Internal Communications

Leadership and communication (They’re close friends)

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Last year, Forbes magazine contributor, Michael Myatt, wrote an insightful article on the 10 Communications Secrets of Great Leaders. I agree with all of them, but would like to add one: A leader should pay attention to what’s going on around him or her…and engage. (Yep, I see them as one leadership tool).

Communication builds teamwork

I’ve written before about how important communicating clearly is for both leaders and followers in my post, “Leaders can improve employee motivation with these tips.” However, I recently finished 20 physical therapy sessions recovering from a bicycle accident and observed how important communicating clearly is for, well everyone, and it begins with leaders paying attention to what’s going on around them. Continue Reading →

4 Ways corporate communicators can help CEOs succeed

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Leadership expert John Maxwell once *wrote, “Everything rises and falls on leadership, but knowing how to lead is only half the battle. Understanding leadership and actually leading are two different activities.” Corporate communicators often find themselves standing in the gap between the two.

C-Level executive

C-Level leaders, and especially CEOs, are elevated to their positions of leadership for a number of reasons; being a person of vision is almost always one of them. Board members, stock holders, trustees, employees and customers all have an expectation that the CEO will make the organization more successful in every way, from profitability to the quality of the customer experience and overall work environment. Continue Reading →

Leaders can improve employee motivation with these communication tips

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I have a friend who got a Macbook Air for Christmas. It was given to her by the company for which she works and it gave every employee his or her choice of the latest Apple products (up to a certain amount). It wasn’t the first time this particular employer had done something like this. The Christmas season is traditionally marked by amazing generosity, but is annually opening the gadget closet the best way to motive employees?

Leadership and employee communications

Image courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

For a few employees the answer is, “Yes!” However, countless employee satisfaction surveys done over the past 10 years reveal material “blessings” occasionally showered from on high are no substitute for a consistently healthy work environment where people feel valued when it comes to motivating employees. President and CEO of Managed Medicaid Services Group, Richard Yardon, recently posted a short but accurate commentary about The Number One Way to Fail at Motivating Employees. The conclusion: incentives and employee values must be connected. Continue Reading →

Social media: Why “get on it” (Part 2)

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Social media offers many great opportunities for “ordinary” people to become people of influence. How? The more people share, the more influence potentially grows because their audience potentially grows. I addressed who should engage social media and why in Part 1 of Social Media: Why “get on it.”

One of the greatest opportunities for influence, however, lies with business or organizational leaders. Social media is an avenue to thought leadership that reaches employees as well as interested stakeholders. For instance, leaders can influence company direction simply by consistently informing employees about their vision and the direction they are collectively going (remember, it is actually the employees who bring the vision to existence!). Social media offers the most personably direct line of contact beyond one-to-one or one-to-small group contact. Continue Reading →