my leadership suffered greater than when I “assumed” others knew what I was thinking, saying or desiring.  Too often leaders make the calamitous mistake of failing to communicate sufficiently to bring followers along or help the organization get on board.  The longer I live the more I am coming to realize that BIG IDEAS take more time than usual to build “buy in” and good leaders take the extra time to communicate and in some cases OVER-COMMUNICATE the ideas and concepts until it comes to feel “right” within the organization.   The passion of a leader is sometimes not as obvious as the leader assumes and it is important to help other understand the passion, rationale and process for change or new direction.

Brad Lomenick, now a leader in the Catalyst Conference organization lists “always over-communicate” as his #1 advice to leaders in times of great intensity and pressure.  He’s right…the more you communicate your vision, your passion and your direction, the greater opportunity you will have to succeed.

Your thoughts?