A Leadership Framework for Organizational Knowledge Sharing

Many organizations have discussed the need for better organizational knowledge sharing. However, a framework for organizational knowledge sharing from a leadership and management perspective with emphasis on communication effectiveness and organizational trust has not been demonstrated. This paper is an excerpt of the research study conducted at the George Washington University. It provides research findings that help leaders integrate effective communication into everything they do to achieve organizational performance excellence. Communication has long been recognized as the most important element in leadership. It is also one of the most difficult challenges in any business. To get the right information to the right person at the right time for effective knowledge sharing, leaders need to be cognizant of the impacts of effective communication. Insights such as traits of leadership communication, timeliness for source of information, channel of communication to use for sharing knowledge are part of a framework created from the results of this research that can assist leaders in driving organizational results, build trust between leaders and followers, and create a successful enterprise. A focus on how organizations can learn, collaborate, share knowledge and innovate using the four pillars of knowledge management: leadership/management, organization, technology, and learning will be discussed. Understanding the importance of organizational trust and communication effectiveness will help leaders in enhancing organizational knowledge sharing.