If you’re like most communications leaders I know, you’re probably paying a gigantic, recurring, and invisible tax bill on your communications shop. At best, this is vexing. At worst, it may well be what’s holding you and your team back from unleashing your talent and working at the top of your scope of practice and expertise. Make no mistake: organizational debt is dangerous. Not only does it threaten your performance, but in the context of today’s talent wars, it’s also erosive to your communications team’s engagement and retention. Let’s do a quick forensic accounting exercise and look at t ..read more

In the age of permanent white water, communications leaders are relied upon to provide steady navigation. Just as a ship’s captain needs a clear view of the horizon to identify the path forward and avoid hidden dangers, so too heads of communications require distinct lines of sight to lead their functions effectively. 1. Foresight Foresight is the ability to strategically look ahead to anticipate emerging changes, issues, opportunities and threats. The most skilled communications leaders I’ve had the opportunity to watch in action seem to have developed a sixth sense and a unique ability to se ..read more

Over the last few years, we have had the distinct privilege of working with several leaders on driving organizational change. The pandemic has triggered massive growth in my change practice, and also a fundamental shift in direction – moving from traditional “managed change” to supporting executives in leading through ambiguity, chaos and disruption. The essential nature of the changes I’m working on has evolved – from planned change exercises like a roll-out of a new IT system (ah, the days of straightforward change management!)  to a focus on emergent transformation. That is, a pattern ..read more

One of the best ways to become an indispensable, trusted advisor and turbo charge your career trajectory is to cultivate your issue management skill. The quickest way to boost your career, relevance and value is to sharpen your instincts and develop mastery in issue management. Unfortunately the reverse is also true – as a communications professional, you want to be on your toes, not be caught on your heels when an issue strikes your organization.  The problem is that learning the art and science of issue management usually takes decades, and the opportunity to watch masters in action. I ..read more

One of the most enduring impacts of AI is that it’s clear that in a world where answers are now easier to find than ever, value comes from those with the skill, savvy and humility to ask the best questions.  In essence, power has shifted from prose to prompts. This is especially true when working through organizational ambiguity and change. As I’ve written about previously, the first challenge is to understand the “thing” that’s changing and clarify how that “thing” relates to other “things”. This is all about moving beyond information dissemination and focusing instead on sense-making.&n ..read more

In working with employee communications teams, I often hear frustrations of working in a very small box. There’s a feeling of a confined scope for impact that leaves communicators feeling disillusioned and disempowered. The thing is that I notice this limiting box has often been built by the very communicators who are trapped in it. This looks like: Tactical tunnel vision Siloed work Disconnection from the business A few years ago, the one and only Shel Holtz took aim at this self-limiting model of internal communications and proposed a New Model for Employee Communications. I loved it becau ..read more

In working with hundreds of heads of communications over the past several years, I’m struck that they tend to share a remarkably consistent cluster of frustrations. Whether they lead teams in large Fortune 500 companies, or in small not-for-profits, communications leaders tend to complain that their teams are too tactical, reactive and fragmented. That’s no surprise. But what is intriguing is that once we start digging into these issues a bit further, very often I find that the teams are actually designed to perpetuate the very patterns that are driving their leaders crazy. These structural is ..read more

One of the most pressing issues facing the communications industry is talent development and preparing a next generation of leaders. It’s a priority that’s been identified by everyone from the Government of Canada’s Communications Community Office, to the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and many of my executive-level clients.  On an individual level, many communicators I’ve worked with over the last 25 years have shared that they feel depleted and disillusioned by their work which often feels like being on a hamster wheel in a race to nowhere. Too often, career ..read more

Many leaders I work with observe a consistent, puzzling pattern. On the one hand, their team is working hard, and there’s often a frenetic feeling of overwhelm.  Yet on the other hand, the disconcerting truth is that somehow the outputs and results don’t quite seem to sync up to the level of effort and resources invested.  What gives?  I’m intrigued by this dynamic, which I hear about quite consistently across sectors, industries and locations. As I wrote about in my piece WTF is Going On? a few months ago, my sense is that it’s the product of several factors combining, includin ..read more

Virtually every senior executive I’ve had the pleasure of working with has a secret wish. They wish for employees who have the capabilities and drive to go beyond the basic requirements of the job, and actually go further. To be proactive. To innovate. To initiate. As one put it bluntly – what’s needed are employees who are “batteries included”. In today’s world of post-pandemic languishing, quiet quitting and pervasively “meh” levels of employee engagement, this quest has become particularly elusive. I came across this hierarchy of capabilities model which is helpful in understanding the chal ..read more