Communication: The Skill That Multiplies Every Other

    Communication is the EQ trait that multiplies every other. Avinash Chate on listening, open channels, Maan Ki Baat, and staying Captain Cool under pressure.

    Communication: The Skill That Multiplies Every Other

    Communication: The Skill That Multiplies Every Other

    I have sat in a lot of cabins across a lot of factories in this country. And I have noticed one thing: the leaders people trust are almost never the loudest talkers. They are the ones who make you feel heard. Communication is not the skill of speaking well - it is the skill of being understood, and of understanding back. Get it right and every other trait you own gets multiplied. Get it wrong and even your best ideas die in the room.

    In short

    Where this sits on your Winning Kite

    Communication is a trait on the EQ (left) side of The Winning Kite (KITE Leadership Framework). Picture the kite: the top corner is the Success you are chasing, and it is held up by three sides working together - EQ (emotional intelligence) on the left, RQ (relationship intelligence) on the right, and PQ (productivity) at the bottom. You rise on balance, not on any single strength. Communication is special because it is the wire that runs through all three. Your empathy, your influence, your conflict management, your teamwork - every one of them has to travel through your ability to send a clear message and truly hear the reply. That is why I call it the skill that multiplies every other.

    What communication actually is

    Most people shrink communication down to “speaking well.” It is much bigger than that. Communication is the basis for people working together and reaching goals everyone agrees on. It is not only the words we use, but how we deliver them, when we deliver them, and to whom. Without it you get misunderstandings and fights, less work done, and missed opportunities. And here is a point I keep repeating in my sessions: effective communication is not tied to a particular language. English, Hindi, Marathi - it does not matter. It is about getting your thoughts and ideas across in a way the other person can genuinely understand.

    One core part of it is being able to listen with an open mind and then send messages that make sense. That means reading the emotional cues in front of you and adjusting your message to fit the listener. People who are good at this give and receive information well. The second part is dealing with difficult issues in a straightforward manner - being a good listener who is willing to share information fully, so that people feel safe bringing both good news and bad. That is how you build trust. For a leader, this is not optional: leaders who communicate well inspire their teams, listen to ideas, give honest feedback, and are willing to talk about tough issues openly.

    Open channels: the leaders who made it safe to speak

    India has wonderful examples of leaders who deliberately built open channels. Ratan Tata, former Chairman of Tata Sons, ran a “Tata confidential” mailbox where employees could send suggestions and feedback directly. Adi Godrej, Chairman of the Godrej Group, is known for an open-door policy - anyone can walk up and share a thought. And Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, hosts weekly TGIF meetings where employees can ask him anything; the sessions are broadcast to Google offices worldwide, building a culture of transparency. Notice the pattern: none of these are about the leader talking more. They are about removing the fear that stops people from speaking up.

    Mr. Rajendra Gupta - communication on the shop floor

    Let me bring it closer home, to someone I have watched up close. Mr. Rajendra Gupta, Plant Head of Kesardeep Pressings - I have taken many employee sessions for this company, so I have seen him in action. His single greatest strength is approachability. His cabin door is genuinely open to everyone: a senior executive and a blue-collar worker are equally welcome to walk in and share an idea, a concern, a suggestion. That one habit creates a sense of inclusivity that changes the whole plant’s temperature.

    But he does not just allow people to talk - he actually listens. He takes time to understand his employees’ perspectives, actively seeks their feedback, and folds their ideas into decisions whenever he can. That builds trust, and it also produces better-informed decisions. On top of that he keeps communication transparent: he regularly shares the company’s progress, goals and challenges with the team and invites their questions. Everyone stays informed, everyone stays engaged, and everyone is pulling towards the same goals. Mr. Gupta is my everyday proof that effective communication is not a boardroom luxury - it is a plant-floor discipline that builds a positive, collaborative workplace.

    Maan Ki Baat: giving frankness a structure

    Good intentions are not enough. Honesty needs a container. So in my own office we started a program we call Maan Ki Baat - literally, “what the heart says” - to build a culture of frankness. When people feel they can say what they actually think and feel, they collaborate more, produce more, and are happier at work. Here is how it runs, in three steps:

    StepWhat happens
    1. Pre-discussionA coordinator sends every team member a Google Form to gather views on work or company-policy topics. People can answer anonymously or openly.
    2. Discussion meetingEveryone gathers to talk through the feedback. Anyone can ask anything, share ideas or raise concerns - with no fear of being judged or reprimanded.
    3. Solution meetingThe team converts those issues and concerns into actual solutions.

    Maan Ki Baat has been a genuine success for us - better teamwork, a more productive workplace, higher satisfaction. But I will be honest about the catch: an initiative like this lives or dies on the leadership. If leaders are not open-minded, receptive and willing to hear criticism without bias, the form becomes theatre. When they are, employees feel heard and valued, and that flows straight into a more engaged, more productive workforce.

    Communication under pressure: Ganguly and Laxman, 2001

    Communication is not only about creating open cultures - sometimes it is one sharp exchange at exactly the right moment. In the 2001 Test series against Australia, India were in trouble in the first Test: 115 for 3 in the second innings, chasing a mountain of 384. Captain Sourav Ganguly was batting with VVS Laxman and noticed the Australian bowlers were targeting Laxman’s weakness against short-pitched deliveries. Ganguly took the initiative: he spoke to Laxman, told him to counter with hook and pull shots, and changed the batting order - sending Harbhajan Singh ahead of Rahul Dravid to counter the spin.

