At a time when so many employees are feeling stretched, disconnected and overwhelmed by the challenges of our new working reality – and businesses wrestle with significant change and cost pressures – communication leaders are looked to for answers.

What can communication leaders do to stay in tune with the needs of the business and be responsive to employees’ biggest needs and desires?

As I’ve discovered through decades of work with effective leaders – especially during the past two years of uncertainty and social unrest – the key lies in “Heart First” leadership. Heart First leaders who champion empathy, humanity and authenticity in the workplace set themselves apart because they build stronger, more trusting relationships, which improve engagement, retention and business results.

When asked, communication professionals identified their top strategic priorities, challenges and questions for 2022. The common attributions of mission-critical priorities included improving their use of communications tools and channels, aligning staff and skills to support business priorities, and driving reputation and building trust according to a recent survey from Gartner.

Top challenges included:

It's that time of year again – the holidays are fast approaching and as many of you know, the season kicks off with my favorite holiday: Thanksgiving. While one of the many reasons I look forward to Thanksgiving is because it’s the season of Grandma Elsie’s Famous Pumpkin Chiffon Pie and other crowd-favorite recipes, Thanksgiving is special for other reasons.

We’ve had a couple tough years. And during times of challenge, it's not always easy to consider what we have to be thankful for.

Our 60-minute, complimentary webinar, Rebooting Communications: Creating Your Path Forward Communication Plan 2.0, is returning September 15th and 16th.

During the sessions in August, my colleague David Wright and I talked with attendees on a number of topics, including:

Sessions Kick Off Tomorrow – Register Today
Rebooting Communications: Creating Your Path Forward Communication Plan 2.0

Communicators (and their leaders) have risen to the challenge during COVID-19 and in response to job losses and social unrest by pivoting quickly to address urgent needs, reprioritizing and doing things in a different way.

These unexpected events give us a rare opportunity to take the lessons of this year, reevaluate our programs and practices and rethink the way we approach communication to deliver even greater value and drive employee engagement for the long-term.

Starting tomorrow, join the team of experts from The Grossman Group in this
60-minute webinar to:

The world – and business – have changed significantly in 2020. Communicators have risen to the challenge during COVID-19 and in response to job losses, social unrest and other issues by pivoting quickly to address urgent needs, reprioritizing and doing things in a different way. These unexpected events give us a rare opportunity to take the lessons of this year, reevaluate our programs and practices and rethink the way we approach communication to deliver even greater value and drive employee engagement, now and in the long term.

I often talk with leaders about the power in asking, “How can I help?” 

It’s in that spirit that we’ve been thinking, too, about how we can help as we move through these uncertain and challenging times. And at the same time give back.

Part of our experience and expertise is about helping leaders lead and communicate in a courageous, thoughtful and helpful way.

So, we’ve packaged what’s most helpful for leaders in these uncertain times into a FREE webinar. 

I’ll cover topics like how to:

As we begin the new year, we wanted to take a moment to look back and see what resonated most with you – our readers – in 2019. The past year was full of fascinating topics, and I thought now was a great time to reflect back on some of the most popular posts, recapping the best leadership and communication articles of 2019.

If you’re like a lot of leaders I know, you’re constantly looking for ideas to make your next town hall feel more exciting and inspiring for employees. And that’s a good instinct. The truth is that many companies are long overdue for a town hall makeover.

Sometimes leaders even acknowledge this reality to me, but still feel too pressed for time and resources to make the necessary changes to their regular “all hands” meetings, which typically occur once per quarter or once annually. After all, the traditional script, audio and/or video presentation is easy enough to pull off. Some wonder if it really matters all that much to do more than that.

Starting to think about what book(s) to read over the holidays? The senior thought partners here at The Grossman Group and I shared a few of our favorite books on leadership, communication, personal development, business or just an all-around good book that resonated with us. Find out what some of us have been reading (in alphabetical order under each category) and our thoughts on each one.