Why you must be a good communicator to be a good leader is essential to understand because leadership and communication are inseparable. Strong leaders express their vision clearly, inspire confidence, and motivate teams to work toward shared goals. When communication is effective, organisations experience better productivity, higher morale, stronger trust, and improved decision-making.
A core part of communication is listening—particularly active listening. As I explained in a previous blog (https://learnbusinessenglish.net/why-you-need-to-be-a-good-listener-if-you-want-to-be-good-communicator/), listening helps you adapt to your audience and respond with clarity, empathy, and intention. It shapes how your message is received and builds deeper trust.
In that blog, I wrote:
“You need to listen to ensure that you respond to the speaker in the correct way, with not only the right words, but the right tone. You must be able to adapt to new situations and individuals and respond accordingly. Listening makes you more aware of who your audience is and how your message should be tailored.”
Active listening strengthens relationships and helps people feel valued an essential quality if you want to be a good communicator to be a good leader. Leadership isn’t defined by a title. Many managers lack leadership qualities, while many true leaders operate without formal authority. Leadership is grounded in clarity of vision and the ability to communicate that vision in a compelling way. (See more on our podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@learnbusinessenglishnz.)
A blog from Penn LPS Online highlights this well:
“Effective communication is vital to efficacy in leadership because it helps to generate rapport, build trust, and encourage collaboration towards a common goal.”
Even if you feel your communication skills need improvement, they can be developed. Empathy, for example, is a powerful leadership trait. Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern known for her empathetic leadership, once said:
“One of the criticisms I’ve faced over the years is that I’m not aggressive enough or assertive enough, or maybe somehow, because I’m empathetic, it means I’m weak. I totally rebel against that. I refuse to believe that you cannot be both compassionate and strong.”
To strengthen communication, leaders should nurture skills such as adaptability, transparency, and intentional listening. The Forbes Council suggests important practices leaders should develop:
- Foster a learning mindset and seek diverse perspectives.
- Practice active and reflective listening.
- Use perspective-taking to understand others’ thoughts and emotions.
- Show empathy through supportive actions.
- Engage in regular self-reflection.
- Seek honest feedback.
- Lead by example and model respectful communication.
- Practice mindfulness.
- Use confident, open body language with appropriate eye contact.
- Embrace vulnerability through authentic storytelling.
- Align actions with words to build trust.
- Use storytelling techniques to make messages memorable.
- Create a safe environment where people can express ideas freely.
Developing communication skills is part of becoming a stronger leader. And when you understand why you must be a good communicator to be a good leader, you can intentionally grow, adapt, and inspire the people around you.
To learn more, explore:
www.learnbusinessenglish.net
www.powerful-communication.com