01/10/2024

Why Great Leaders Overcommunicate

A new book shares how leaders can better communicate with their staff

A work environment is at its most productive when communication flows honestly and frequently. It is impossible to over-communicate with the team.

I'm a big advocate of communication in all its forms. It makes it possible for me to convey my vision to employees in ways that can inspire them, like a rallying cry. I may send a communication to express gratitude, share news or request input. The message may be dense with data, or a simple, friendly touching base; but it's never meaningless because it's a human-to-human connection. In a large organization, that matters.

I've never been an ivory tower type of CEO. The internet was just emerging midway through my time at United Waste Systems, so I was not able to communicate with our employees as frequently as I would have liked. By the time I founded United Rentals, we had the benefits of sophisticated technology, and my team and I put many more hours into communications, even in our most hectic acquisition periods. Those experiences led to the strong communication framework we established at XPO. 

Please select this link to read the complete article from Fast Company.