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Assertive Communication in Leadership Roles

Duration: 4 min

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Welcome to your course, “Assertive Communication in Leadership Roles,” from Mujeres Sin Filtro. In this course, we’ll explore how to communicate assertively and effectively with our teams when we take on leadership roles.

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All women and men have the same ability to lead and bring about change, but there are sociocultural factors that have historically prevented us from advancing and assuming leadership and senior management positions. 

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A 2017 World Bank survey estimates that 81% of executive positions in Latin American companies are held by men, and only 19% by women. 

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The lack of visibility of women in leadership positions, the unwillingness of partners to share in household chores, child-rearing, and caregiving, as well as gender bias in the workplace, are some of the factors contributing to the widening gender gap in the professional sphere.

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Using assertive communication techniques will help you address and break down gender stereotypes in your workplace. According to the American Management Association (AMA), being skilled in productive and assertive communication to achieve goals starts with the use of three interconnected components:

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• The verbal component: what you say; your words, phrasing, and sentence structure.
• The vocal component: how you say it; your tone of voice, volume, and rhythm.
• The visual component: your body language, facial expressions, gestures, and overall appearance.

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Gender sometimes influences the way we convey and process messages. The way women and men tend to convey and process messages is linked to gender stereotypes, so that each person is socialized to process and convey messages in accordance with their perceived gender. 

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This has implications for leadership roles; for example, men are raised to be goal-oriented, encouraged to take risks, and to view power as an inherent part of their role. 

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Women are encouraged to focus on relationships and task completion. Generally speaking, we are expected—and raised—to be more inclined to discuss issues, reach consensus, and weigh the risks of major initiatives before implementing them.

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To communicate more assertively, we recommend that you:

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• Understand the staff's growth goals and what kind of motivation resonates with each person
• Communicate with empathy, using reflective questions to encourage self-reflection; but without neglecting boundaries, assertiveness, and accountability.
• Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals.
• After a mistake, determine what steps to take to correct it and what lessons can be learned from it—without assigning blame.

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In conclusion

Communication has a positive impact on leadership skills, as it fosters trust, rapport, negotiation, and persuasion, and enables challenges to be addressed clearly and effectively. This will drive the development, growth, and comprehensive transformation of your team in an inclusive, equitable, and educational manner.

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