8 Things Leaders Should Do To Succeed In The Year Of The Rabbit

This article is written by Cynthia Owens

The Year of the Rabbit is a year for diplomacy and that requires excellent communication skills. We are all so busy in our 24/7, “CrackBerry，” frequent flyer working life in Asia, it’s easy to forget the importance of actually taking time for thoughtful face-to-face discussions with our teams and peers.

Diplomacy requires tactful discussions, thoughtful dialogue, prudent negotiation and polite conversation. Great leaders know how to communicate their goals and priorities clearly and are able to align their teams to focus on the right objectives. It’s not enough to talk only to your leadership team and send out a newsletter, diplomacy means communicating effectively at all levels.

Here are 8 ways to communicate better in the Year of the Rabbit:

In person—Speak to your team face-to-face. You connect with people when you talk to them and you can look them in the eye. If this isn’t an option, use video phone services or the telephone. Don’t limit your communications to e-mail.

Often—A once-a-year Town Hall meeting is good, but to lead people, they need to hear from you more frequently. Meet with your direct reports weekly and your line managers monthly. Look for opportunities to interact with individuals and with your entire staff.

Repeat your key messages—Employees need to hear a consistent message from you over a full year. Repeating your messages makes your goals and priorities clear and focuses your team on achieving them. You may get bored saying the same words all the time, but you don’t talk to most of your employees every day or even every week. So repeat your key messages.

Listen—Communication is two-way, so be prepared to listen and ask questions. This is how you learn about your valuable employees and gain insights into how your business works and where your bottlenecks might be. Don’t get defensive, instead listen with an open mind.

Follow-through—Listening is only half the challenge, you have to follow through on what you say and what you hear. And make sure the team knows you’ve followed through, by communicating back to that audience.

Walk-about—Take 15 minutes every day to walk around your office or hang out by the coffee machine. When you visit an office in another country create genuine opportunities to take questions from the local team and listen to their feedback. Demonstrate that you are interested and willing to listen.

Think about your audience—Just as diplomacy requires two sides to come together, you need to plan ahead to think about how you can tailor your message for your audience. How can you inspire them to embrace your growth strategies and ambitious goals?

(c) 2010 Organisation Solutions Pte Ltd.

About the Authors: Cynthia Owens is Senior Vice President of Organisation Solutions and oversees communication programmes and services. She has more than 20 years of experience working for some of the world’s top news organisations including The Wall Street Journal, ABC News and CNBC Asia. Cynthia now helps leaders and businesses communicate more effectively by helping them refine strategy and messaging and improve communications skills to achieve business goals.