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Effective communication is crucial for success in any career, but it’s especially important when it comes to executive leadership. Leaders who effectively communicate their vision and strategy can inspire and motivate teams to achieve great things. However, developing and implementing an effective leadership communications strategy can be challenging.
Executives often face unique obstacles, including time constraints, conflicting priorities and a lack of clarity around their own communication style. Below, members of Forbes Communication Council share some of the biggest challenges comms teams face in creating and implementing leadership comms strategies, as well as tactics for overcoming these obstacles and developing a clear and effective communications plan for executives.
1. Managing Expectations
Managing expectations with executives can be difficult. The key to creating an effective communication strategy with leadership is outlining expectations that are realistic, attainable and clearly defined. As with most strategies, when the team is aligned from the top down, goals get met! - Amber Mullaney, Virtual Peaker
2. Gaining Buy-In
Implementing an effective leadership strategy can be tricky, especially when it comes to getting everyone on the same page. Gaining buy-in and aligning executives around the same messaging is one of the key challenges to ensuring success, and it’s important for leaders to communicate openly and regularly about their objectives and why they are important. - Cord Himelstein, HALO
3. Making Sure The Executive Responds
Especially with executives, each message you send that requires an action from the executive—such as agreeing to a meeting—needs to meet two criteria: First, answer the question, “Why should I care about this?” or, in other words, “What’s in it for me?” Second, make it super easy to comply with your requested action (that is, don’t make them think). Keep executive communications short and to the point! - Udi Ledergor, Gong
4. Identifying Each Executive Team Member’s Strengths
Creating and executing an effective leadership communication strategy means recognizing what each member of our very strong executive team brings to the table. It’s important for us to listen to each unique perspective and personal experience and determine the best way to integrate that in a genuine way; by doing this, we are authentically strengthening the brand’s voice, mission and goals. - Karl Van den Bergh, Gigamon
Forbes Communications Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
5. Ensuring A Mix Of Aspirational And Foundational Messaging
The biggest challenge executives face is finding available time to invest in understanding and embracing a communications strategy. The biggest challenge communications professionals face is making sure the executive aligns on the right mix of expansive, aspirational messaging and concrete, foundational messaging in a way that resonates with all four audiences: media, customers, employees and board. - Leslie Poston, Austin Data Labs
6. Managing The Executive’s Ego
Most great leaders believe they are the visionary thinker and should own communications for the team, product or company. In reality, the best communications come from a small group of people that is representative of the audience receiving the message, leadership, and a great editor and writer. - Jonathan Shroyer, Arise Gaming
7. Building Trust With The C-Suite
From an unengaging writing style to a robotic video script delivery, not everyone has effective communication skills in their DNA, and executives are no exception. Building strong relationships with each member of the C-suite is critical in gaining the trust needed to help build self-awareness in this area. Once you are in that position, collaborating to create effective communication becomes much easier. - Jen Iliff, WunderLand
8. Operating Within A Leader’s Comms Comfort Zone
It’s critical that your leader feels really comfortable with the plan going forward. It’s one thing to say, “Let’s get you on TikTok!” but it could be that the leader is more comfortable writing a LinkedIn newsletter or recording a podcast than being on camera. When you operate within a leader’s communications comfort zone, the quality of the content is always more authentic, engaging and real. - Melissa Kandel, little word studio
9. Aligning Expectations With The Strategy
From an external comms perspective, a challenge is aligning expectations with the strategy. That means don’t guess! Get collaborative input to form the strategy and feedback on the finished plan. As you execute, sometimes expectations, commitments and availability can change, so don’t guess! Continue to get feedback on the program and adjust as you go. Everyone is different, so never just assume! - Chris Cradduck, LDWW
10. Knowing A Leader’s Comfort Level With Different Channels
Be aware of the individual executive’s comfort level with different channels. We once worked with a CEO who was truly inspirational when talking about his vision for the company, but he completely froze in front of a video camera. Some leaders might be much more comfortable with a podcast than a video, or a Q&A article instead of a podcast. - Elizabeth Baskin, Tribe, Inc.
11. Managing Change As Priorities Evolve
It’s challenging to nail down an effective strategy for leadership with so many priorities in flux across the organization. Change management becomes critical so that as the brand evolves, leadership messaging stays on track. For anyone who works with leadership, that means keeping an eye on how your own area of work, whether it’s marketing, communications or PR, fits into that bigger picture. - Alyssa Kopelman, Healthline Media
12. Determining The Timing And Context Of A Message
Timing and context can be just as important as substance. It’s easy to get caught up in the minutiae of the messages being delivered, but where and how they are delivered matters too. Particularly with difficult news, be sure you have a detailed plan for who is told what, when, by whom and through which channel. It can make a big difference in how it is received. - Nani Shaffer, Channel99
13. Helping Leaders Feel Safe Enough To Have Tough Conversations
While many are willing, it can be challenging to help leaders feel safe enough to have the uncomfortable conversations that we so often avoid in order to build trust and achieve a stronger outcome later on. Executive leaders can only have the kind of impact they hope to have if they first know themselves, encourage and participate in those difficult conversations, and listen more than they talk. - John Jorgenson, Cambium Learning Group
14. Maintaining Consistent Messaging
Creating consistency in communication helps build trust and credibility with all stakeholders, including employees, shareholders, customers and partners. When leaders consistently communicate their vision, values and goals, people are more likely to trust and follow them. Unified messaging is also key to clarity across the organization and helps to reinforce the brand. - Dee Blohm, Anteriad