    The result is history. Laxman went on to an unbeaten 281, Harbhajan chipped in with 75, and India won by 171 runs - a turnaround that flipped the whole series into a famous win. That is what clear communication plus quick decision-making from a captain can do. One well-timed conversation can change the scoreboard.

    The cost of not communicating

    Now flip the coin. Picture an advertising account manager at a media company who works hard and convinces a big client to nearly double their billings - a real achievement. And the boss says… nothing. No recognition, no applause, no positive word. The silence does real damage. First, the manager feels disconnected from the boss, and trust becomes hard to build - that sense of isolation makes it difficult to feel any belonging in the organisation. Second, morale drops; an undervalued person loses motivation, and productivity and job satisfaction fall with it. Third, it corrodes the team: people who feel unseen by their boss communicate and collaborate less with colleagues too. A missing sentence of appreciation is itself a failure of communication - and it is expensive.

    Be Captain Cool: composure is a communication skill

    Here is the part people underrate most. One of the most important aspects of communication is being able to keep your cool when emotions run high. A strong mood is a roadblock - when you are caught up in anger or worry, you come across as unavailable and distracted, and the other person quietly disengages. The ability to stay flexible in your emotional responses, and to set your own preoccupations aside for a moment, is admired everywhere. People who stay collected in an emergency or in the face of someone else’s panic carry a reassuring sense of self-control; they enter conversations smoothly and stay genuinely involved.

    We know the master of this in cricket - M.S. Dhoni, “Captain Cool.” But take another example: Hardik Pandya in the 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan. India were struggling at 72 for 6 when he walked in, and he played a fearless innings - sixes and fours - to drag India to 158. Under enormous pressure he showed no nervousness, no panic. And his composure has shown up off the field too: in 2020, after controversial comments on a talk show drew heavy criticism, he stayed calm, issued a public apology and said he would learn from it. Composure, on and off the pitch.

    This is not just a sports story. A study of middle and upper managers found that those rated best as communicators shared one ability: a calm, composed, patient manner no matter their inner emotional state. They could put their own feelings aside - even turbulent ones - to make themselves fully available to the person in front of them. That emotional control kept them open to what they were hearing, let them fine-tune their responses instead of using a one-size-fits-all approach, and gave them the time to gather essential information and actually be helpful, including delivering hard feedback well.

    One last myth to kill: being outgoing and extroverted does not automatically make you a good communicator. What works in one situation may fail in another. Read the context, and adapt your style to it. That is the whole game. (Daniel Goleman’s work on emotional intelligence makes the same point from the research side - but the practice, as always, is what you do in the next conversation.)

    How to build this at work

    If you want to develop communication as a trait, start small and concrete. Listen for the emotion under the words before you reply. Make it safe for people to bring you bad news - thank them when they do. Open one real channel, whether that is a Maan Ki Baat form or simply a cabin door that actually stays open. Say the appreciation out loud; do not assume people know. And practise composure deliberately, because the calm you keep is what keeps the conversation open. This is exactly the kind of skill we build live in our Signature Programs and across our corporate training topics - it does not stay theory for long.

    Communication sits alongside every other trait in Stars at India Inc. If you want to see how it connects to empathy, influence and conflict management, start from The Winning Kite framework and work outward - or talk to us about bringing it to your team.

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    Avinash Chate

    TEDx Speaker · Founder, The Future Corporate · Author of Stars at India Inc.

    Avinash has trained the Indian Army, BRO, RBI, BARC, JSW Steel and 1000+ corporate leaders across India. His work focuses on leadership, emotional intelligence and behavioural training rooted in Indian values and modern business needs.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Is communication about speaking well or listening well?

    Both, but listening is the half most people skip. The best communicators I have watched inside Indian plants and offices listen more than they speak. They read the emotional cues in the room, then adjust the message to fit the listener. Talking a lot is not communicating - mistaking one for the other is the classic blind spot.

    How do leaders build open communication in a team?

    By making it safe to bring bad news. Ratan Tata's confidential mailbox, Adi Godrej's open-door policy, Sundar Pichai's TGIF meetings and Mr. Rajendra Gupta's cabin-open-to-everyone approach all do the same thing: they remove the fear of speaking up. In our own office we run Maan Ki Baat - an anonymous Google Form, a discussion meeting, then a solution meeting - so honesty has a structure, not just good intentions.

    Why does staying calm matter for communication?

    Because a strong mood is a wall. When you are gripped by anger or panic you seem unavailable and distracted, and the other person shuts down. Studies of managers rated best as communicators found one shared trait: they stay calm, composed and patient no matter their inner state, which keeps them open to what they are hearing. Think M.S. Dhoni or Hardik Pandya under pressure - composure keeps the conversation alive.

    Where does Communication sit in the Winning Kite framework?

    Communication is a trait on the EQ (left) side of the Winning Kite - the emotional-intelligence spine that supports the RQ (relationship) and PQ (productivity) sides. It multiplies every other trait: your empathy, your influence, your conflict management all travel through your ability to send a clear message and truly hear the reply.

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