Communication

and Conflict
Resolution Skills
UNIT 5

COMMUNICATION & LEADERSHIP

Bernard M. Bass found substantial evidence
of

positive

competence
satisfactory

in

relationship

between

communicating

leadership

and

and

management

performance.
Technology has had a meaningful impact on
leaders communication and co-ordination.
Managers can also be part of virtual office in
which employees work together as if they

Inspirational and powerful

communication:
Effective communication often helps informal
leaders be selected for formal leadership
positions.

In

becoming

an

this

case,

suggestions

inspirational

and

for

emotion-

provoking communicator are divided into the

following two categories
(1)speaking and writing and
(2)non verbal communication.

Speaking and writing:

Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner underscore the
importance

of

colourful

language

in

communicating a vision.
Language

is

among

the

most

powerful

methods for expressing a vision.

Successful

leaders

use

metaphors

and

figures of speech; they give example, tell

stories, and relate anecdotes; they draw word
pictures; and they offer quotations and recite

Suggestions for inspirational

speaking and writing:
1. Be credible
2. Use the persuade package of influence tactics
3. Gear your message to the listener
4. Sell group members on the benefit of your suggestions
5. Use heavy impact and emotion provoking words.
6. Use anecdotes to communicate meaning.
7. Backup conclusions with data (to a point)
8. Minimize language errors, junk words, and vocalized
pauses.
9. Write crisp, clear memos, letters, and reports,
including a front-loaded message.

Be Credible
Attempts at persuasion, including inspirational
speaking and writing, being with the credibility of
the message sender.
Being

trustworthy

heavily

influences

being

perceived as credible.
A leader with the reputation for lying will have a
difficult time convincing people about the metros
of new initiatives such as downsizing, being
perceived as intelligent and knowledgeable is
another major factors contributing to credibility.

Use

the

persuade

package

of

influence

Gear your message to the listener:

An axiom of persuasive communication is that a
speaker

must

adapt

the

message

to

the

listeners interests and motivations.

Sell group members on the benefit of your

suggestions:
A leader is constrained by the willingness of
group members to take action on the leaders
suggestions and initiatives. As a consequence,
the leader must explain to group members how
they can benefit from what he or she proposes.

Use

heavy

impact

and

emotion

provoking

words:
Certain words use in the proper context gives
power and force to your speech. Used comfortably.
Naturally, and sincerely, these words will project
the

image

of

self-confident

person

with

leadership ability or potential.

Examples
words

of emotions-provoking and powerful

include

bonding

with

outclassing

the

competition,

customerssurpassing

previous

Use anecdotes to communicate meaning:

A

carefully

chosen

anecdote

is

also

useful

in

persuading group members about the importance of

organizational values.

Backup conclusions with data (to a point):

One approach to obtaining data is to collect them
yourself-for example, by conducting an email survey of
your customers or group members.

Minimize

language

errors,

junk

words,

and

vocalized pauses:
Minimise the use of words and phrases that dilute the
9

impact of your speech, such as like, you know, you

know what I mean.

Write crisp, clear memos, letters, and reports,

including a front-loaded message:
According to Michael mercer, high achievers write
more effective reports than do their less highly
achieving counterparts.

Use the power oriented linguistic style:

A

major

part

of

being

persuasive

involves

choosing the right linguistic style, a persons

characteristics speaking pattern.
According to Deborah Tannen, linquistic style 10
involves such aspects as amount of directness

The six basic principles of

persuasion:
1. Liking:
People like those who like them. As a leader, you have
a better chance of persuading and influencing group
members who like you.
The leader should therefore emphasize similarities,
such as common interests with group members.
Praising others is a powerful influence techniques and
can be used effectively even when the leader find
something relatively small to complicate.
Genuine praise is the most effective.
2. Reciprocity:
People repay in kind.
Managers can often influence group members to
11
behave in a particular way by displaying the behaviour
first.
The leader might therefore serve as a model of trust,

3. Social proof:
People following the lead of similar others. Persuasion can
have high impact when it comes from peers.

4. Consistency:
People align with their clear commitment: people need to feel
committed to what you want them to do.
After people take a stand or go on record in favour of a
position, they prefer to stay with that commitment.

5.Authority:
People defer to expert. The action plan here is to make
constituents

aware

of

your

expertise

to

enhance

the

probability that your plan will persuade them.

