Communication Professionals Must Find their Voice as Leaders
Lise Michaud
The following is part of our most recent publication released online, "IC in 2017 & 2018 FROM HOPE TO REALITY How Far We've Come | The Road Ahead." Looking back at their greatest hope for the IC profession in 2017 in terms of where the discipline should be, 21 communication professionals from different countries answer two questions: How far have we actually come in 2017? What remains to be done in 2018?
David Grossman, Founder and CEO, The Grossman Group, shares his views on the progress made these past months, to what extent he believes his hope has translated into reality, and what remains to be done in 2018. The read the views of all contributors, download the free 42-page eBook here.
My wish for 2017 for internal communications professionals is to continue to elevate our own skills in an intentional and purposeful way. Too often we’re so busy supporting others that our own development as leaders and advisors gets pushed aside. Let’s keep growing in significant ways so we can support senior leadership even better in leveraging communications to drive performance.
How far we've come. Next steps.
What’s encouraging to me in my work with communication professionals is the growing recognition of the need to change the way we approach our role. That recognition is a critical first step, but we still need to work harder to ensure that it actually happens. Too often, communication executives let themselves get pulled into the daily demands of planning communication, getting up to speed on social media, and supporting their own leaders, without taking the time to elevate their own skill set as leaders. As a result, efforts to truly make communication a critical leadership tool for the entire organization are stymied. Why does this keep happening? I think it’s partly a matter of courage and confidence. We need to summon more courage to articulate the critical role we can play in achieving the organizational strategy, and that means continuing to elevate our skills as “leader communicators.”
All of us who care about communication need to start by taking a look at ourselves: how are we succeeding and where are we falling short? How can we personally be more respectfully authentic in our dealings with our own teams as well as with the leaders we support? How can we be more truthful and helpful in our advice, rather than just checking the box to get things done as they’ve always been done? We also need to take every opportunity we can to share the message that communication matters a great deal. No organization can achieve its goals and move forward in a positive way without great communication. Communications professionals need to find their voice as leaders to carry that message. That can start by spending time with leaders to tell that story, again and again, and by showing leadership what’s possible when they begin to see communications as a strategic partner, not just a tactical assistant.
Click here to download the free 42-page eBook "IC in 2017 & 2018 FROM HOPE TO REALITY How Far We've Come | The Road Ahead."
David Grossman
Founder and CEO
The Grossman Group USA
