4 Things CEOs Should Prioritize Communicating to their Firms

Building an organization is a journey.

It takes people working together to build a better tomorrow.

What that 'tomorrow' is—I believe it's the CEO's job to paint that picture.

Right now I'm working with the CEO of a $200m+ professional services organization.

Sharp leader. Well-respected and talented.

Within a couple of months of the engagement, I had an observation:

Their messaging gravitated toward communicating on the NOW—what's in front of their leaders and the organization at this point in time.

There wasn't an issue with the communication style, rather, what was missing was a critical component of communication that would be a difference-maker for the message and the firm.

As a CEO, partner, or practice leader, there are things you absolutely must be communicating on (because no one else will) and things that can you leave for others in the organization.

It starts with recognizing the easy vs hard things to communicate.

Easy vs Hard Things to Communicate

By the way, I'm using this particular leader in this example, but I see this across many of the organizations I advise.

Look, it's tough. Effective communication on the RIGHT things is critical to your effectiveness as the leader of a firm and the trajectory of the organization.

What happens is that CEOs can get caught communicating on 'easy' things:

• numbers—revenue and other data points

• internal firm initiatives—campaigns, technology, etc.

• staffing or people updates

• regulatory updates or market-oriented trends

I'm not saying these things aren't important. They are.

AND when it comes to the person sitting in the CEO chair, they are not the most impactful and critical things you can be communicating.

As CEO, you should prioritize communication on the more difficult and higher payoff things:

• the vision and strategy of the organization

• the narrative and key messages you are driving in the marketplace

• the core tenets of your platform as CEO

These are the most critical things for you to communicate because no one else in the firm is going to speak to them.

Your COO can communicate on internal firm initiatives.
Your Chief People Officer can communicate on staffing or people updates.
You can identify people in the organization to share regulatory updates or market trends.

You are the leader of the organization. No one else is going to share a compelling future state for the firm, why it's important, and how it adds value to the lives of your clients.

That's your job.

They may not feel like the easy things to communicate, but it's absolutely critical because, without it, the firm may be moving forward, but is it really headed in the right direction?

How to Focus Your Communication on the Important (Hard) Things

As the leader of the organization I referenced was experiencing, without an intentional strategy, it's easy to fall into the trap of communicating on the 'easy' things.

Heck, I've caught myself doing the same thing throughout my career.

Some things are right in front of us when we're on the dance floor—the day-to-day elements of working in the business.

It takes intention to pull yourself off the dance floor and get to the balcony so you can communicate on more strategic items.

One thing I recommend for any firm leader is to build an editorial calendar. It's an intentional way to plan for messaging about what's going on in the business right now AND where the organization is headed.

That editorial calendar should include:

• Consistent messaging about the firm's strategy and how initiatives fit into the strategy

• Examples of how you, as an organization, are building toward that strategy and recognizing successes along the way

• The core pillars or tenets of your platform as a CEO—what do you hope to accomplish together as a result of your time in the chair?

• The narrative of where the organization is headed and how that benefits your clients and team members within the firm

Ultimately, it's about bringing people into the vision. Bringing them into the conversation so you are talking with them, not at them.

"Here's where we're going and here's how you play a role in helping us get there."

That calendar needs to have specific plans for when and how you'll communicate on those things.

• Are you hosting monthly firm-wide town hall meetings? (these were my favorites—the opportunity to interact with our team members 1:1)

• Are you sending weekly video communications to your firm?

• Are you building time for strategy communication and vision casting into firm leadership meetings?

Hope isn't a strategy.

Start building a plan for HOW and WHEN you'll communicate on these critical things and you'll see the power of what building a narrative and inviting people into that narrative can do to grow your organization.

Where to begin?

One of the things my advisory work has reinforced is that building a strategy for a firm is difficult. It can seem daunting AND it's critical to the organization's success.

Consider this article as part one.

Next week, I'll share a simple way to get started defining and communicating a strategy to your firm—the same process I'm working through with the CEO in today's example.

It doesn't require outside consultants or millions of dollars. It's something you could take action on immediately.

Stay tuned for next week's article.

With intention,
Alan D Whitman