Communicating Effectively

Today I’ve picked the word communication from the little bowl of inspiring words that sits on my desk. It’s a word I see every single day in my work with senior executives, and yet it’s a word most of us glide past too quickly, assuming we already know what it means, assuming we’re already practising it well enough. After all, communication is simple, isn’t it? Say the words. Send the message. Hit “reply.” Job done.

But if it were that simple, workplaces wouldn’t be filled with misunderstandings, missed signals, assumptions, hurt feelings, reactivity, frustration and avoidable conflict. If it were that simple, so many leaders wouldn’t come to me saying some version of, “I feel like I’m constantly firefighting because people aren’t aligned,” or “I don’t understand why they misinterpreted that message,” or “I keep having to repeat myself and still nothing changes.” Something deeper is going on.

The word communication traces back to the Latin communicare, meaning “to share, to make common.” At its root, communication isn’t about transmitting information; it’s about creating shared meaning. Making something common between us, rather than keeping us in our own separate bubbles of assumption, distraction and busyness. When you think about it that way, it becomes painfully clear why our modern tools:  email, WhatsApp, Teams messages, Slack, quick-fire texts,  give the illusion of communication without delivering its essence. These tools transmit information, yes. But they rarely create shared meaning.

And the irony, of course, is that the more tools we have, the more efficient we become, the easier it is to “stay connected”… the less connected we actually feel. The more we write, the less we understand one another. The more we multitask, the less we truly listen. The more “efficient” we try to be, the more misunderstandings we generate. And misunderstandings have a cost — in time, in energy, in trust, in alignment, in psychological safety, in clarity of thinking, and often in your credibility as a leader.

I see this with my clients. Brilliant senior leaders who are drowning in demands while also trying to stay “on message.” And when pressure mounts, the first thing that collapses is genuine communication: the pause before speaking. The curiosity to ask a clarifying question; the thoughtfulness to pick up the phone instead of sending a clipped email. The willingness to check assumptions rather than plough ahead.

When we’re overwhelmed, the easiest path is the path of least resistance — the message instead of the conversation. And yet, that “easy” path costs more time and energy in the long run.

What many senior leaders don’t realise until we explore it together is that communication is one of their greatest leverage points. When communication improves — not the volume but the quality — everything else becomes easier. Alignment increases. Delegation becomes smoother. Stakeholders feel considered. Conflicts dissolve rather than escalate. Teams feel seen. And the leader regains precious hours that were previously lost to clearing up confusion, repairing misunderstandings, or repeating instructions.

Real communication slows us down just long enough to speed us up.

So the invitation today is simple: choose connection over convenience. The next time you’re about to fire off a quick message,  pause. Ask yourself: would a call or a face-to-face chat resolve this faster, cleanly, with less friction? Would hearing their voice,  or letting them hear yours,  create shared meaning instead of shared confusion? Would taking three minutes now save you thirty minutes later?

Communication isn’t the words we send; it’s the understanding we create.

And in a world full of noise, the leaders who communicate with presence, clarity and genuine connection are the ones who stand out . Not because they say more, but because they say it in a way that brings people together.