Welcome back to Relationships At Work – A leadership podcast helping you build workplace connection, improve culture, and avoid blind spots. I’m your host Russel Lolacher

I’m a communications and leadership nerd with a couple of decades of experience and a heap of curiosity on how we can make the workplace better.

This mini-episode is a quick and valuable bit of information to help your mindset for the week ahead.

Inspired by our R@W Note Newsletter, I’m passing on to you…

2-Way Communication is the Only path to Connection

When something good or bad happens in the workplace—whether in leadership or work relationships—it can almost always be traced back to the quality or frequency of communication.

I’m often amazed at how frequently communication is treated as an afterthought rather than an intentional act when building relationships. Too often, we simply take it for granted.

To truly master communication, we need to focus on one of its core principles: communication is two-way. For communication to be successful, one person must send a message, and the other must understand it as intended. The problem? We usually stop at the first half, without taking the time to ensure the second half happens.

A recent LinkedIn post from one of my connections really drove this point home. She spoke about the frustration of feeling like time and energy are wasted when people don’t listen or engage with communication.

She made a point I strongly agree with: it is the responsibility of leadership to communicate regularly, clearly, and effectively. However, she also expressed frustration that employees interpret messaging through their own worldviews and experiences, leading to misunderstandings.

The post went on to emphasize the importance of building trust and psychological safety so employees feel comfortable asking clarifying questions and double-checking their assumptions. All true. Where I struggled with her message was the idea that the responsibility for understanding is shared—that employees must choose to take ownership of understanding the message rather than contribute to gossip and rumor.

I don’t agree. As leaders, we can’t blame employees for not understanding us. Simply put, the onus is on us. That’s what makes us leaders. We need to better understand how those we’re responsible for prefer to be communicated with—and then communicate again and again until we get it right.

Leaders don’t blame others for their inability to connect. They try different approaches. They seek to understand what’s not working. And they try again. And again.

The Question: What we as leaders need to do to connect with employees so they consume and understand our communication?

The Action(s):

• Make it Relevant to Them– Employees tune out communication that doesn’t feel useful or applicable. Leaders need to:
  • Tie messages back to what employees actually care about—their roles, challenges, and goals.
  • Answer “What’s in it for me?” before employees have to ask.
  • Speak their language—ditch jargon and corporate speak.
• Make it Easy to Consume– Attention is a premium, so leaders must meet employees where they are:
  • Be concise —short, clear, and to the point.
  • Deliver through channels employees already use (Slack, TEAMS, email, stand ups, town halls, etc.).
  • Mix up and vary formats—text, video, audio, visuals—so employees can engage how they prefer.
• Make It Interesting– Employees ignore boring or overly cookie-cutter communication. Leaders should:
  • Personalize when possible—people pay attention when messages feel direct.
  • Use stories, real-life examples, and emotion to create connection.
  • Encourage two-way dialogue—make communication interactive rather than just top-down.

The source of the communication is the one responsible. And that source (aka leader) is also accountable to whether the communication is connecting with its audience.

The only one we have to blame is ourselves. And that’s the only way good leadership would want it to be.