“My door is always open.”
Leaders say this with good intentions. But teams listen with their experience.
If your calendar is always full, emails go unanswered, meetings are repeatedly cancelled, or conversations feel rushed, your team receives a different message: “Access is available in theory, not in practice.”
That is the quiet truth about leadership communication: your words are only one channel.
- Your availability communicates.
- Your silence communicates.
- Your tone communicates.
- What you reward communicates.
- And what you do after you make a promise communicates.
The often-quoted nonverbal communication percentages are not a universal rule. Still, the leadership lesson is sound: people judge the credibility of our message by the evidence surrounding it – your body language, other non-verbal cues, and their past experiences.
Before your next team meeting, ask yourself: What is my behavior teaching people to expect from me?
Then close the gap between what you say and what they experience.
That is how trust is communicated.
Associated Story
Let’s use the CivicArc Commercial team to demonstrate this lesson in action.
These characters and CivicArc Commercial are fictional. They are designed as a consistent story world for Leadership Communicator.
the Open Door
Stan’s first four months had been a triumph. New clients were coming in faster than anyone projected, and the executive team regularly praised the marketing department’s momentum.
At the Monday staff meeting, Stan smiled around the table at Deb, John, Dixon, Carrie, and Sara.
“I want you all to know my door is always open,” he said. “If you need help, perspective, or a decision, come find me.”
Everyone nodded. It was the kind of thing a good leader should say.
But by Wednesday, Stan’s calendar was a solid wall of client meetings. When Deb stopped by with a question about a campaign message, Sara gently told her that Stan was running behind. John sent an email asking for approval on a time-sensitive digital ad; it waited unanswered. Dixon’s scheduled creative review was postponed for the second time. Carrie, still only a month into the role, spent two days rebuilding an analysis because she did not know which metrics Stan cared about most.
None of them thought Stan was unkind. He was personable whenever they caught him, and he always apologized sincerely. Still, the team began making decisions without him—or waiting longer than they should.
At Friday’s status meeting, Stan noticed the hesitation in the room.
“Why didn’t anyone flag these sooner?” he asked.
Sara looked at him for a moment, then said, “You told them your door was open. But your calendar, your cancellations, and your unanswered messages have been telling them you’re unavailable.”
Stan sat quietly. He had meant to communicate trust and support. Instead, he had communicated that client work mattered more than the team’s questions.
The following week, he blocked two hours each morning for internal decisions, kept one-on-ones sacred, and asked Sara to help him respond quickly even when a full answer would come later.
Now, his actions were matching his words. And his team could feel it.
You are already communicating. The question is whether your team is receiving the message you intend to send.
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