Throughout the years, I’ve witnessed many leaders who were not as successful as they could have been – and I saw the reason why. Largely, it was because they were scared of the people working for them. That’s right. Those in charge were afraid of those on their teams. (It’s not always the other way around!)

This is actually a fairly common problem in leadership, believe it or not, and it stems from the challenge of achieving high-level, effective communication with your team and its members. A leader has to be able to not only engage in conversations when they’re necessary, but they have to identify the right people and times to have those conversations. It’s a tough overall skill to master, but it’s necessary to any high functioning organization and vital to your growth as a leader.

We’re talking about conversations of praise when a job is well done, and conversations about how someone is bringing down team morale with their negative attitude. We’re talking about a level of transparency with your team, allowing them to feel part of the organization as a whole, part of the larger mission. We’re talking about these things and so much more — a culture of clear communication from the top down.

In order to achieve success in this area, you have to first look inward. You have to know yourself well enough to understand what you’re trying to get out of each conversation, and how you can best accomplish that goal. You have to have purpose and intent in mind at all times. This level of understanding will shine through as clarity to your employees and teams. Clear and straightforward leadership are things teams crave, and clarity turns into trust and team participation.

Goals like this take bravery. That might sound silly, to say that “bravery” is necessary to have the right conversations with your team – but it’s the truth. People are complicated beings, and it’s not always easy to know what to say or how to say it. Communication is where it all starts, and if you can work on this overarching skill, you will begin to see incredible organization results.