Executives expect Communications to help them speak clearly and confidently in front of employees to create trust in the leadership and in the direction of the organization. While good public speaking is a desirable leadership skill, it wrongly assumes that trust in executives is a key drives of employee engagement and performance.
We in Communications bear some of the burden for the poor quality of our executives’ communication skills. For so long we have helped solve the symptoms of bad executive communication—sloppy PowerPoint presentations; boring, jargon-filled messages to employees; even bad outfits for video shooting—without forcing executives to think through how communication can be used as a business tool, not just as a megaphone to shout out decisions already made.
It’s time for Communications to help leaders not just communicate clearly, but communicate to drive stakeholder action!
Here are the 5 most common questions we get from communicators looking to help leaders drive action through communication, our CEC take, and relevant support tools from the membership.
1. CEC Member Question: How do I help leaders and employees have productive dialogues?
CEC Perspective: Equip leaders to lead dialogues on the implications of company strategy to help employees understand goals and believe that they can impact them positively.
How-to: Use workshops to teach leaders to break dialogue into simple, practicable steps | See how Shell did it and use CEC’s out-of-the-box training materials
Visit the CEC website to learn more about how to:
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Turn one-way leader messages into two-way dialogues | Use the CEC Dialogue Map
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Help leaders blog about their unique perspective to improve employee decision-making | See 10 Questions for an Executive Blog
2. How should our leaders share strategy with employees?
CEC: Leaders’ strategy messages shouldn’t tell employees what to do, but rather be built back from the decisions employees need to make in support of strategy.
How to: Build employee understanding of cause and effect relationships in the market | See how Eli Lily did it
Visit the CEC website to learn more about how to:
- Personalize market information help employees grasp implications of the company’s external forces | See how Saudi Aramco did it
- Help leaders consider business challenges from the employee’s perspective | See how ConAgra did it
3. How do I help leaders become better storytellers?
CEC: Equip leaders to weave stories and personal experiences into their communication to make a concept feel much more “real” to the audience, driving their energy and enthusiasm to support it.
How to: Help leaders turn storytelling into a simple, repeatable process | See how Continental Airlines did it
Visit the CEC website to learn more about how to:
- Enable leaders to uncover the story behind the corporate story to relay a richer story to staff | See how Rolls Royce did it
- Encourage story-sharing to build a company culture that is receptive to leader stories | See how Best Buy did it
4. How do I help leaders communicate during times of uncertainty?
CEC: Help leaders run structured dialogues where they’re expected to take part in a conversation, but not to have all the answers.
How-to: Prepare leaders for dialogues in the face of “critical and curious” questions | See how Nordea did it
Visit the CEC website to learn more about how to:
- Help leaders frame communication around “change is the new normal” | See how Eli Lilly did it
- Enable leaders overcome habits and assumptions that prevent open communication during change | See how GlaxoSmithKline CPSE did it
5. How do I help leaders deliver great speeches?
CEC: Your leader needs to have a clear understanding of what they are trying to achieve and how audiences should take action as a result of the speech.
How-to: Ask consultative questions to help deepen leaders’ understanding of the desired stakeholder action | Use CEC’s 3-step Leader Communication Triage Process
Visit the CEC website to learn more about how to:
- Make leader communication simple, credible, and emotional | Follow these quick tips
- Adapt a message’s substance, tone, and packaging to support organic content sharing | See how Intuit did it
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