Competence Alone is not Enough
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?
Mike Klein, Principal, Changing The Terms, 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. To read the views of all contributors, download the free 42-page eBook here.
My biggest hope for 2017, regardless of the political and economic circumstances we may find ourselves in, is that we become better empowered to support, guide and, where necessary, challenge our clients and bosses. Too much of what we do in internal communication is driven by optics, and this freezes out approaches which might not be as flashy or visible, but which are much more effective at getting the job done.
How far we've come. Next steps.
It's really unclear whether there has been any movement. With very few exceptions, the conversation has been about "how" to do, manage and measure and much less about "what" to do, manage or measure or "why" any or all of it is necessary.
Execution is critical. Fairly or not, our credibility as professionals depends on people not finding problems with the way we execute and calling our competence into question. But we have to reject the idea that competence alone is enough. We must add the confidence to challenge and the strategic mindsets to give our challenges coherence and our organizational presence a whiff of leadership. Otherwise, we simply become the sum total of what we do, the boxes we tick.
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."
Mike Klein
Principal
Changing The Terms
Netherlands
