Communication is a Leadership Skill: Read the Book: The Next Conversation

In business, we spend plenty of time preparing presentations, budgets, and strategic plans, yet we rarely prepare for the conversations that make them succeed. For business owners, communication as a leadership skill isn’t optional—it is necessary if we want results.

In his book The Next Conversation, lawyer and communication expert Jefferson Fisher lays out strategies that entrepreneurs can use to improve transparency, conflict resolution, and boundary-setting in their workplace discussions. This book is a must-read for anyone who sees room for improvement in difficult workplace conversations.

Key Takeaways:

• Listen to understand, not to reload. Your next brilliant response can wait. You’ll learn more when you stop rehearsing it while someone else is talking.
• Lower the temperature before raising the issue. When emotions go up, leadership should slow down. Control yourself first; then tackle the problem.
• Trade certainty for curiosity. “Help me understand” will uncover a lot more than “Let me tell you what you did wrong.”
• Don’t win the argument and lose the teammate. The goal of a tough conversation isn’t to prove you’re right. It’s to create clarity, preserve trust, and determine what happens next.

Why Communication Is an Execution Skill, Not a Soft Skill

Communication skills for leaders are directly connected to execution. Ideas become reality only when people understand them and act on them. Fisher treats communication as something practical rather than something abstract. He offers three key factors for improved executive communication: control, confidence, and connection.

Communication as a leadership skill affects everything from strategy meetings to employee feedback. Delivering a controlled message with confidence while connecting with your team is the secret to effective explanation. This turns the art of conversation from something nebulous into a skill you can practice and improve.

Control Yourself Before You Try to Control the Conversation

Fisher’s first point is to master self-control before you respond. In the heat of the moment, difficult conversations can quickly become heated. As a leader, your job is to lower the temperature by managing your own reactions. Take a deep breath, slow down, and don’t take the bait.

Listening Is Not Waiting for Your Turn to Talk

Good communication skills for leaders involve paying attention when someone else is speaking, not mentally preparing your response. Before you reply, Fisher recommends summarizing what the other person said. Start with “Let me make sure I understood that correctly” and proceed from there.

Engagement and trust in the workplace disintegrate when employees feel they aren’t being taken seriously. Active listening has practical value: a manager who excels at it can often identify problems earlier, understand objections more effectively, and make employees feel heard.

I can’t speak for you, but I know myself well enough to know I have to really concentrate on what is being said to me before I barge in with my witty and insightful response.   What has worked for me is asking myself what they are trying to communicate and why it matters to them.  If I’m patient and a good listener, they will appreciate my viewpoint.

Curiosity Is More Powerful Than Certainty

Good communicators ask good questions. A leader who says “help me understand what happened” builds a different relationship with direct reports than one who immediately says “here’s what you did wrong.” Curiosity keeps the conversation going, while certainty shuts it down before a real discussion can happen.

This is especially true in difficult conversations, where defensiveness can prevent useful information from rising to the surface. Communication as a leadership skill means being open to discovery rather than assuming you have all the facts.

The Goal Is Understanding, Not Winning

One central idea in The Next Conversation is that winning an argument often comes at the expense of trust and real connection. A leader can prove a point but damage a relationship in the process.

Instead, successful workplace communication requires a full understanding of the issue, continued respect for all parties involved, and a clear path forward. Communication as a leadership skill is about fostering the right outcome, not being right in the moment.  This is really hard for me and for many that I have coached over the years.  As we learn to be effective leaders, we (including me) have to suppress the strong urge to end this tug of war quickly.  The author has made the right recommendation.

Tone Often Matters More Than Words

The same sentence can sound supportive, dismissive, threatening, or neutral depending on your delivery. To have a productive conversation, leaders need to consider their tone, volume, body language, and emotional intensity alongside their words.

Don’t Match Emotional Energy

When the person you’re talking to is angry, it’s tempting to let your own emotions take over. Fisher emphasizes the importance of control, which requires leaders to stay grounded even when facing irate employees. Emotional discipline is a crucial communication skill.

Controlling my temper during energetic, emotional arguments has been a lifelong “opportunity” for this experienced Coach.  Many of us automatically match our tone, pace, and intensity when we disagree, and most of the time we miss the chance to resolve and agree.  I am still learning this lesson myself.

Silence Is a Leadership Tool

Not every statement needs an immediate response. A strategic pause gives everyone time to think and signals that the leader is considering what was said. Sometimes, communication as a leadership skill is as much about restraint as expression.

Difficult Conversations Delayed Become Bigger Problems

Avoiding a difficult conversation rarely makes the issue go away, and most tough talks get harder over time. Performance concerns, unresolved disagreements, and boundary violations can accumulate until they become much harder to address.

Fisher’s advice is to make hard conversations manageable by addressing them early. Communication as a leadership skill requires you to discuss issues early, before resentment and confusion can fester in your business.

Every Conversation Either Builds Trust or Withdraws Trust

Trust comes from repeatedly showing your team you’re reliable. Every conversation is an opportunity to either build or erode that trust. With each discussion, look for opportunities to keep your word, explain your decisions, listen carefully to your employees, and fully address business problems.

Family Business Conflict: Where Communication Failures Hit Hardest

Professional responsibilities often clash with personal relationships in a family business, making communication particularly complicated. In these environments, communication skills for leaders can help separate the business issue from the family history.

When executed correctly, the principles in Fisher’s book—control, confidence, connection, boundaries, and purposeful language—can act as useful tools for navigating family business conflict. Do not let emotional baggage interfere with business communication.

Employee Performance Discussions Done Right

Performance evaluations are the ultimate test of leadership communication. The objective is not to guilt the employee if standards have not been met, but rather to clarify expectations and to establish a plan for moving forward.

If an employee is struggling, leaders can improve performance-related conversations by focusing on observable behavior rather than assumed intentions, asking for the employee’s perspective on what went wrong, and agreeing on next steps, all of which make these potentially difficult meetings more constructive.

Common Owner and CEO Communication Mistakes

Owners and CEOs often underestimate the weight that their position adds to their words. Strong communication skills require leaders to recognize this power imbalance. Here are a few common communication mistakes from Fisher’s book that business leaders should be particularly aware of:

• Overexplaining or becoming defensive when challenged
• Rushing to speak and reacting too quickly
• Tuning out instead of actively listening
• Treating conversations or debates as arguments
• Communicating poorly about important decisions

These communication mistakes can be damaging under normal circumstances, but combined with the CEO’s status, they can quickly erode trust among direct reports.

Final Thoughts on The Next Conversation

For today’s leaders, communication as a leadership skill is ultimately about creating clarity, building trust with your team, and making it easier for your whole team to move forward together. Fisher offers hope to those who aren’t naturally good communicators by showing that this skill can improve through deliberate practice.

Overall, Jefferson Fisher’s The Next Conversation is a must-read for leaders looking for more transparency and consistency in their business discussions.  The photo in this article is my copy of the book.  What you don’t see in the photo is the many highlighted ideas that Mr. Fisher wrote that I have to remember.  Trust me, this is a must-read book.

Need Help?

Want to learn more about improving your communication skills? Small business coaching can help. Click here to fill out my contact form, and let’s schedule a video call to talk about having better conversations as a leader. For more great tips on leadership, business, and more, subscribe to my email newsletter to have weekly articles delivered straight to your inbox.

Coach Dave