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leader can be a brilliant innovator, a good problem-solver, or a strategic
thinker, but if he/she can’t inspire, build relationships, or communicate
effectively, these talents won’t take that leader and his/her organization
very far. As has been stated so often in this book, leadership is about

touching something in people that stirs the kind of positive action that
changes outcomes and transforms the organization. If you don’t care for
people, enjoy interacting with them, welcome the challenge of interaction,
and have a need to improve their situation, you will have difficulty being
effective in a leadership role. 154

When we liberate the leader in everyone, extraordinary things happen.

James Kouzes and Barry Posner.

Improving human relationships doesn’t happen by chance. It takes some
amount of goal-setting and planning to pursue the improvement of

interrelationship skills. The more planning and support within the
organization that goes into leadership development, the more likely those
so engaged will improve and create a positive impact in the organization.
Everyone in the organization can start improving their interpersonal skills
today by evaluating where they stand in the skill areas that are covered in

the following sections, and then making specific plans on how to improve
those areas. Books have been written about how to acquire each of these
particular skills, so the following discussion of each skill will be relatively
brief and focus on key points to be aware of.

Communicate Effectively

st
Effective communication may be the most basic requirement of the 21
Century leader. Dr. William Robinson, President of Whitworth College in
Spokane.

Many people, including management, fall short in their ability to work
effectively with others because they lack the ability to communicate well.
The successful leader of an organization will be more competent in
exercising a range of interpersonal skills whenever he or she uses effective

154 Michael T. Baker, People: the Real Business of Leadership, BookLocker.com, 2010.

David Kolzow 129