Why They Call It Leadership When They Really Mean Communication (for Raymond Rhine) by Noemí Boza

Author:Noemí Boza [Boza, Noemí]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Management: leadership and motivation
Publisher: Editorial Almuzara
Published: 2025-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

1. Communication, Then and Now: From Pericles to Vicente Vallés

Five hundred years before Christ, in Ancient Greece, communication was already considered a key tool for achieving any goal. Pericles, responsible for the splendor of Classical Athens, understood this well. A strategist and politician, he was nicknamed “The Olympian” for his skills as a powerful speaker and his commanding voice. Pericles made communication his best ally to convince and successfully govern the Athenian Assembly. His time is known as the Golden Age of Athens, during which major public works like the Parthenon were rebuilt after Persian destruction.

Pericles is quoted as saying, “He who knows how to think but does not know how to express what he thinks is on the same level as he who does not know how to think.”

Two thousand five hundred years later, we have fortunately internalized the power of communication as a potent tool for leading teams—and our own lives.

However, despite all we know about the virtues of communication, many professionals still feel insecure when they have to speak in public. Some even avoid exposure altogether. In the field of talent and recruitment, communication skills were long seen as desirable but not essential for many roles. Some top-level executives have very poor communication abilities. There are brilliant professionals in their fields who nonetheless struggle with language skills.

Only in recent years—perhaps encouraged by the rise of personal branding and the maturity of social media—have we begun to see high-level executives from prominent companies maintaining an active presence on social platforms. A few CEOs have even become content creators with large followings. Not long ago, it was rare to see company presidents and CEOs on social media, even on professional platforms like LinkedIn. That’s finally starting to change.

The era of transparency and today’s social context have pushed many organizational leaders to open up and communicate their professional views. Studies by Corporate Excellence, an organization focused on brand reputation, confirm that a company’s top leader’s communication strategy and skills have a significant impact on brand reputation and business results. When executives have social media profiles and interact with their communities, their organization’s reputation is up to 7.3 points higher than when they remain unknown. I’m surprised there are still so few willing to take that leap, given the obvious competitive advantage that communication offers. As James Humes, a speechwriter for U.S. presidents, once said, “The art of communication is the language of leadership.” The best ambassador for a company is always its leader. This applies to large corporations, mid-sized businesses, and microenterprises. Mastering communication is always a plus.

You don’t need to consult studies linking executive reputation to business success to trust in the power of communication. Just look around: we all know someone—a friend, relative, or colleague—whose communication skills have helped them succeed. An HR expert once told me that communication might be considered a “halo skill,” one that dazzles so much it affects our impression of a person, regardless of who they truly are. I’d never thought of it that way, but it makes sense.

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