Have you ever had the experience as a leader where there was a misunderstanding between you and one of your followers, but you only learn of it from someone else? There you are, thinking everything is going great with those you lead and unaware that there is some talk going around about that is not necessarily true.

The reaction of most leaders would be, “Why didn’t that person come to me first?” And while that is the right thing to do, it is often not the reality for many leaders who only hear about a situation long after the fact.

Good communication is essential for effective leadership. Whatever talents a leader may bring into the organization, if she is not a good communicator she will struggle to get the loyalty of followers and achieve goals for the organization.

Last week we looked at three communication styles that are not winning styles. This week I want to offer you what many in the communications business will tell you is the winning communication style not only for leaders but for whoever uses it.

The winning communication style is assertive communication.

A key to success for every leader is good communication. Many talented and gifted leaders fail to get others to follow them because of their bad communication style. The good news is, every leader can work on developing a winning communication style.

Before we talk about a winning communication style let’s briefly look a three communication styles which do not serve a leader well if any one of them is the leader’s preferred style. Keep in mind that the communication style you model for you followers is what will become the culture of the organization.

Last week we looked at some of the contributors of exhaustion. I suggested that you look over the list of contributors and see if you can identify any one of them as a regular part of your life. This week I want us to look at steps we can take to overcome the exhaustion in our lives as leaders.

1. Make a conscious mental shift.

Before you make any lasting change you have to make a conscious mental shift. The mistake many people make is to initiate changes without making the necessary mental adjustment.

One of the biggest challenges most leaders face is exhaustion. It’s one thing to be exhausted at the end of a long, hard day, but then have the time and resources to re-energize. It’s quite another to begin and end every day exhausted. Unfortunately, the latter seems to be the norm for too many leaders.

What does it mean to be exhausted?

Simon Sinek in his book on leadership, Start with Why, wrote the following:

There are leaders and there are those who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or authority, but those who lead inspire us. Whether they’re individuals or organizations, we follow those who lead, not because we have to, but because we want to. We follow those who lead, not for them, but for ourselves.

I recall working for a leader who led. He was enjoyable to be around. I followed him not for him but for myself. I was inspired to work hard, take the initiative and be creative with my responsibilities.

Last week I talked about why some leaders may hesitate to empower their followers. This week, as promised, we will look at how leaders can empower their followers.

I want to begin by defining empowerment so we can clearly establish what a leader is trying to achieve when intentionally empowering followers.

Leadership is first about those you lead and secondly about the results you achieve. So, are you focused on the task to be accomplished or the people under your leadership who accomplish the task? Many successful leaders will tell you that it was only when they became people-focused that they were able to achieve the success they did.

Some leaders hold to a popular idea which says, “When you show up for work, leave your personal problems at the door.” If this was possible you would not have embezzlements, affairs, fights, drugs and alcohol abuse in the workplace. Many leaders who hold that point of view do not want to know about the personal struggles of those they lead. Very often these same leaders are seen as uncaring and demanding.

It is unrealistic to expect the employee whose child is home sick, or who found out over the weekend that their spouse is having an affair with their best friend, to show up to work and check their personal problems at the door. Yet too many leaders expect those they lead to respond like this.