When was the last time you heard a great speech? Listened to someone who captivated you with their personal story? Read something that was written so beautifully and powerfully that it challenged your thinking or moved you to action? For many of us, it may have been a while. That’s because outstanding communication is rarely practiced with the kind of diligence it deserves, even among leaders who count on inspiring their teams to achieve ambitious goals. People tend to think of exceptional communication as a natural trait, you’ve either got that special something or you don’t. And yet I’m a b ..read more

“Empathy” is a word that’s discussed often as a coveted leadership skill, and yet there’s still uncertainty – and some skepticism – about how much empathy matters in the workplace today. For some, empathy feels like a soft skill that may be difficult or impractical to apply, particularly when you’re leading a large team that don’t all know you as well. And yet empathy remains one of the most important traits that employees look for in a leader. In survey after survey, employees say they greatly appreciate “empathy” in a leader. That fact was underscored recently in an employee survey The Gros ..read more

When I reflect on the most successful leaders I’ve worked with over the years, they all possess a variety of outstanding communication skills. Yet one skill consistently stands apart – the leader’s ability to clearly set expectations for their teams. Leaders who are crystal clear – not only about what they expect from their teams but also about what their teams can expect from them – tend to be the most effective leaders overall, consistently winning over their employees and achieving their business goals. Of course, excelling at expectation setting takes skill and often some support. It also ..read more

We’ve all been there. Lost in the grip of a great story, we fast forward to the next episode of our favorite show, repeatedly flip the pages of a gripping novel from a beloved author, or get swept away in the details of a friend’s dramatic event. This is the power of the art and craft of storytelling, a reliable force for capturing the hearts and minds of humans since the beginning of time. Yet somehow, when it comes to business settings, we often devalue the strength of great storytelling in leadership, turning instead to the PowerPoint slide, charts and graphs, or corporate speak that does ..read more

The best leaders are exceptional communicators. That’s always been true and even more critical now, at a time when employees and other stakeholders are bombarded with information and often look to their leaders for what’s most important. Leaders who earn the trust and support of their team get there because they believe in the power of great communication in all forms – speeches and presentations, team meetings, one-on-one check-ins, town halls, and written communication. On top of that, exceptional leaders know how to listen better so they’re not just sharing information but learning more ab ..read more

The highly polarized 2024 election climate challenges business leaders and communicators facing the enormous task of communicating to a divided group of employees, customers, and other stakeholders wanting to feel respected and heard. Given just how intense the political environment has become, leaders surely have their hands full. That was abundantly clear at a recent meeting of the Communication Leaders of Chicago, a group of senior communications and public relations professionals focused on addressing strategic approaches to emerging challenges in our field. Many of the veteran leaders at ..read more

Amid all the constant changes in business today, signs of burnout are everywhere in the workforce. As the economy continues to rebound and employee mobility grows, burnout is a double-edged sword wreaking havoc for organizations, with many employees feeling checked out or looking to leave their jobs. Those who remain are left with picking up the pieces, and that aftermath can cause stress and strain on them as well. In partnership with The Harris Poll, we recently conducted research designed to gauge the extent to which American workers are thriving, burned out, or ambivalent and what drives ..read more

There’s a reason the phrase “change fatigue” has become so common among employees and leaders today. The complexities of the business environment mean change is one thing most employees can expect, whether they like it not. Changes in strategy, restructuring, layoffs, the prevalence of mergers and acquisitions, people, and workplace culture issues – the list goes on and on. Naturally, all that change can feel overwhelming for employees and their supervisors. Our recent research conducted in partnership with The Harris Poll underscores this, as many employees and managers we surveyed identifie ..read more

In a highly competitive job market where every applicant is qualified and somehow has at least five years of experience, more companies turn to Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to expedite the hiring process. Every applicant’s resume gets “scanned” into this software, and based on the keywords it finds and other technical jargon, the ATS selects the best candidates for the role to then be seen by a real person ..read more

One of the most challenging parts of the communicator’s job today is how to help leaders wisely respond when issues arise. Often, leaders are cautious about communicating in difficult moments and may not understand why their employees need to hear from them. The list of potential topics is endless – ethics scandals, layoffs, world conflicts, a pandemic, climate concerns, and more. Pivotal research – including some of our recent studies with The Harris Poll – shows that silence often backfires, leading to employee disengagement, a lack of trust in leadership, and worse, distraction and busines ..read more