The artistry of communication: no vision is out of reach when a school leader commits to understanding the power of skillful, poetic communication.

When we ask aspiring administrators to describe the attributes of effective leaders from their own experience, they often say the leader must be a "great communicator." When we probe further and ask them to describe great communicators, they tell us they are not only good writers and good speakers, they are honest, trustworthy and credible individuals who have good listening skills and good interpersonal skills.

Our combined 60-plus years experience as K-12 educators from the classroom to the superintendency and our current work in higher education confirm that these are, in fact, characteristics of great communicators. Our experience also tells us that in addition to being skilled, great communicators are artists. We have met and worked with many leaders who were good writers and good speakers, but lacked the artistry. In this article, we explore the skill and art of communicating.

Good communication is a complex, idiosyncratic and sometimes subtle human process, that of sending and receiving meaningful messages to and from one another. The success of this process depends on the clear connections that can be established between the sender's beliefs, attitudes, style, language choices, perspective and non-verbal cues; the content of the message; the channels selected for transmitting the message; and the receiver's beliefs, attitudes and perspective. Hence, we set ourselves up for failure as communicators if we fail to develop all elements of the process. It is a combination of the skill and the poetry of communicating that defines the effective communicator, the leader who is most likely to shape a school culture to achieve a shared vision.

According to Deal and Peterson (1994), effective school leaders are poets who use language to reinforce values and to sustain the school's best image. The true artists are the poets who inspire others through their use of language.

Language is powerful. Our spoken language, written language and body language can serve as great motivating forces that positively shape a school's culture. Language can inspire people to be the best that they can possibly be. Language is the primary tool for changing and drawing together the elements of the school culture so that the reason for existing emerges and solidifies with every stakeholder committed to its achievement.

Everyone wants to work in a productive environment that encourages and enables them to succeed. "All human beings strive to experience psychological success" (Seyfarth, 1996). Nobody wakes up each day and says, "I don't want to be successful today." A leader's effective use of language can create environments where employees can be successful.

Unfortunately, if language is used negatively it can cause great concern, frustration and even alienation or isolation; it can actually decrease the likelihood that employees will experience success.

What effective leaders know about communication

When we think about effective leaders who are skilled in language, we think about those administrators who clearly understand the importance and impact of positive language. These administrators know that what they say and do communicates images of who they are, what they believe in and what they value. They know that their language determines their success or failure. Effective leaders say good things about their employees, their school, their students, their parents and their community. They don't pit employees against one another. They encourage collaboration and cooperation. Effective leaders turn weaknesses into successes and focus on the positive. They celebrate the successes of their faculty, staff and students; they praise them for their accomplishments.

Effective leaders know that there is a close relationship between trust and effective communication. "High levels of trust go beyond medium levels of respect and compromise and promote high levels of cooperation" (Hughes & Cooper, 2000). Effective administrators know that through the effective use of language, relationships are built, trust and credibility are established, and respect is gained. Once they have garnered the trust and respect of those with whom they work, they know that they can go about the business of shaping the school's culture and crafting a shared vision with all constituents.

Effective leaders know that information has to be shared if administrators want to prevent those "parking lot faculty meetings." One student recently described this scenario: Her district was implementing a new textbook series, a huge change from the previously adopted materials. Her principal did not tell the teachers about the impending change, and the surprise had a strong, negative effect. Teachers felt they were not included in the decision. They met in the lunchroom and in the parking lot to discuss the new textbooks, and were upset and reluctant to make the mandated change.

This student said she believed that the principal could have orchestrated a significantly different outcome if she had just shared the information with the teachers.

The "failure to communicate" is a common lament, often expressed simply and emphatically, "If only the principal had 'communicated' with us, so many problems could have been avoided!"

People feel included and respected when information is shared. When information is not guarded, people understand the reasons behind decisions, and the ways the decisions are linked to shared values and common purpose. Administrators have to develop skillful ways of sharing information.

Effective leaders know that one of the best ways administrators develop trust and credibility is by being visible. Credibility is earned over time and is nurtured as well as earned through human contact. Staying in touch with constituents enables leaders to sustain the credibility they have earned (Kouzes & Posner, 1993). Effective leaders effectively manage their time and, consequently, have the time to be visible.

Hensley (2000) described effective leaders who practiced visibility on a daily basis. These administrators started their day by walking around the building, greeting teachers in their classrooms or when they saw them in the hallway, faculty room or copy room. At noontime and after the students were dismissed they did the same thing. As one would expect, teachers were suspicious at first; however, as the year progressed the visibility of the administrator became routine and even expected. This contact not only increased dialogue, it enhanced it; and the end result was that teachers looked forward to seeing the administrator throughout the day.

To make our comments more concrete, we have selected four channels of communication through which we illustrate the concepts of skills and poetry.

