Follow Their Lead: What Teachers Can Teach Us About Communication

This is part one in a series on the leadership skills of great educators.

The best teachers are expert communicators. Every day, they’re tasked with communicating big ideas that really stick with their students. This takes great expertise—and today, I’ll focus on two communication skills that teachers do incredibly well. No matter your profession, they’re worth emulating:

1) Teachers tailor information for their audience.

Let’s imagine a teacher with thirty students. Every day, they’re communicating countless ideas that have to make sense to thirty different minds—thirty different personalities—thirty different kids.

Everyone might need to understand that a+ b= c, but some kids will need to read why it makes sense. Some need to see it and hear it. Others will need to draw diagrams or use an analogy. Some will need five examples before they truly understand—others will need twenty—and some will need two.

Some will want to use a pencil and others will want to use their hands; they'll want to engage with clay or measuring tape to grasp the theorem. Some will remember it better if they make up a song or a rhyme, and others will learn it best through a competition.

It’s not just academic communication—teachers also communicate everyday rules, procedures, and boundaries. They teach the soft-skills that kids need to socialize and grow. So at the start of the year, do they talk about discipline for a full class period? Or do they do a quick five-minute review? How do they persuade a class to do their homework—and do it well? What motivation is right for that particular group?

This careful communication takes thought and practice. It takes clarity. It takes focus—and teachers do it all the time, every single day.

2) Teachers have incredible emotional intelligence.

If you put Eddie next to Sierra, they won’t get anything done. If you put Michael, Trey, and Laura in the same group, they’ll be so loud they distract the whole class. If you stand by Charlie’s desk, he’ll focus better—but if you stand by Gina’s desk, she gets nervous and shuts down.

When two students start yelling at one another, it’s rarely just about those two students. When a child puts his head on a desk, or refuses to work, or won’t turn in homework, it’s not just about the subject or the class materials. The best educators understand that. They’re consistent—the same rules apply to all kids—but they show constant, careful empathy.

A teacher reads the mood of a class—after a fire drill, do they need quiet, independent work to calm down? Or do they need a group project to harness their energy? A teacher needs to connect with the introverts, the extroverts, the nervous students and the gregarious ones alike. She has to stay constant even on her own worst days. He has to sense when a child is struggling personally--to read that student’s emotions and respond in the most productive way.

The Tip:

The best teachers plan their communication. Even before the year begins, they map out the way they’ll discuss discipline and the pace at which they’ll teach a topic. This is conscious, difficult work—but prioritizing it pays off, and it’s important in all fields. In my time as an executive director, Chief Operating Officer, and now as a CEO, I use these skills each day—they make a real difference.