leadercommunicator blog

Leaders have been through an incredible year, marked by profound change and uncertainty with the pandemic and mounting social unrest. That period of crisis, though, has as silver lining – as many leaders have risen to the occasion and learned a lot in the process.

To uncover some of those learnings, I conducted a series of interviews with more than 30 leaders over the past several months. Many of their insights will be shared in my upcoming book, Heart First: Lasting Leader Lessons from a Year that Changed Everything.

We've made a lot of headway leading through tough times brought on by the pandemic. And hidden in tough times, as many of leaders have come to see, is a defining moment to create real, meaningful connections to maintain – if not drive – productivity and minimize the disruptions that come with change. It’s a time to ensure communication is a top priority to minimize the downsides of change (i.e., turnover, employee disengagement, increased absenteeism) and accelerate the upsides (i.e., improved culture, increased engagement, better productivity).

Now More Than Ever, We Need Leadership

Welcome to my weekly round-up of the best-of-the-best recent leadership and communication blog posts. 

This Week's Round-Up of Leadership and Communication Blogs:

• Effective Communication Can Overcome Vaccine Avoidance
  By Bill Novelli (@Bill_D_Novelli via @PRNews), PRNews
  
  Bill Novelli, professor at Georgetown University and former CEO of AARP, details the challenges to increasing vaccination rates along with tips to increase effectiveness.
  
  “At the start of coronavirus, poor resource allocation and coordination contributed to widespread infections and unnecessary deaths. One victim was my college roommate, who died when NYC was the epicenter of America's outbreak...”
  Read more >>

What an unforgettable time we are living in today. With the pandemic and social unrest that we confronted over the past year, 2020 changed us in enduring ways. As we see from our remote and hybrid work, reduced travel, abundance of video meetings, and new awakenings on equity and inclusion in the workforce, it’s clear that the way we work and lead will never be quite the same.

The Incredible Lessons We’ve Learned

I started out in 2020 wanting to explore the concept of leading through change with a new book. In more than three decades working with leaders across industries, I’ve seen a lot of what works, and what doesn’t, and I wanted to share those findings to help others.

In times of change or uncertainty, organizations need leadership more than ever. That means the quality and amount of communications need to increase.

I used to work for a manager who said, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.” Times of change are a litmus test for leadership, which means sharing with employees what we know and what we don’t know. This is the time for courageous conversations and straightforward communication. This is the time to talk about how our organizations are well positioned for the future and/or how we’re making changes to set ourselves up for future success. Most important, this is the time to share with employees what we need from them. 

Welcome to my weekly round-up of the best-of-the-best recent leadership and communication blog posts. 

This Week's Round-Up of Leadership and Communication Blogs:

• Creating Inclusive Workplaces for LGBTQ Employees
  By The Together Forward @Work Task Force via SHRM (@SHRM)
  
  Get resources and guidance to assist your company in helping this community navigate the workplace.
  
  “Promoting diversity and inclusion within an organization has become essential not only to employers, but also to their employees, customers and clients. While there has been a lot of focus on being inclusive of women and people of color, employers and their HR professionals are also increasing their efforts to build workplaces that incorporate the LGBTQ community...”
  Read more >>

Delivering difficult messages is at the very core of dealing with the tough situations many leaders face.

I was working with a leader who was preparing to make some significant changes in his organization’s structure, including people changes. As we talked more, and his eyes welled up with tears, I realized how tough these decisions were for him. In the end, it was the right thing to do—his customers’ needs had changed; the market had changed, and his organization wasn’t set up for success. 

Welcome to my weekly round-up of the best-of-the-best recent leadership and communication blog posts. 

This Week's Round-Up of Leadership and Communication Blogs:

• Why Every CEO Should Have A Personal Mission Statement
  By Melody Wilding (@MelodyWilding via @ChiefExecGrp), Chief Executive
  
  Do you have a personal mission statement? Get a number of benefits of having one and guidance on how to create your own along with a few templates to get you started.
  
  “Much like a corporate mission statement, a thoughtful, well-written personal mission statement becomes your individual definition of success—and the compass that navigates you toward your deepest motivations...”
  Read more >>