Flopjaw - A Terminal Condition?

One of the many and essential leadership attributes is the ability to communicate effectively. Not necessarily orate, speechify, dazzle with metaphors, or use one big word when two little ones would do, but to be clear and authentic—and in tune with the audience at hand.

It is astonishing, therefore, to see persons in leadership positions who develop sudden attacks of flopjaw, a tendency to babble, when a simple sentence in the active voice is called for. The lengths to which faux leaders will go to duck the need for firm clarity is tribute to humankind's aversion to straight talk, perhaps even to the accountability that comes with taking an intelligible position.

Let's call a spade a shovel. Subordinates are not snowed by obfuscation and waffling. Superiors fall far short of being impressed by an inelegant minuet around core issues. Just maybe, the flopjawer is not a candidate for a real leadership job. Just maybe, a lack of followers and lost confidence by executive leadership signals career limitation, a train running off the track to the C-suite.

Or, perhaps with training and practice, a de facto follower can be taught and coached into skilled leadership communications. If other pieces are in place, that seems a reasonable investment. If the individual in question is missing other key skills and behaviors, perhaps it is time to cut losses before the entire organization becomes infected.