6.Scarcity:
People want more of what they can have less of. An 12
application of this principle is that can persuade group
members to act in a particular direction if the members believe

Nonverbal
communication

13

Nonverbal communication:
Nonverbal

communication

is

important

because leadership involves emotion, which

words

alone

convincingly.
emotional

cannot
major

impacts

of

communicate

component
a

of

message

the
is

communicated nonverbally-perhaps up to 90
percent.
14

A self confident leader not only speaks and

Using

an

erect

posture

when

walking,

standing, or sitting. Slouching and slumping

are

almost

universally

interpreted

as

an

indicator of low self-confidence.

Standing up straight during a confrontation.
Cowering is interpreted as a sign of low selfconfidence and poor leadership qualities.
Patting other people on the back, nodding
slightly while patting.
Standing with toes pointing outwards rather
than inward. Outward-pointing toes are usually 15
perceived as indicators of superior status,

Speaking at a moderate pace, with a loud,

confident

tone.

People

lacking

in

self-

confidence tend to speak too rapidly or very

slowly.
Smiling

frequently

in

relaxed,

natural-

appearing manner.
Maintaining eye contact with those around
you.
Gesturing in a relaxed, no mechanical way,
including pointing towards others in a way
that welcomes rather than accuses, such as

16

Appearance includes more than the choice of

clothing. Self-confidence is projected by such
small items as the following:
Neatly pressed and sparkling clean clothing
Freshly polished shoes
Impeccable fingernails
Clean jewellery in mint condition
Well-maintained hair
Good-looking teeth with white or antiquewhite colours

17

Supportive
communication
18

Supportive communication:
Communicating
inspirationally

powerfully
facilitates

and

influencing

and

inspiring people, but a more mellow type of

communication is needed to implement the
people-oriented aspects of a leaders role.
Supportive
communication

communication
style

that

is

delivers

a
the

message accurately and that supports or

enhances the relationship between the two

19

Principles and characteristics of

Supportive Communication
1.Problem oriented, not person oriented
2.Descriptive, not evaluative
3.Based on congruence, not incongruence
4.Focused on validating, rather than
invalidating, people
5.Specified, not global
6.Conjunctive, not disjunctive
7.Owned, disowned
8.Requires listening as well as sending

20

1. Supportive communication is problem oriented,

not

person

oriented.

Effective

leaders

and

managers focus more on the problem than on the

person when communication with group members.
2. Supportive

communication

is

descriptive,

not

evaluative. A closely related principle is that when

a persons wroth is begin evaluated, he or she
often becomes defensive. If a leader says to group
member, you are low quality performer, the
person

will

probably

become

defensive.

The

descriptive form of communication-for example, I21

found errors in your last two reports that created

3.Supportive

communication

is

based

on

congruence, not incongruences superior form of

communication

is

congruence,

the

matching

of

verbal and nonverbal communication to what the

sender is thinking and feeling. A leader is more
credible when his or her nonverbal signals mesh
with his or her spoken words.
4. Supportive communication validates rather than
invalidates

people.

Validating

communication

accepts the presence, uniqueness, and importance

of the other person.
22

5. Supportive communication is specific, not global,

to

illustrate,

the

statement

we

have

terrible

6. Supportive communication is conjunctive. Conjunctive

communication is linked logically to previous messages,
thus

enhancing

communication.

Disjunctive

communication is not linked to the preceding messages,

resulting

in

impaired

communication.

Conjunctive

communication makes it easier for group members and

other constituents to follow the leaders thoughts .David
A.

Whetton

and

Kim

S.

Cameron

explain

that

communication can be disjunctive in three ways.

(1) People might have unequal opportunities to speak
because of interruptions and simultaneous speaking;
(2) Lengthy pauses are distinctive because listeners lose
the

speakers

train

of

thoughts;

and23

(3)communication is perceived as disjunctive when

7. Supportive communication is owned, not

disowned,

effective

communicators

take

responsibilities for what they say and do not

attribute the authority behind their ideas to
another person.
8. Supportive communication requires listening
as well as sending messages. Truly supportive
communication requires active listening. the
relationship between two parties cannot be
enhanced unless each listens to the others. 24
Furthermore, leaders cannot identify problems

OVERCOMING CROSS-CULTURAL
COMMUNICATION BARRIERS
In todays workplace, leaders
communicate with people from other
countries and with more diverse group
of people in their own country.
Because of this multicultural diversity,
leaders who can manage a
multicultural and cross-cultural work
force are in strong demand.

