Leadership and Communication training : Perceived effects in a multinational subsidiary in Brazil

Purpose: This study explores the perceived effects of a leadership communication programme in a Brazilian subsidiary of a Swedish corporation. Design/methodology/approach: The findings are drawn from the analysis of interviews with 12 leaders – eight males and four females – in different hierarchical positions. Further, three of these leaders were observed and interviewed twice in a year. The study also collected interviews with nine co-workers. The data were structured using inductive reasoning. The first set of interviews were conducted a year after the respondents/leaders participated in an internal communication and leadership training programme. Findings: Findings illustrate the leadership and communication training programme had a positive effect on enhancing leaders’ awareness and their ability to use tools to be more effective communicatively, using linguistic resources to achieve better organizational performance in their teams. The leaders acquired a similar communication language and continue to focus on planning communication even two years after the training. Research limitations/implications: It is important to continue researching leadership communication development with studies analysing programmes in different contexts, as well as employing mixed research methods in studies with large samples. Practical implication: The present study offers insights about which needs the participants perceived that they had, in order to learn how to communicate more effectively, and the results from communication training for leaders. Originality/value: This explorative study has a theoretical and empirical contribution to research in leadership and communication development, an area in which the literature about training and intervention is rare. The findings in this paper illustrate that communication training has a positive impact on leaders’ performance, with benefits their teams and organizations. Keywords: leadership; communication; effective communication, leadership development programmes; leadership training effects