Learn the art of communication from Indian leaders
Symbolic actions speak louder than words—this is a dictum that politicians will vouch for
Avideo grab of a person urinating on a hapless person sitting on a pavement shocked the whole nation. What was done in response? Several people voiced indignation over the incident. Law enforcers did what is expected of them. The culprit was booked under the appropriate provisions of law. But then, there was a surprise move from the state’s chief minister, who invited the victim to his official residence. While the victim sat on a chair, the CM went on his knees and washed the victim’s feet, an act atonement from the state’s leader for the indignity inflicted upon him.
In the art of symbolism, symbols are used not for literal representations, but figurative or implied ones. Communication through graphic symbols is all around us. Whether it is a road sign or way-finding signage, stick figures can communicate a message to the audience. There are ways to increase the emotional intensity of messages communicated through symbols to intensify their effectiveness. It was found that when signboards used photographs rather than stick figures, their communicativeness improved dramatically. This effectiveness was because these photographic images activated mirror neurons in the brains of viewers. These neurons in the brain play a big role in activating appropriate emotions in humans.
Successful brands have gone further with symbolism. They have shown that with the backing of strategic communication, a symbol of an apple fruit can stand for the coolest technology and one of a prancing horse can effectively represent a sports car. Most brands use only visuals, which are just one mode of symbolism. But nation-states have gone a few steps ahead by using multimodal symbolism strategies to evoke strong loyalty to country brands. All use both visual and audio modes of symbols. So all nations have designed a national flag and composed a national anthem. These two are an integral part of their national identity and feature in all important events and rituals.
Symbols of various kinds are an integral part of communication in nature too. In nature, birds and animals use specific high-quality cues in order to be selected by a potential mate. For example, male bower birds build intricate and finely crafted bowers using decorative embellishments during their mating season. This architectural symbol has been found to be more or less the sole criterion for female’s choice of mate.
Communication based on symbols have a strong foundation, if the symbols used have deeper meaning derived from human nature and culture over a long period of time. The CM mentioned earlier could have called the indignity’s victim to his residence and embraced him as a sign of friendship. He could have sat down with the person on the dinner table and shared a meal with him. But the symbol he chose, the act of washing another’s feet, holds meaning in India that has been consistent for thousands of years across various phases of history. The symbol is so powerful that it needs no explanation. What we witnessed at the CM’s residence was an outstanding demonstration of the power of symbolism in communication.
Symbolism is such a powerful form of communication because it utilizes the visual system very effectively. The visual system constitutes more than 90% of the human brain’s processing capacity.
There is another interesting fact about symbols. Most people will be able to ‘sing’ their national anthem, more so as part of a larger crowd singing it. But have you ever tried to consciously ‘say aloud’ your national anthem? You tend to forget some of the words of the anthem. How many people in India really understand the exact meaning of each sentence of the country’s national anthem? Not many. This is just reminder that symbols do not work at a rational level of conscious understanding. Symbols work at non-conscious, emotional levels.
From creators of national symbols, we can also learn the importance of consistency in creating powerful symbols. Except in extreme cases of a country’s breakup, it’s almost unheard-of for a nation-state to change the design of its national flag or the tune of its national anthem.
Post-pandemic, with many employees still refusing to congregate back in their respective offices, many still working from home and resisting entreaties to switch on their cameras in online meetings, the task of creating and sustaining a strong, cohesive corporate culture has become more difficult than ever.
Corporate leaders are desperately in need of strategies to effectively communicate their vision and values to all employees in their organizations. For example, an organisation may want to communicate to its employees that it is a highly transparent organization with high levels of mutual trust. One way to achieve this would be by hanging some banners and plaques around its office spaces with the word ‘transparency’ printed on it. However, ‘transparency’ remains just a word this way, an abstract concept. The target audience will not be able to spontaneously visualize it. But what if the organization starts a weekly ritual of ‘open house’ gatherings where any employee can ask any question of the top management on all matters regarding work. It is this type of symbolic actions that take corporate cultures in the desired direction.
The new mantra for the corporate leaders could be ‘symbolic actions speak much louder than words.’ Indian politicians will vouch for this new dictum.
Biju Dominic is chief evangelist, Fractal Analytics, and chairman, FinalMile Consulting.
