9 Ways Positive Leaders Communicate Differently
Every leader thinks they communicate.
Far fewer realize how their communication actually feels on the other side.
In property management and affordable housing, this matters more than we admit. Our teams operate under pressure: compliance deadlines, resident crises, staffing gaps, audits, turns, and “just one more thing” pileups. In that environment, communication is not a soft skill. It is an operational system.
Recently I revisited some of Jon Gordon’s work on positive leadership and layered it against what I’ve seen in 20 years of leading teams. The overlap is powerful, and the gaps are instructive.
Here are nine communication behaviors that consistently separate positive, trusted leaders from everyone else.
1. Praise in public, coach in private
The best leaders understand timing and setting.
Public praise tells the team, “This is what good looks like.” It reinforces standards, celebrates effort, and shows people that great work is seen and valued.
Private coaching says, “You matter enough for me to invest in your growth.” It preserves dignity and keeps people open to feedback instead of defensive.
Leaders who reverse this equation (public criticism, private silence) create fear and withdrawal. Leaders who get it right build both trust and performance.
Ask yourself:
Do I celebrate people loudly and coach them quietly, or is it the other way around?
2. Use your presence as a positive signal
A genuine smile and steady presence are not “soft.” They are physiological.
When you show up calm, engaged, and grounded, you change the room. People mirror your tone. They decide whether they can bring you problems early or hide them until they explode.
Your presence can either add stress to the system or absorb it.
Especially in property operations, where issues arrive all day long, the leader’s mood becomes the team’s weather. Use that power intentionally.
3. Cut complaining and move to solutions
Every team complains. The question is what happens next.
When leaders normalize ongoing complaining, two things happen:
Real problems stop getting solved.
High performers quietly disengage.
Jon Gordon’s line is blunt and accurate: complaining is like vomiting. You might feel better, but everyone around you feels worse.
This doesn’t mean ignoring reality. It means acknowledging what’s hard, then asking: “What can we influence? What can we try this week? What do we want to be true 90 days from now?”
Teams don’t need leaders who amplify frustration. They need leaders who convert it into movement.
4. Make encouragement part of your job description
Truett Cathy said, “How do you know if someone needs encouragement? If they’re breathing.”
People in our industry carry more than you see: resident trauma, staffing stress, personal life, financial pressure, the emotional weight of saying “no” to people in crisis.
Encouragement is not cheerleading. It is specific, grounded recognition:
“The way you handled that resident interaction was exactly what we want to model.”
“You caught a problem upstream that saved us hours down the line.”
“I can see how much effort you put into stabilizing this property. It shows.”
Encouragement doesn’t erase problems. It gives people the energy to keep solving them.
5. Be the positive news network
Most teams are flooded with negative information: delinquencies, findings, vacancies, complaints.
Positive leaders intentionally balance the signal.
They share wins across the organization. They repeat stories of residents who were helped, teams that turned a property around, maintenance techs who went above and beyond. They make sure people hear, “This is working” as often as they hear, “This needs to change.”
Over time, people start believing their effort matters. That belief is fuel.
6. Listen like it’s your most important tool
If you already know the answer to every issue, your team will stop bringing you real ones.
Active listening is not nodding while waiting to talk. It’s:
Putting the phone down
Asking clarifying questions
Reflecting back what you heard
Checking that you understood correctly before deciding
Most “communication problems” inside organizations are actually “I don’t feel heard” problems. When people feel heard, resistance drops and ownership increases.
You cannot coach people you refuse to listen to.
7. Treat feedback as leadership oxygen
Positive leaders ask, “What am I missing? What’s not working from your side?”
They don’t confuse silence with alignment. They invite input on how meetings run, how processes feel at the site level, where communication breaks down between departments.
This does not mean you implement every suggestion. It means you are visibly learning. Your team sees you modeling the same growth mindset you expect from them.
If you treat feedback as a threat, your team will treat honesty as a risk.
8. Celebrate progress, not perfection
In operations, there is always another fire. Another metric to fix. Another property that needs attention.
If you only ever spotlight gaps, your team will feel like they are permanently behind.
Positive leaders reframe the story:
“We’re not done, but look at the movement we created this quarter.”
“We cut delinquency by X percent. Now we build on that.”
“Turn times are improving. Let’s study what worked and replicate it.”
Celebration is not complacency. It is strategic reinforcement of the behaviors you want to see repeated.
9. Use appropriate personal connection
Human beings are wired for connection, and work is no exception.
Depending on context and culture, this might look like a handshake, fist bump, high five, or a simple, steady eye contact and “I appreciate you.”
The point is not the gesture itself. It is the signal:
“I see you as a person, not just a role.”
Done thoughtfully and professionally, these moments create trust that no memo ever will.
Positive communication is not about being “nice.”
It is about building the kind of trust, clarity, and energy that make real performance possible.
In property management and affordable housing, where the work is heavy and the stakes are high, this kind of leadership is not optional. It is the job.
If you want stronger performance, start by changing how you show up in every conversation.
