I like Star Trek. Well, up until the last few movies anyway. No, I don’t have Starfleet uniforms or series related paraphernalia around the house and I don’t go to conventions. I’m just intrigued by the show. While all the various Star Trek shows and movies produced over the years are basically just an on-going, intragalactic soap opera, they present some very interesting questions, both technological, and philosophical. The shows are usually sufficiently well written to occasionally provide leadership lessons and, while I hesitate to use a TV show as training material, there is one aspect of all the various shows and movies that illustrates an important point for leaders to always remember. Communication.
Apparently, the writers of the first series in 1966 understood that communicating with other intelligent beings would be a problem. So, they created a nifty device called a universal translator. This amazing piece of technology could take most languages across the galaxy and convert them to English, thus avoiding a problem that would have taken way too much show time to solve. And this is where the parallel for leaders emerges.
Leaders must communicate. The problem is leaders must communicate with people who don’t always speak the same language. I’m not just referring to languages like English, Chinese, or Spanish. The problem still exists even within those languages. For instance, the language of the board room is very different from that used on the shop floor. The language of one customer may be different than that of another. Successful leaders understand this and, in the absence of a universal translator, ensure that they learn something of the other language, and also define their own terms so everyone understands.
There’s another facet of the communication puzzle that’s more prevalent in the 21st Century workplace than in the past. There is often a giant chasm between the communication style of older team members and younger team members. Anyone who has had teenagers in the home will understand this. In fact, that’s probably something that would even short out the universal translator. More than ever before, this communication gap requires significant effort, and it’s the leader’s responsibility to take the initiative to ensure the message gets through and that it is understood.
There’s an apocryphal saying that Americans believe anyone can be made to understand English if it is spoken slowly enough and loudly enough. Unfortunately, we tend to apply that sort of illogical thought to our workplace communication, and we wonder why it doesn’t work. If you attempt to learn a new language, you must comprehend not just the words, but also how they are used. The same concept applies to successful leadership. Leaders must first understand how their team members communicate and help their team members understand the leader’s language.
As far as I know, there is no technology that will provide a universal translator type device for the workplace. It’s up to the leader to make communication effective. How do you make sure your message is received and understood?
Bob Mason is dedicated to leadership development. He works with companies to solve problems by helping supervisors and managers become more effective leaders leading more productive teams. He is a professional speaker and author of Don’t Worry, You Can Do This: What New Supervisors and Managers Need to Know About Leadership; The Art of Not Motivating: How Leaders Can Succeed by Understanding the True Nature of Motivation; Balancing the Generations: A Leader’s Guide to the Complex, Multi-Generational, 21st Century Workplace; and Planning to Excel: Strategic Planning That Works.
A 30-year career in the U.S. Air Force exposed him to great leaders and leadership opportunities such as command of four squadrons, including the Air Force’s largest munitions squadron. He has studied leadership extensively, but more importantly has been there, working with real people, making hard decisions, and experiencing the results.
Contact Bob at Bob@BobMasonSpeaker.com or 505-453-5266
