Communication Myth 1: Communication is a good leadership skill

Leadership in 180 Seconds: The 10 Greatest Communication Myths in the Workplace

Think communication is just a nice-to-have skill for leaders? Think again. In this episode, we bust the myth that communication is simply part of the job—and reveal why it is the job. Discover how intentional communication can reduce conflict, build trust, and unlock your team’s full potential.

• Transcript

  I started communicating the day I was born. Crying, smiling, pointing, reaching out. Then came sounds, words, sentences. I’ve been communicating my whole life. And so have you. So why would we be talking about it today?

  Communication, when we were young, was everything—it was how we got our needs met, how we connected, how we made sense of the world.

  But then we stepped into leadership, and suddenly, communication was reduced to just another line item on our job description—one competency among many. Our KPIs focused on numbers, bottom lines, and outcomes, yet we often overlook the very thing that drives those outcomes: the people who drive those results and the way we communicate. How much time do we put into aligning the team, and empowering them?

  The misconception I want to challenge is that ‘communication is simply a pre-requisite skill for a leader’. Communication is not simply a skill to be tacked on. It is so much more. In fact, I place so much importance on communication that I would say, ‘Communication in the workplace is leadership’. The very basis of leadership is influence and we cannot influence those around us if we don’t communicate well.

  You see, when we consider that leadership or communication is simply one of our competencies, or one of the things that we must do, it is easy to put off that conflict because that deadline is looming. It is easier to shoot off that terse email because that team member is getting in the way of me achieving my KPIs. We need to flip our job description upside down. Our primary responsibility as a leader is no longer the work we do—it’s the people we lead.

  Just in case you’re thinking that’s a free pass to stop working towards that deadline. It’s not. We, as leaders, need to lift our understanding. When we prioritise people and effective communication, our people become our deepest allies in helping us achieve our deadlines.

  I am not teaching, ‘people first and who cares about the vision, the destination, the project’. I am teaching ‘people first so we will find ourselves achieving the vision, reaching the destination, and completing that project together better, quicker and with greater joy’.

  Here are some fascinating statistics for us:

  According to a Gitnux report in 2025: 76% of HR managers cite miscommunication as the leading cause of workplace conflict.

  SafeWork Australia sites Workplace conflict as costing the Australian workplace ten point one billion dollars annually.

  And the Queensland Government tells us that 30 percent of a manager’s time is spent dealing with conflict.

  So, if you and I are more intentional about our communication we could be taking up to 30% of our workload off our plate. That is staggering.

  If you could rate yourself out of 10: How intentional are you about your communication?