Nature and Scope of
Business Communication
Unit 1
Faculty of Management Studies
Oct 22

Functions of Communication
• Control
• Motivation
• Emotional expression
• Information

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not
be those who cannot read and write but
those who cannot learn, unlearn and
relearn.”
Alvin Toffler – Rethinking the
future

Leadership Communication
Communication as a management tool

Meaning
Maker
Storyteller
Trust
Builder
Direction
Setter
Transition
Pilot
Linking
Agent
Critic
Provocateur
Learning
Advocate
Innovation
Coach
Leader as a
Community
Builder
Leader as a
Navigator
Leader asRenewal
Champion

A New Context
• A workplace community that attracts, engages and retains talented
people
• Leader as a community builder

A New Context
• Maintain an even keel and a steady course through times of
transition and difficulty
• Leader as navigator

A New Context
• Stay at the leading edge of change in one’s business through a
process of continuous innovation and renewal
• Leader as renewal champions

Meaning
Maker
Storyteller
Trust
Builder
Direction
Setter
Transition
Pilot
Linking
Agent
Critic
Provocateur
Learning
Advocate
Innovation
Coach

Leader as a Community Developer
• Leader as
• Defining membership
• A sense of inclusion
• Community dialogue
• Group gatherings
• Organisation- a good corporate citizen
• Framing Work
• Vision, values
Meaning
Maker

Leader as a Community Developer
• Leader as
• Stories should be…
• Clear
• Comprehensive
• Compelling
• https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6779236881
134616576/
Storyteller

The right anecdote can be worth
a thousand words
Warren Bennis The Leader as Storyteller

Story telling techniques
1. Make them action oriented
2. Link them to shared values and common ground
3. Cast organization people as leading characters
4. Cast everyone, by implication or extension
5. Cast the competition as opposition (the antagonist)
6. Portray the past as a prologue to a new story
7. Portray the present as the beginning (or middle) of a journey
toward specific goals and aspirations
8. Portray the future as a destination where goals are to be realized

Leader as a Community Developer
• Leader as
• Be yourself and speak in your voice
• Keep it simple
• Walk your talk
• Be attentive while listening
Trust
Builder

Meaning
Maker
Storyteller
Trust
Builder
Direction
Setter
Transition
Pilot
Linking
Agent
Critic
Provocateur
Learning
Advocate
Innovation
Coach

• https://www.ted.com/talks/sudhanshu_mani_the_journey_of_train_
18

The Leader as Navigator
• Leader as
• Clearly identifying the “true north”
• Getting and keeping people’s attention
• Personalize your message
• Make your stand public
• Communicate when there’s a reason
• Limit the length of your communication
Direction
Setter

The Leader as Navigator
• Building awareness and
understanding
• Give a clear direction
• Support it with data

The Leader as Navigator
• Building awareness and
understanding
• Give a clear direction
• Support it with data
• Persuading People to Act
• Recognition of effort and
accomplishment
• Understanding the informal
networks

The Leader as Navigator
• Leader as
• Empathy and assurance
Transition
Pilot

The Leader as Navigator
• Leader as
• Empathy and assurance
• Focus and alignment
Transition
Pilot

The Leader as Navigator
• Leader as
• Empathy and assurance
• Focus and alignment
• Ownership and involvement
Transition
Pilot

The Leader as Navigator
• Leader as
• Encourage frontline employees to bring forward what they know
and hear
• Staff meetings as 2 way conversations
• Connecting the “silos”
Linking
Agent

Leader as Renewal Champion
• Leader as someone who questions the status quo
Critic

When you discover you are riding a dead horse,…
• Organisations will…
• Change riders
• Use a stronger whip
• “This is the way we have always ridden…
• Appoint a committee to study the horse
• Arrange a visit to other sites to see how they ride dead horses
• Appoint a group to revive dead horses

Instead,
• Raise questions
• Challenge assumptions

Leader as Renewal Champion
Alfred P Sloan
Ex- CEO General Motors
• “I take it that we are all in
complete agreement on the
decision here.
• Therefore I propose we
postpone further discussion of
the matter to give ourselves
time to develop disagreement
and perhaps gain some
understanding of what the
decision is all about”
Provocateur

Leader as Renewal Champion
• Leader as
• Encourage and manage debate
Provocateur

Manage a good debate…
1. Level the playing field
2. The real winner of the debate must be the organization
3. Create a positive, friendly comfortable atmosphere
4. Assume an inquisitive, open stance
5. Procedural rules

Meaning
Maker
Storyteller
Trust
Builder
Direction
Setter
Transition
Pilot
Linking
Agent
Critic
Provocateur
Learning
Advocate
Innovation
Coach

Manage a good debate…
6. Emphasize the importance of preparation
7. Develop a debate format that works for you
8. Use “collaborative media”
9. Integrate points
10. Socialize after a debate

Leader as Renewal Champion
• Leader as
• Get people to talk
• Make the tacit explicit
• Staff meetings – professional learning time
Learning
Advocate

Leader as Renewal Champion
• Leader as
• Challenging creative people to be inventive
• Good ideas to be adapted by others and institutionalized
• Socializing
Innovation
Coach

Luthans and Larsen Model
Humanistic
Interactor
Mechanistic
Isolate
Informal
Developer
Formal
Controller

• Networking 11%
• Traditional Management 19%
• Human Resources 26 %
• Routine Communication 44%

References:
1. Mai, Robert and Akerson, Alan (2007) “The Leader as
Communicator”, Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi
2. Robbins, Stephen (2005) “Organizational Behavior”, Prentice Hall of
India, New Delhi