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What Poor Communication Taught Me About Leading with Clarity
- Cheri Dixon
- 6 days ago
- 7 min read
I took on a new role in a school about a year ago. The position that I accepted was one where I oversaw all the multilingual programming for a campus. My new roles and responsibilities included ensuring that students had the right programming, teachers had the right coaching and training, and the campus was following all district and state regulations. This was a position that I had done a few years prior to being a principal and so I thought it would be a perfect fit. I already understood the role and knew that I could make everything happen at school and still build my thriving business.
I was quite surprised when I stepped on campus the very first day. I walked into meetings with each content team only to hear one of the assistant principals share that they were all going to give their second language learner students a significant assessment during that current week and this was the first they heard about it. To say they were upset was an understatement. And I absolutely understood. How could we expect teachers who had spent so much time the week prior writing lesson plans and planning for their week, to suddenly scrap all those plans and make this pivot so that they could test these children? How could we expect to have great test results if we were making all these plans at the very last minute?
Of course, I was new and so I did my due diligence. I sat and I listened. I listened to all the complaints and concerns from the teachers. I listened to the assistant principal apologize for the late notice but then listened to her when she said we had to get it done anyway. And I took everything into account, coupled with my former experiences as a school leader.
After the meeting, I went directly to the principal, and I told her we needed to make a plan. We needed to make a change, and we needed to do this immediately. Our teachers were terribly upset. Our test results were going to be subpar and why would we even be doing this? This is not the kind of building we wanted to run.
That experience just solidified my feelings of how important it is as a leader that we have a communication plan. I know this is one more thing on top of all the other roles and responsibilities that we have as leaders, however, nobody likes surprises. Nobody wants to be told at the last minute that they must revamp their entire plan, and nobody wants to stress and get overwhelmed with something that they know they could’ve done an excellent job with if they had just known about it earlier.
People wonder why our employees leave their positions. Research tells us that people leave for a handful of reasons. The funny thing is, it's not necessarily about money. We know that people leave their positions when they don't feel supported. We know people leave their positions when they don't feel like they can grow. And we know that people leave their positions when they don't feel like they're doing work that makes a difference. What I know is that people also leave their positions when they feel that they are not communicated to and are being told things at the last minute. In these situations, people feel that the work they do doesn't matter because somebody is always making a change and not giving them the respect to communicate with them so that they can plan ahead of time.
We know that people leave their positions when they don't feel like they're doing work that makes a difference.
I went to a meeting last week that was not on my campus. My district is spread out across the entire city of Houston, so going to a meeting is not a 5-minute drive. I looked at my calendar invite, and I saw the address of where I was going. I had been to this location before however I had to assume that I was going to the exact same space and building I had gone to the month prior. With coffee in hand, I got in my car and headed downtown. I arrived at my location, pulled into the parking lot, and saw that I was one of only two cars parked. This of course made me a little anxious, as I was thinking “oh boy I'm in the wrong place.” I was running a little bit ahead of schedule, so I thought “OK go inside. I bet there is going to be somebody who certainly can guide you in the right direction.” When I entered the building, nobody was sitting at the front desk so I went inside, sat down at one of the lounge chairs in the lobby, and began to text as many people as I could to find out exactly where I was supposed to go for this meeting. Then I heard a familiar voice coming from the second floor and realized I should probably go to the second floor. Luckily, that is exactly where the meeting was.
As I started to take out my materials and got ready for this meeting, the person in charge came over to greet me and began to talk to me. She said that she was surprised that there weren’t any more people in the room because the meeting was supposed to start at 8:15 and it was already 8:12. I told her that when I looked at my calendar invite it indicated that we were meeting at 8:30. She gave me a look like she was confused but maybe not surprised. So, I continued to tell her that I also noticed that they gave a location but did not specify the building nor the room number, so I was actually wandering around on the 1st floor wondering where I was supposed to go. This sparked a conversation between the two of us about the importance of clear communication.
I get it…this is one more thing on top of everything else, we as leaders are responsible for. But…when it comes to running your organization well, isn’t worth it?
So, how do we make our organizations the best that they can be and ensure that we provide our people with the clearest and most concise, consistent communication? I always follow three big rules when it comes to communicating with my people.
We need to be sure that we have a clear and consistent communication plan that we hold ourselves accountable for following. I always looked at how I was going to communicate daily, weekly, and monthly. I wanted to be sure that I was communicating with the right people with the right information, while still being transparent with the people who wanted all the information, but did not necessarily need all the communication. And I was very up front about what all my communication was going to look like. My people knew when they were going to get their weekly newsletter. My people knew when to check their e-mail. My people knew exactly when they could get hold of me and when they couldn't.
That brings me to the next big thing, setting boundaries. I needed all my people to know that I was going to be 100% available to them during work hours, 50% available during after-work hours, and 0% available in the middle of the night. This may sound silly, but it is reality. Some people do not think before they start to communicate, and they want something done at once when they're having a problem or concern. Putting those expectations out there ahead of time did wonders for me and trust me, I learned this the hard way. I also had to set the expectations for when I wanted my people to communicate with me. This meant if I needed to get hold of you in the evening or on a weekend, which was not normal practice, then they needed to respond within a timely manner. Having that trust along with open communication just makes everything non-negotiable and so much smoother for what we expect from each other.
And finally, you heard me say earlier nobody likes surprises. I have always lived by this philosophy that if I wanted things to be done unexpectedly, at the last minute, or on the fly, then that would be fine for people to do that to me as well. But I don't like surprises. In my opinion surprises get us in a lot of trouble. Being as proactive as you possibly can with your communication is one of the keys to your success. Everybody in your organization will understand if you are upfront with them about what you can communicate; and when you can't communicate, they will understand and accept it. Again, being as proactive as possible in any realm of your leadership but especially in your communication will make all the difference.
Being as proactive as you possibly can with your communication is one of the keys to your success.
I am hoping that as I continue to work in this organization and continue to build and grow my own business, I always step back and consider who it is that I am communicating with, who needs to have information immediately, and who needs to be on a need to know basis, and I will be able to continue to be an effective communicator and run my organizations smoothly. It is one more thing on top of the laundry list of roles and responsibilities that we have as leaders, however in my opinion, when you get this right this goes a long way with your people and builds trust so that you can lead and empower them to make your organization the best that it can be.
Meet the expert:
Dr. Heather Browne is a relationship expert, psychotherapist, and best-selling author helping thousands transform how they connect and communicate. Her award-winning book, Speaking with the Heart, and her TEDx and keynote talks center on the question, “How can we care as we share?” Featured on ABC-7, CBS, KCAL, and KDOC’s Daybreak OC, her work appears in Inc., Toronto Sun, Psychology Today, and more. She also shares insights through Links for Shrinks, Marriage Friendly Therapists, and her active TikTok channel.
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