Advance Search

Towards more effective leadership communication

Lucrezea de Lange
University of the Free State
Dalmé Mulder
University of the Free State
Keywords:
Copyright and Licensing:
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Share:

How to Cite

Towards more effective leadership communication. (2022). Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 36(1), 27-46. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v36i1.1577
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC
  • Articles
  • Submited: October 12, 2022
  • Published: October 17, 2022

Abstract

Contemporary organisations and their leaders are continually tasked with finding new ways of
creating value for their stakeholders. Leadership effectiveness is critical within large organisations,
and leadership communication ranks as the top critical driver of organisational results. This
underlines the importance of leaders being capable communicators responsible for adding value
to organisations. However, discussions on the topic of leadership communication are rare. This
highlights the fact that the field of organisational communication has had limited engagement
with the world of leadership. This study aimed to address this knowledge gap and focused on
the role of communication in the leadership process, and attempted to identify ways in which
leadership communication could be improved. Leadership communication was explored from two
different perspectives to provide a more comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon. Rogers’
revolutionary conceptual analysis was employed to investigate the foundation of the concept.
Thereafter, a phenomenological study was undertaken among communication professionals
exposed to leadership communication to explore their lived experiences of the phenomenon. The
data from the phenomenological study were used to enhance the conceptual analysis. Effective
leadership communication was described as a socially constructed and relational concept that
should endorse meaning-making in particular contexts. Guidelines are presented to enhance the
effectiveness of leadership communication.

pdf
pdf

Article Metrics Graph

Article Views | PDF Downloads
Chart Graph | Range Graph

References

  1. Anderson, T.D. 1998. Transforming leadership: Equipping yourself and coaching others to build the leadership organisation. Washington, DC: St. Lucie Press.
  2. Ahmed, Z.; Shields, F.; White, R. & Wilbert, J. 2009. Managerial communication: The link between frontline leadership and organisational performance. Proceedings of the First Annual General Business Conference held at Sam Houston State University.
  3. Aritz, J. & Walker, R.C (Eds). 2012. Discourse perspectives on organisational communication. Plymouth, UK: Rowan & Littlefield/Fairleigh Dickenson University Press.
  4. Barge, J.K. 2014. Pivotal leadership and the art of conversation. Leadership, 10(1):56-78.
  5. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715013511739
  6. Barrett, D.J. 2008. Leadership communication. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
  7. Boal, K.B. & Hooijberg, R. 2001. Strategic leadership research: Moving On. Leadership Quarterly, 11(4):515-549.
  8. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843(00)00057-6
  9. Charmaz, K. 2006. Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. London: Sage.
  10. Collingson, D.L. 2005. Dialectics of leadership. Human Relations, 58(11):1419-1442.
  11. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726705060902
  12. Cooren, F. (Ed.). 2007. Interacting and organising: Analysis of a management meeting. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  13. Day, D.V. 2001. Leadership development: A review in context. Leadership Quarterly, 11:581-613.
  14. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843(00)00061-8
  15. DeChurch, L.A., Hiller, N., Murase, T., Doty, D. & Salas, E. 2012. Leadership across levels: Levels of leaders and their impact. The Leadership Quarterly, 21:1069-1085.
  16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2010.10.009
  17. Eriksen, E.O. 2001. Leadership in a communicative perspective. Acta Sociologica, 44: 21-35.
  18. https://doi.org/10.1080/000169901300060744
  19. Fairhurst, G. 2008. Discursive leadership: A communication alternative to leadership psychology. Management Communication Quarterly, 21(4):510-521.
  20. https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318907313714
  21. Fairhurst, G.T. & Connaughton, S.L. 2014. Leadership: A communicative perspective. Leadership, 10(1):7-35.
  22. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715013509396
  23. Fairhurst, G. 2001. Dualisms in leadership research. In Jablin, F. & Putnam, L. (Eds.). The new handbook of organisational communication: Advances in theory, research, and methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. pp 379-439.
  24. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412986243.n11
  25. Fairhurst, G. & Sarr, R. 1996. The art of framing: Managing the language of leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
  26. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajhp/53.21.2670
  27. Gittell, J.H. & Douglass, A. 2012. Relational bureaucracy: Structuring reciprocal relationships into Roles. Academy of Management Review, 37(4):709-733.
  28. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2010.0438
  29. Gray, J. & Laidlaw, H. 2004. Improving the measurement of communication satisfaction. Management Communication Quarterly, 17:425-448.
  30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318903257980
  31. Groenewald, T. 2004. A phenomenological research design. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 3(1):1-26.
  32. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690400300104
  33. Hall, M.I. 2007. Communication subjectivity:Leadership as situated construction. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 15(3):194-203.
  34. https://doi.org/10.1080/15456870701316202
  35. Johansson, C., Miller, V.D. & Hamrin, S. 2011. Communicative leadership theories, concepts, and central communication behaviours: Communication, organisation, research, education (CORE). Department of Media and Communication (DEMICOM). 14 December.
  36. Joyce, W., Nohria, N. & Roberson, B. 2003. What really works. New York: McKinsey & Company, Inc.
  37. Kaiser, R.B. 2005. The leadership value chain. The Psychologist Manager, 13(3):164-183.
  38. https://doi.org/10.1080/10887156.2010.500261
  39. Ketchum Leadership Communication Monitor. 2013. Available: https://www.ketchum.com/sites/default/files/2013_klcm.pdf. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  40. Ketchum Leadership communication monitor. 2014. Available: https://www.ketchum.com/sites/default/files/2014_klcm_report.pdf. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  41. Madden, C. 2011. Dark side of mergers and acquistitions: Organisational interventions and survival strategies. Journal of Managerial Issues, 24(2):173-190, 222.
  42. Madlock, P.E. 2008. The link between leadership style, communicator competence and employee satisfaction. Journal of Business Communication, 45(1): 61-78.
  43. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021943607309351
  44. Mulder, D. 2016. Strategic integrated communication: What business leaders must be taught? South African Communication Association (SACOMM) conference. 3-5 October 2016. Bloemfontein, South Africa.
  45. Postmes, T, Tanis, M. & De Wit, B. 2001. Communication and commitment in organisations: A social identity approach. Group Process & Intergroup Relations, 4(3):227-246.
  46. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430201004003004
  47. Rodgers, B.L. 2000. Concept analysis. An evolutionary view.. In Concept Development in Nursing: Foundation Techniques and Applications, Rodgers, B.L. & Knafl, K.A. (eds). 2nd ed. Philadelphia: W-B Saunders Company.
  48. Stigall, D.J. 2005. A vision for a theory of competence leader communication: The impact of perceived leader communication behaviours on emergent leadership and relational performance outcomes in collaborative groups. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Kentucky.
  49. Tourish, D. & Jackson, B. 2008. Communication and leadership: An open invitation to engage. Leadership, 4(3):219-225.
  50. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715008092359
  51. Wellman, J.C. & Kruger, S.J. 1999. Research methodology for the business and administrative sciences. Johannesburg: International Thompson.
How to Cite
Towards more effective leadership communication. (2022). Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 36(1), 27-46. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v36i1.1577

Send mail to Author

Send Cancel

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.

Custom technologies based on your needs

  • ORCID
  • Crossref
  • PubMed
    • Clarivate