Hamm, J. (2006). The five messages leaders must manage. Harvard business review. 84(5), 114-123.

A leader needs to remember that everyone in the organization does not inherently define concepts as they do. To be an effective leader one must keep in mind the following five topics: organizational structure/hierarchy, financial results vs. goals, personal sense of the scope of a leader’s job, time management and corporate culture.

Communication is the most important skill a good leader can develop. Most confusion, and the resulting problems, can be avoided through clear communication of goals, procedures and expectations. The five aspects of communication discussed by Mr. Hamm are very relevant to the CLIC environment. In a department so dependant on collaborative work, clear communication is directly related to results.

The article clearly lays out the five messages with examples of failures and successes, allowing the reader to extrapolate the lesson. The article also includes a list of the conventional response to a message and a suggestion for how to change to a more communication oriented response.