From Management to Leadership: Strategies for Transforming Health, 3rd Edition

Communication and Leadership

Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus describe communication as the management of meaning (1985). When Max DePree (1989) talks about a leader’s role as defining reality, it means that the leader and follower have reached a shared understanding of that reality. Shared meaning is the very essence of communication. The leader communicates not only words and concepts throughout the organization but emotional tone as well. One of the most important things the leader communicates is his or her emotions. “Emotions are contagious, particularly when exhibited by those at the top, and extremely successful leaders display a high level of positive energy that spreads throughout the organization” (Cherniss and Goleman, 2001, p. 38). The ...