For leaders, words should matter

Good leaders realize that their words matter, and that effective communication is the first step to real change in organizations. Getty Images

Colin Cosgrove, an Irishman by birth and a metal fabricator by trade, can tell a tale in a way that is both entertaining and insightful. He’s talkative, but thoughtful. He understands that his words carry meaning, and they have to align with the culture within the fab shop he leads.

He’s very serious about the culture at Chicago-based Laystrom Manufacturing, of which he is president. He sees it as the differentiator from other metal fabricators that might have some of the same capabilities and perhaps even serve some of the same customers.

“We all have lasers, press brakes, and welding equipment. That’s for the gladiator battle and the hand-to-hand combat of trying to separate ourselves from competitors,” Cosgrove said. “The thing that you have that is your own is the way you do things—your company culture.”

Cosgrove and his co-workers at Laystrom Manufacturing have been working on the culture since he returned to the company in 2014 as vice president of operations and business development after a two-year stint as a sales manager at an Elk Grove Village, Ill., metalworking shop. The commitment deepened in 2016 when he was named company president.

Cosgrove is interested in having the entire team buy into core values that help to support every co-worker and deliver value to customers.

When Cosgrove is speaking about building this culture, you get a feel for how he communicates with his team. He’s consistent, optimistic, and straightforward when he needs to be, and as honest as he can be.

Take a reference that an interviewer made about Laystrom Manufacturing appearing to have a “family atmosphere.” Cosgrove offered a slightly more accurate characterization.

“I don’t think of us as a family company,” Cosgrove said. “Family is a little bit different. We are definitely a community.”

He’s absolutely correct. Running a business calls for making hard decisions, and sometimes that involves difficult choices involving people that may be considered friends—even family-like. But those decisions need to be made. That’s never more evident than during severe economic downturns.

Thankfully, Laystrom Manufacturing is not even close to being in that situation. In fact, it is looking for the right people to add to the team. But, if you’ve lived long enough, you know that the U.S. economy cycles through ups and downs, and sometimes people have to be let go from their jobs. That’s not going to happen in most families.

In another example, Cosgrove referenced how he wanted to focus on safety when he returned to Laystrom Manufacturing. The thinking is that if a company truly valued its employees, it definitely wanted to do what it could to keep them from harm. As a result, the conversation about safety became much more frequent and open with everyone at the company.

“We articulate it at the start of meetings, communicating in different ways and with a consistency that has never been done before,” Cosgrove said.

Everyone now is much more aware of safe work practices. They even report unsafe practices among the team, not so much to put people on the spot, but because everyone is held accountable.

This type of communication from leadership is only as good as the actions that back it up. That’s obvious to anyone who has sat through a company meeting led by one of the organization’s leaders who, after a few opening statements, disappears from the meeting, never mentions what was discussed at the meeting again, and allows the initiative to die because of no executive support. But keep in mind that a leader who is seen as trustworthy and inspiring because of their communication style can help to deliver buy-in from the very beginning. Words need to matter. If they ring hollow, a speaker is just wasting his or her breath.

What does effective communication get you? Cosgrove can tell you. His community at Laystrom Manufacturing may not be a literal family, but it is home to seven family groups, people who believe enough in the organization that they encouraged relatives to apply for jobs—including someone’s mom. Also, they work hard to keep each other safe, having achieved a string of 1,038 days without a lost-time injury. (The company is currently working on a new streak.)

Effective communication can be persuasive. Just talking at people without follow-up doesn’t get the job done.