Communication and leadership go hand in hand.
In An Integrative Theory of Leadership, Martin M. Chemers describes leadership as “a process of social influence in which one person is able to enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task.”
In its Guidelines for Meeting the Communication Needs of Persons With Severe Disabilities, the National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons With Severe Disabilities said that communication is “any act by which one person gives to or receives from another person information about that person’s needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective states.”
To lead is to influence others toward a shared goal. Communication is how we transmit and receive the very information of which influence consists.
Influence is the common thread that binds leadership and communication. continue reading »