I once had a CEO say to me, “If it comes to getting results or singing Kumbaya, I’ll pick results.”
My reply? “Too bad you have neither.”
It was a half-joke that revealed a mindset problem: communication is still viewed as a soft skill — nice to have, but not essential for performance. But here’s the truth: strategic conversation is one of the most vital skills an executive can master.
Here are eight ways to reframe and retool your executive communication so that it becomes your most potent driver of clarity, accountability and performance.
1. Reframe communication as a strategic tool
Executives often believe their past experience and operational savvy are enough to lead. But leadership is more than numbers and strategy; it’s also about navigating complexity through conversation.
In today’s workplace, leaders deal with people who are impatient, reactive or emotionally underdeveloped. Without skillful communication, these encounters turn into misalignment, drama or missed opportunities. Strategic communication is not leadership optional: it’s leadership oxygen.
2. Manage your narrative
Your decision-making doesn’t start in the boardroom; it begins in your head. I worked with a business owner who believed his managers deserved equal say in investment decisions, even though they had no financial stake in the company. His need for reassurance created a mental loop that led to poor decisions and stalled momentum. He didn’t need new policies; he needed a new narrative. To lead effectively, you must take charge of your narrative; the conversation in your head. Clarity on the inside leads to clarity on the outside.
3. Use language to create the future
If you want to know what kind of culture really exists in your organization, listen to the conversations. When talk focuses on what’s possible, what’s next and what needs to change, you’re building a culture of growth. But when conversations revolve around blame, obstacles and complaints, drama follows.
Mission statements don’t define culture; it’s shaped by language and action. Leaders who tolerate toxic language or emotional reactivity will eventually see it mirrored in performance. If it’s not in the conversation, it’s not in the culture.
4. Embody core values
Most organizations have values like integrity, compassion or excellence. But ask employees how those values show up at work, and you’ll likely get blank stares. Why? Because the values are aspirational, not practical. The values sound good, but they aren’t practiced. The values aren’t in the conversations; they aren’t tied to feedback, recognition or course correction, and therefore, the values aren’t shaping behavior.
To align values with culture, leaders must embody core values. That means to live from the values and find practical ways to make the values come alive in conversations, decision making, in rewards, discipline and coaching.
5. Stop avoiding and start leading
Avoiding conflict feels good in the moment — you keep the peace, protect relationships and sidestep discomfort. But the cost is high.
In one organization I worked with, a disruptive employee went unchecked for 18 years. She created chaos for staff and patients alike. Eventually, the situation escalated into legal action, all because leadership avoided the tough conversation for too long.
Avoided conversations build a ticking time bomb. Whether the fallout is a lawsuit, a resignation, or declining morale, there’s always a cost. Don’t overestimate the benefit of silence or underestimate the price of avoidance.
6. Set the intention before you communicate
If you’ve ever asked yourself mid-meeting, “How did we get here?” you already know what happens when conversations drift. Without a clear purpose, discussions become circular, emotional or confrontational. Before long, it’s verbal ping-pong, not progress.
The antidote? Set a clear intention before every performance conversation. Know your goal. Guide the direction. Stay the course. Intention is your compass. When you’re clear, you can lead, even when emotions flare or conversations get bumpy.
7. Become a radical listener
Listening is easy when the message is agreeable. It’s harder when you’re challenged, provoked or triggered. That’s where radical listening comes in.
Radical listening means staying grounded when your instincts scream to defend, dominate, or disengage. It means listening for alignment, not ammunition. It means pausing before reacting, so you can choose the right path forward. Radical listening is an act of self-management and self-regulation, which takes discipline and inner work. But that work pays off: Leaders who master radical listening can redirect conversations, coach more effectively and reduce reactivity in others. It’s the most underutilized power skill in executive communication.
8. Develop the discipline to learn
In a noisy, fast-moving business world, the greatest advantage is the discipline to learn. To learn to listen when it’s hard. To learn how to stay focused when you’re triggered. To learn to speak with clarity when chaos is all around. Peter Senge, systems scientist and author of The Fifth Discipline, has written extensively on how learning and language shape thinking, behavior and culture. “Through learning, we perceive the world differently. And as we learn, we change the way we talk — and the way we talk changes the way we think.”
You can delegate your inbox, your schedule, even your HR issues. But you can’t delegate your inner work or your learning. The future of leadership belongs to the executive who is committed to growth and skilled in conversation.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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