The Power of Communication: Skills to Build Trust, Inspire Loyalty, and Lead Effectively

Citation

Hazlett, K. (2013), "The Power of Communication: Skills to Build Trust, Inspire Loyalty, and Lead Effectively", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 382-383. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-01-2013-0401

Helio Fred Garcia, president of the crisis management firm Logos Consulting Group and Executive Director of the Logos Institute for Crisis Management, has taught in the US Marine Corps' annual East Coast Commanders Public Affairs Symposium for more than 20 years in addition to serving a client list including some of the largest and best‐known companies and organizations in the world. To casually say that Garcia “knows his stuff” when it comes to effective leadership characteristics would be a major understatement.

Based on his experiences working with the Marine Corps as well as other clients, Garcia has written The Power of Communication as a means to “help those who engage audiences for a living – whether in positions of leadership or in communication support functions – to do so at a high level of craft” (p. xxvi).

The Power of Communication looks at executive (and other) leadership as just that…a communication opportunity that all too often goes astray. And Chapter 1, “Words Matter,” opens the conversation by observing that “[m]ost business leaders are not…good at connecting, at communicating, or at understanding what will get and keep an audience's attention and earn the audience's loyalty, trust, and confidence” (p. 2).

With that as an introduction, Garcia proceeds to analyze the communication traits that are the mark of an exemplary leader and offers guidance on developing one's tactics and techniques in order to achieve a greater level of communication success. In particular, he focuses on the need for a greater connection – a stronger relationship – between the leader and his or her stakeholders in order to be perceived by those audiences as actually relating with and caring about their issues and concerns. Once that connection is achieved, though, it also becomes the leader's responsibility to deliver on promises. “Communication sets expectations; actions deliver or shatter those expectations” (p. 22).

Chapter 2, “Taking Audiences Seriously,” examines this concept more closely, emphasizing the absolute need for the leader to do just that...take audiences seriously. The author makes the point time and again that effective leaders know how to connect with their audiences…but achieving that goal doesn't come easily or naturally. Understanding the communication paradigm is a solid first step: “Communication comes across on three basic levels: content (what you have to say), identity (how you come across saying it), and relationship (how you relate to those with whom you communicate)” (p. 27). The difficulty for the leader, says Garcia, is that of crossing the void and making the connection. “Leaders are particularly prone to seeing the world from the perspective of their own organization, and to fail to consider – or to dismiss as irrelevant – the concerns of the stakeholder” (p. 41).

As suggested throughout the book, however, “Words Aren't Enough” (Ch. 3). The leader –the truly successful executive – must do more than mouth words with no intention of following through: “One of the primary drivers of loss of trust and confidence is the gap between what one says and what one does…When leaders make promises, either implicit or explicit, they are establishing criteria by which they ask to be judged” (p. 71).

But saying the words and taking the action are just the proverbial “icing on the cake.” Delay in taking that action can be fatal. However, as the author points out in Chapter 4, “Speed, Focus, and the First Mover Advantage,” “Speed matters, especially in controversial situations. The longer it takes to fulfill legitimate stakeholder expectations, the harder it is to win, maintain, or restore trust” (p. 80).

A cautionary note is injected in this discussion, though, when it comes to addressing a situation quickly. Frequently, corporate communicators are called on to offer the organization's initial response. While this may be viewed by some as expeditiously addressing the situation, “A functionary describing the principal's regret is not the same as the principal expressing regret, and a spokesman saying he's apologizing for the principal is not the same as the principal apologizing” (p. 92).

Compounding the leader's challenge of communicating quickly is that of anticipating the response of stakeholders to the words spoken. Chapter 5, “Initiative, Maneuver, and Disproportionality,” clearly defines the parameters within which the leader is operating. “If you can effectively define the agenda within the first 45 minutes of an issue becoming public from some external source, relatively few stakeholders will have heard of the issue from others, and things are likely to settle down with minimal impact. If you miss the first 45 minutes, given the proliferation of social networking and citizen journalism, the likelihood is that more and more people will hear very quickly about the issue, with critics, adversaries, commentators, and others defining the issue, your motives, and your actions” (p. 117).

So what should a leader do to recognize the hazards inherent in addressing potentially harmful situations and the need for speed as well as action? Very simply, address the issue as any other business issue, with swift yet careful preparation and planning. But, as emphasized throughout The Power of Communication, words truly do matter. “Shaping the communication agenda requires considering more than what we may be minimally required to say, but rather identifying what we optimally should say in order to maintain trust, confidence, and loyalty” (p. 130). In other words, what do our stakeholders need to hear from us in order to be convinced that we are in control of the situation?

Chapter 6, “Performance: The Physicality of Audience Engagement,” takes a close look at the degree of connectivity the leader should be able to develop when speaking out on a situation. It is not just a matter, the author suggests, of standing before an audience or a bank of television cameras and delivering the carefully crafted words that are intended to assure all that the situation truly under control. Once again, the proverbial clock is ticking – time is of the essence, only this time it is the challenge of connecting with and gaining the attention and trust of those who have been affected. “Speakers…need to understand that the first 15 seconds win or lose an audience's attention, trust, confidence, and support. But too often speakers use the first few minutes of their presentations to warm up to the audience, and in the process they lose the audience” (p. 169).

Words…meaning…action …planning. The end product…the communication…is meaningless says Garcia if the content – what is said and how it is said – does not present a mental picture of the situation. And framing gives that context to the words: “People make judgments based on the frame in which the facts are embedded. But they justify those judgments based on the facts. It isn't that the facts don't matter. But the facts are invoked afterwards” (p. 200).

By now it should be clear that effective communication is an art and, like an accomplished artist, the effective leader must be able to catch the audience's attention with words and actions that build trust and confidence. The key, according to Chapter 9, “Audiences: Attention, Retention, and How Hearts and Minds Work,” is the interweaving of emotional appeals…of words that get to the heartstrings of audiences and win them over. “We've known for years that if an audience is angry and the speaker merely speaks facts without expressing any emotion, the audience tends to get angrier…But we also know that if people are angry and the speaker acknowledges the anger and shares some emotional connection with the audience, the anger can dissipate” (p. 211).

The final chapter ties together all the concepts discussed throughout the book. “Putting It All Together: Becoming a Habitually Strategic Communicator” fits the various pieces of the communication puzzle together. From the words chosen to the manner in which they are communicated, from the planning of the delivery to the presentation to the affected stakeholders, from promises made to promises kept, each step of the process fits neatly into the whole of the communicated message. “Leaders are judged on the fulfillment of expectations. When leaders make promises, either implicit or explicit, they are establishing criteria by which they ask to be judged” (p. 239). That is “The Power of Communication.”

Helio Fred Garcia's latest work is a “must‐read” for both leaders and their communication professionals. For some, it will be a jarring awakening to the vital importance of effective communication. For others, including this reviewer, a seasoned communication professional, it will be a much‐appreciated reminder of the important role that communication plays in an organization's success.