E-mail: Efficient, informal

Our informal discussions with administrative credential students consistently include e-mall as a popular channel of communication used by their site administrators. E-mail communication is efficient. The sender can quickly reach several receivers at the same time with one tap on the "send" button. An administrator can easily master the technical skills and the recommended writing skills, which include writing short, clear messages using a conversational style.

The poetry or artistry of using e-mail comes in the realization that even short messages can be personal and used to build the relationships necessary to reinforce positive school culture. E-mail is less formal than memos or letters, much like a phone conversation, an attribute that allows the writer to include humor; brief anecdotes and one-line compliments in the message. Frequent, short e-mails filled with kudos can touch individuals personally and provide leverage for the administrator to build support for a vision. The writer's voice and style can shine through in spite of the brevity. However, it is important to realize that e-mail should never be considered private.

Face-to-face contact

Our students also tell us that they prefer face-to-face contact with their administrators. Numerous researchers have described the skills required for effective one-on-one, interpersonal communications. For example, Wood (2002) described skills such as active listening and attempting to understand the perspectives of others, varying communication styles, using language correctly and clearly, and understanding the power of symbols and nonverbal communication.

The skillful communicator may increase the poetry of interpersonal relationships if he focuses on key elements of satisfying personal relationships. Investment of time and self in the other person; commitment to building and honoring the relationship; building a climate of trust; and providing acceptance, affirmation and support all enhance personal relationships (Wood, 2002).

Actions such as visiting classrooms frequently to leave positive notes, smiling and verbally praising, inquiring about a teacher's sick child, dramatically interrupting a lesson to tell the students how lucky they are to be in the class, and noticing the teacher's attempt to try something new can create a climate in which others are willing to take on new challenges and to look at their own actions critically. Ultimately, changing the climate or feeling of the environment can lead to changed behaviors within it.

Meetings: Consider the purpose

Meetings can either be dreaded or positively anticipated. An administrator can gain the appreciation and respect of staff if she organizes a meeting efficiently so participants feel there is a purpose for being there. An efficient plan might include setting meeting times well in advance, preparing an agenda and distributing it before the meeting, arriving early and setting up the room with necessary materials, starting and ending on time, taking minutes, assigning tasks specifically with clear completion dates, and following up on actions taken.

However, the participant satisfaction level is likely to soar if the administrator carefully considers the purpose of the meeting--to gather information, to problem solve, to share concerns--and designs structures that bring authenticity to the task.

For example, if the group is considering a complex issue, the meeting might be interactively structured with four key roles: facilitator, recorder, chair and group member. Everyone in the group must understand the requirements for each role. The facilitator and recorder maintain neutral perspectives in order to move the work of the meeting forward and to keep a group memory. The chair and group members can then participate in a dialogue that teases out the intricacies of the issue and promotes "out-of-the-box" thinking (Doyle & Straus, 1986). Trivial and factual information can be sent in written communications, freeing the group to think creatively and meaningfully.

Newsletters: Achieving a vision

Newsletters provide a fourth channel for personal communication and leverage toward achieving a vision. The newsletter may be printed in hard copy or online. The skills necessary for creating a good newsletter include keeping articles current with new information that cannot generally come from other sources; knowing the readers' experience and reading level; editing for content, grammar, clarity, conciseness and style; using a clear, readable font and including graphics and pictures.

Readers are sure to respond positively if the administrator writes as though she has just heard some hot news and can't wait to share it with the reader, makes articles personal with her voice and personality clearly shining through, follows up on previous issues, and knows the readers well and writes to their interests. A newsletter, like a poem, can transmit the essence of a belief, idea or perspective in a brief, visual style that draws the reader into the center of the issue.

In conclusion, we believe that a "great communicator" develops both the skill and the artistry to send meaningful and important messages. These messages are critical to developing learning communities in which a common commitment to a noble goal thrives.

When an administrator commits to understanding the power of skillful, poetic communication, no vision is out of reach.

References

Deal, T. E. & Peterson, K. D. (1994). The leadership paradox: Balancing logic and artistry in schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Doyle, M. & Straus, D. (1986). How to make meetings work: The new interaction method. New York: Berkley.

Hensley, P. A. (2000). "Induction: A Viable Means of Eradicating Isolation and Teacher Stress. Papers of the 25th Association for Teacher Education in Europe Annual Conference" (pp. 133-140). Barcelona, Spain: Collegi Oficial de Doctors i Llicenciats en filosofia i Lletres i en ciencies de Catalunya.

Hughes, L. W. & Hooper, D. W. (2000). Public relations for school leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kouzes, J. M. & Posner, B. Z. (1993). Credibility: How leaders gain and lose it, why people demand it. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Seyfarth, J. T. (1996). Personnel management for effective schools, (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Wood, J. T. (2002). Interpersonal communication: Everyday encounters, (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Phyllis A. Hensley and LaVern Burmeister are both assistant professors in the Department of Educational Leadership and Curriculum at California State University, San Bernardino.