Everything you need to get done is through people. Our role as communicators is to counsel leaders to enable them to drive employees to action.

To help our leaders be their best, we must be at our best, and that means continuing to elevate our abilities as strategic communication counselors.

We conducted a recent survey of more than 100 communicators in the US and Canada about the skills every leader and communicator should have, and the skills they currently believe they have.


Three skills to influence leaders
The three skills communicators want to elevate most all have to do with influencing leaders and decision makers. Specifically, communicators said they want to be better at:

1. Leveraging their role as a communicator with key executives to influence outcomes.
2. Building alignment with key leaders to influence outcomes.
3. Articulating the value of communication to leaders.

Here are some pragmatic, quick-hit actions you can take to leverage your talents and develop new skills.

1. Leveraging your role as a communicator to influence outcomes

• Help leaders understand that when employee needs are met, they are more productive, engaged and get better results.
• Ensure leaders understand the most important questions employees want answered.
• Help leaders plan their communication, which begins with focusing on the outcome.

2. Building alignment with key leaders to influence outcomes

• Do a think/feel/do analysis of your key audiences to help leaders understand where that audience is coming from and how best to persuade them.
• Share this information with your leaders (or better yet, do the exercise with them) so they understand the perceptions of each audience and what messages will move people to action.

3. Articulating the value of communication to leaders

• Develop core messages for yourself about the power of communication.
• Develop an "elevator speech" to explain the role and value of communication. Have research – from both inside and outside the organization – that supports your elevator speech and that you can drop into conversations when necessary.
• Find an early adopter – a leader who understand the power of good communication – and use them as a role model (and have them advocate for you).

I'm seeing a renewed focus on training for communicators in world-class organizations to elevate their skills and close the gaps in some of these critical areas. It's a sign of the times to strive to be even better, to deliver even better business results.

I hope you'll take advantage of these strategies that work. Do you have other practices that work? I'd love to hear them.

See you next month.

David Grossman, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA
President and principal thoughtpartner™, dg&a

About Melcrum
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