The single biggest problem in communication...

It’s a funny thing. There’s never been a time when we talked more about leadership…

What it is. Why it matters. How to do it better.

Strategic leadership. Team leadership. Intellectual leadership. Change leadership. Disruptive leadership. Populist leadership. Visionary leadership.

Leading people. Leading debate. Leading organisations. Leading countries. Leading from the front. Leading from behind.

There’s so much, we must be a little in love with our leaders, right…?

Wrong. It’s a funny thing but, for all the talk, we’ve never been less satisfied with them.

At AGL Communication, we believe this has a lot to do with the way leaders communicate.

Or maybe don’t.

It’s a funny thing, you see, another one.

There’s never been more communication.

We live in a deluge of the stuff.

This truly is its great age.

And yet, there’s never been less that cuts through the noise.

“The single biggest problem in communication,” said George Bernard Shaw, “is the illusion it has taken place.”

True in his time.

Even truer in ours.

And as true for society’s leaders as for any of us.

So, what’s the answer?

Better words, better delivered?

Better stories, better told?

Greater honesty, authenticity, humanity, individuality? Greater vision, conviction, courage, empathy?

Greater clarity: of language, message, and purpose? Greater ambition?

Of course. All the above. It’s not rocket science.

But how do you get there? Now, that’s more complicated.

We believe it’s by focusing on the emotions.

Knowing and understanding your own emotions, and how to regulate them, and put them to good use.

And endeavouring to understand the people you’re trying to reach, and their emotions, and the way they understand you.

And how best to connect with their hearts and minds.

And if they’re collaborators of some kind, or you’d like them to be, how best to get them to work with you towards your common goals.

That’s what we think is the real secret to good communication.

It’s a funny thing, though: yet another. We think it’s the secret to good leadership, too.

You know, there is actually a name for it.

You will have heard it countless times but have you fully understood it? And if you have, how often have you really and truly used it?

It’s Emotional Intelligence.

For us, it’s the key that enables leaders to make the most of their talents. As communicators.

But not simply as communicators.

As people who know how to open eyes, change the conversation and get things done by taking others with them.