25

Attributions and Cross-cultural

communication
A major underlying factor in overcoming cross-cultural
communication barriers is to understand attributions,
the judgments we make about the behavior and attitudes
of others.
Perception refers to the various ways in which people
interpret things in the outside world and how they react
on the basis of these interpretations.
Stereotyping is evaluating an individual on the basis of
our perception of the group or class to which he or she
belongs.

Although

connotation,

positive

stereotype

has

stereotypes

can

be

negative26
useful

in

Guidelines for Overcoming and

Preventing communication barriers
1.Be sensitive to the fact that cross-cultural
communication barriers exist
2.Challenge your assumptions
3.Show respect for all workers
4.Use straightforward language, speak slowly
and clearly
5.When the situation is appropriate speak in
the language of the people from another
culture.
6.Observe cross-cultural differences in
etiquette
7.Do not be diverted by style, accent, grammar
or personal appearance
8.Avoid racial or ethnic identification except

27

The leaders role in resolving conflict

and negotiating:
Leaders

and

managers spend

considerable

time resolving conflicts and negotiating. A

frequent estimate that they devote about 20
percentage

of

their

time

to

dealing

with

conflicts.

28

Conflict-Handling Styles According to the

Assertiv
e

Competitive
(Domination
)

Collaborativ
e
(Integration
)
Sharing
(Compromis
e)

Unassertiv
e

PARTYS DESIRE TO SATISFY OWN

CONCERN

Degree of Cooperation and Assertiveness

Avoidant
(Neglect)

Uncooperati
ve

Accommodati
ve
(Appeasemen
t)

Cooperative

PARTYS DESIRE TO SATISFY

OTHERS CONCERN

29

Conflict management style:

Kenneth Thomas identified five major
styles

of

conflict

management.

Competitive, accommodative, sharing,

collaborative, and avoidant. Each side
is based on a combination of satisfying
ones own concerns and satisfying the
concerns of others.

30

Competitive style:
The competitive style is a desire to win
ones own concerns at the expense of
the other party, or to dominate. The
person with a competitive orientation
is likely to engage in win-lose power
struggles.

31

Accommodative style:
The

accommodative

appeasement,

or

style

satisfying

the

favors
others

concerns without taking care of ones own.

People

with

this

orientation

may

be

generous or self-sacrificing just to maintain a

relationship.
An irate customer might be accommodated
with a full refund just to shut him (or her)
up.
The intent of such accommodation might

32

Sharing style:
The

sharing

style

is

halfway

between

domination and appeasement. Sharers prefer

moderate but incomplete satisfaction for both
parties, which results in a compromise.
The term splitting the difference reflects his
orientation, which is commonly used in such
activities as purchasing a house or car.
33

Collaborative style:
In

contrast

to

the

other

styles,

the

collaborative style reflects a desire to fully

satisfy the desires of both parties.
It is based on the underlying philosophy of
the win-win approach to conflict has been
resolved, both sides should gain something
of value.
34

Avoidant style:
The avoider combines lack of cooperative and
unassertiveness.
He or she is indifferent to the concerns of
either party.
The person may actually be withdrawing from
the conflict or be relying upon fate.
An example of an avoider is a manager who
stays out of a conflict between two team 35
members, leaving them to resolve their own

Negotiating and bargaining:

Conflicts can be considered situations calling
for negotiating and bargaining or conferring
with another

person in order to resolve a

problem.
Two general approaches to negotiation are
distributive

bargaining

and

integrative

bargaining.
In distributive bargaining, the two sides
operate under zero-sum conditions.
What one wins is at the expense of the other,

36

Begin with a plausible demand or

offer:

Most

people

believe

that

compromise and allowing room

for

negotiation

beginning

with

demand or offer.

an

includes
extreme
37

Focus on interests, not position:

Rather

than

clinging

to

specific

negotiating points, one should keep

overall interests in mind and try to
satisfy them.

38

Distributive versus integrative bargaining:

Distributive
bargaining

Integrative
bargaining

Resources to be
distributed

Fixed amount

Variable amount

Primary motivations of
parties

To gain at the expense To maximize gains for

of the other side (I win, both sides (I win, you
you lose)
win)

Primary interests

180 degrees apart

Convergent or
congruent

Focus of relationships

Short-term

Long-term

39