Communication in Ministry

In this series, we disclose what subordinates wish their leader understood. We break this down into four elements: Vision, Communication, Enthusiasm, and Listening.

Think about some of the great communicators of our day. When we respond to this question, we are usually thinking about mass communicators – the politician that can win votes with a persuasive mass communication style, or the preacher that can draw mass audiences who fill the largest auditoriums in America. You may have developed your public speaking skills to a high level where audiences consistently smile and laugh or are moved to action. But the greatest of public speakers are not always the greatest of organizational communicators.

How you are perceived as a leader may be more important than who you really are as a public speaker. Studies in interpersonal communications report that nonverbal cues are much more important that we realize. Even if the message that we send seems powerful and effective, if the receiver hears something else, we have failed to communicate. God intends our communication with Him to be a two-way channel, and that is how we need to be communicating with subordinates as well.

When a leader communicates with you, what do you appreciate most? What holds your attention? What do you wish the leader understood about the way you receive communication? As leaders, it is imperative that we know what subordinates feel about the way we communicate. What do they wish that we understood?

In this video, we disclose nine ideas that that are compiled from leaders who have studied what subordinates wish their leader understood regarding communication. When we communicate, our listeners think and process through their lens and when they communicate to us, we in turn, think and process through our lens. Most often, our lenses are not the same. When you watch the video, allow these nine communication practices that are suggested by subordinates to penetrate your mind and heart, and you will be a stronger leader/communicator.