Words: 1174
At the start of the meeting I was struck by the way Mr.. Frame started the meeting. One could sense the spirit of togetherness and a drive to a common vision by the directors and staff members present in the meeting. Most of the members had something in common for which they were passionate about and one could tell from the participants that there was no leadership crisis. Though it was a little bit difficult for me to kind of follow the meeting because of how technical the subject was, I could tell by the way the director asked questions and sorted member’s opinion that the use of dialogue was successful.
I just believe the director used dialogue to help the members of this organization create a share sense of meaning and purpose. From the way he interacted with his staff, he enabled them express their hopes and fears, suspend their convictions and explore assumptions, and become motivated to search for common ground. In the course of the meeting I kept on hearing the word “we” which to me was a sign of belonging, unified group and shared meaning. When talking about the mission they all had in common could sense the leader express some concerns as to the lack of sufficient funds to carry out their mission.
This, the erector blamed it on the U. S. Congress and according to him if it continued like that some will have to go without jobs or have their hours cut. When the idea of limited funds was evoked he then ask the other members their thoughts, and as he listens to their concerns you could sense the use of discernment as he could detect unarticulated messages hidden below the surface of spoken interaction. Actually this was a hot topic because it evoked a lot of emotion and extreme uncertainty but you could tell from the way the director listened and reacted to the others that he had concern for them.
Communication is a process by which information and understanding are transferred between a sender and a receiver such as a leader and an employee. Leadership communication also includes the components of sending, receiving and feedback. This is different from management communication. When I saw the director speak you could tell he was more concerned with the big picture- the vision. From my observations I believe the director did show some good communication skills throughout the meeting especially given what was at stake.
With uncertainty, weakened trust and the present economic crisis faced by the members of this Gulper Soil and Water Conservation District, one could see the director trying to motivate the other member by telling them that they should continue with the mission and vision they have irrespective of the hardship they were facing. That to me was effective communication verbally. The director was kind of strategic in the way he tackled some of the issues as he constantly made mention of the organization’s vision, critical strategic themes and the values that can help achieve desired outcomes.
A good leader will obviously create o good communication climate by sharing all types of information throughout the organization especially across national and hierarchical boundaries. This director, through his communication skills had to build an open communication climate which allowed him to breakdown conventional hierarchical and departmental boundaries that may be barriers to communication, enabling them to convey a stronger awareness of and commitment to organizational vision, goals, and values. One of the things personally found fascinating about Mr..
Frame during this meeting was the fact that he is a communication champion. He was persuasive and influential in the way he communicated with the other members of this organization, instantly reminding them about the vision and the mission they have ahead of them. Without bias one would definitely believe or think that Mr.. Frame has the expertise and knowledge in this field. He proved that he was well- informed on this subject and therefore created in my opinion a sound relationship with the members of this organization which again proved that they had each others interests at heart.
With the uncertainty in the horizon, he urged members to continue working as they have been doing telling them that he was going to do everything in his power to make sure their jobs were secured. He kind of resurged them to hang in there with him and together they were all going to be better off as the economy was already showing signs of recovery. What an emotional connection between the director and his subordinates as everybody in the hall looked happy and convinced the director was leading them in the right direction. As a leader, you can increase your credibility by becoming knowledgeable and building positive relationships with others. You can show your plans will benefit followers and tap into their imagination and emotions to inspire support” (Daft, 2010) Nonverbal communication, that is, messages reanimated through actions, behavior, facial expression, and tone of voice, and they account for over one half of the entire message received in a personal encounter. (Daft, 2010) Some leader would send a memo or an email to their subordinates explaining to them what the stakes are, but Mr..
Frame decided to proof his leadership quality and how much he cared by organizing this meeting and talking to colleagues “face a face” to know them, feel them and share their worries because after all as he explained he is the director because they are there. In fact this come together as he termed it, was a sign of teamwork and raring for each other. Watching him deliver his speech or talk to the other members, I could see him gesticulating, and looking at his positive body language wondered if he knew that was another sign of effective communication which I came to understand only as a Public Administration student.
I am not by chance affirming that Nonverbal Communication is a perfect means of transmitting a message, the concept though is good but sometimes some leaders go too far and end up portraying themselves negatively. As a leader, you can symbolize important messages through your appearance, body language, facial expressions, and daily actions. You can be more effective by using management by wandering around. You can get out and mingle with followers and customers to learn about their ideas, problems, and needs through informal observation and conversation. Daft, 2010) To summarize, we saw an effective communicator in Mr.. Frame. From the way he handled himself and put forth his message to the rest of the team, we could tell he is a communication champion. One of the communication styles we saw him use so effectively was the use of dialogue in which the other members of the team discovered a common ground which remitted them to create a shared meaning that enables them to understand each other.