Leaders are often thrust into situations where they don’t have all the information they want or need. While many leaders wish to wait until they have more – or all – the information before they communicate, withholding information until the “right time” is a barrier that can cause more harm than good.

When a leader tells me, “I want to wait until I have all the information I need to communicate”, I have a few responses that help me initiate dialogue about what and when to communicate:

• “Let’s talk about what we know today.” 

Chances are we know more than we think we do, which will be helpful to employees.  

• “We'll never have all the information and everything ironed out.”

Employees don’t expect you to have all the answers; they just want to know what you know today, and for you to be open and honest with them. Proactively sharing details builds trust and credibility.

• “If you don’t fill the ‘information void’ with your messages, someone else will.”

In today’s electronic age, with the internet, blogs, wikis, etc., information is global and is constantly flowing whether the leader is part of the dialogue or not. Today, you can’t control the message; what you can do is be part of the dialogue.

•  “It’s okay to say, ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I don’t have that information at this time.’” 

Employees understand you may not have all the answers. It’s always helpful to give a sense of when you’ll know more.

Here are several strategies to help you make the case for communicating sooner rather than later with your leaders:

• Engage your leader in identifying your key audiences and their perceptions and communication needs on the topic.
• Develop a communication plan with your leader that details how he/she will share information as it becomes available. This will ensure he/she is communicating with employees in an ongoing and effective way.
• Establish a method for capturing and answering employee questions in a timely manner.
• Whether or not key audiences ask, always consider the unspoken questions “what’s in it for me?” and “why should I care?” Ensure your leaders are aligned on these answers and communicate them consistently with key audiences.

Effective leadercommunicators understand that everything they do communicates – including what they’re not saying. Employees want to know the truth and they always know the score. So, silence is rarely golden when it comes to leadership communication, rather it’s often construed as withholding information.

In a day and age where information is constantly flowing – and we know we’ll never have all the answers – a leader can be instrumental in making sure employees feel informed so employees have what they need to do their jobs and stay focused on the business. And we can be right there by their side, helping them.

See you next month.

David Grossman, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA
President and principal thoughtpartner™, dg&a

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