The Battle to Communicate

What an interesting week in the life of American leadership. In fact, it has been a series of interesting weeks. The democratic republic called America is perplexing to those outside of the states for the sole reason that the people hold the power through their representatives. Therefore, dictating has been controlled by the will of the people.

To explain to the outside world that the Legislative branch (House and Senate) and the Judicial branch (Supreme Court) have equal weight to the Executive branch (President) is perplexing. Obviously, the President is THE leader and, thus, can drive agendas. Yet, America’s founding fathers set up our system as a check and balance approach to keep leaders accountable to upholding the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness granted in our constitution.

Even more perplexing is the leader of these leaders, the people of the United States. Americans have the right to fire their leaders if they are not representing appropriately.

Now, imagine the intricacies of communication involved in this process with simple initiatives and laws. To pass a law is a process that is perplexing and fascinating. That is where people get hung up. If you do not know how the system works, then it is easy to fall prey to the sound bites of the networks and pundits claiming partisan sides.

This is precisely why the President is having problems with healthcare. The checks and balances (Legislative, Judicial and American people) are double-checking what the communication is versus what the actual documents say. Thus, a battle is occurring. A battle that has little to do with the idea of healthcare reform, since 75%+ want healthcare to be better. The battle lies in communication as the following example shows from a fellow air traveler:

“We know we need to improve healthcare, but I am still not sure what we are getting. When I spend a fortune on a new car I at least know what bells and whistles I am getting. Seems like we are spending a lot of money for a car I can’t touch and feel before I drive.”

Here is the application. Each of us has a complex communication structure in our organization. There are checks and balances. We are not immune to the same complexities and battles to communicate the right thing.

The realities are true for each of us - we must communicate clearly what we want to accomplish and gain support for those initiatives. If there is dissension or stalling or frustration, we cannot look to those we lead with disdain, but rather to ourselves for not clearly communicating what it is we want to do.

Posted on March 11, 2010 in Historical Leaders