With communication formats and technologies evolving rapidly, businesses should revisit timeless storytelling principles from thought leaders. These strategies strengthen engagement through personalized, persuasive stories.
Scroll through the carousel above to see six that relate to the goal of deepening engagement with personalized stories.
The SIERA storytelling technique, introduced by Dechert-Hampe in 1965, is a structured framework that is widely recognized as a tool that helps sales and marketing professionals craft compelling narratives.
It is popular in these areas because it marries storytelling with persuasion, ensuring that the narrative is effective in driving business outcomes.
SIERA is an acronym for the five structural elements in its logic flow:
This structure translates to a five-step process that encourages clarity and brevity, is solution-focused, combines logical and emotional appeal and drives action.
It is applicable to all kinds of business and personal communications.
Click through the overview above to get a feel for how it works.
The Blue Angels are the United States Navy’s flight demonstration squadron, famous for their awe-inspiring aerial displays that showcase unparalleled precision and teamwork. Established in 1946, they travel across the country enthralling millions of spectators yearly. Their signature strengths include exacting choreography, razor-sharp reflexes, and a deep-rooted culture of trust—qualities forged through rigorous practice and meticulous communication.
Imagine you’re part of the Blue Angels team, hurtling through the air in tight formation at near-supersonic speeds. Every breathtaking maneuver depends on crystal-clear signals between pilots. One misheard instruction or delayed response can result in failure. Now, picture a CEO steering a critical merger or acquisition (M&A) or major transformation. While several factors—regulatory, financial, market conditions—can influence the outcome, clear, consistent, and strategic communication is the linchpin that holds everything together.
Modern M&A activity is on the rise—Goldman Sachs projects a 20% global increase, and EY-Parthenon forecasts a 10% uptick in U.S. deal volume. In this environment, even the most promising deals can unravel if executives fail to communicate effectively with employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, and the broader market. Indeed, poor internal and external communication often morphs into morale issues, stakeholder misalignment, and damaging public perceptions—all of which can sabotage an otherwise smart acquisition or merger.
Blue Angels pilots fly in such close formation that even a minor directional change must be understood and acted upon by the entire squadron. In M&A, the equivalent is message alignment: every internal and external statement—from the C-suite to frontline managers—must echo a cohesive narrative.
Share a Clear Vision: M&A often sparks anxiety. Employees and partners want to know why the deal is happening and how it benefits them.
Consistent External Narrative: Allowing the media, competitors, or rumor mills to shape the public’s view of the merger is risky. A synchronized, proactive communication campaign builds credibility with investors, customers, and the public.
Reinforce Internally First: In today’s social media–driven world, your employees are brand ambassadors—whether you want them to be or not. Keep them well-informed, so they share accurate, supportive messages with their networks.
When Sprint acquired Nextel in 2005, mismatched networks were problematic—but so was the lack of a clear, unified story. Employees and customers alike were confused about what the merged entity stood for. This disarray manifested in high customer churn and internal friction. A coordinated communication plan—one that acknowledged network and brand differences, then offered a compelling integration roadmap—could have blunted the confusion.
It might surprise you that Blue Angels pilots do not inspect the underside of their plane once before a flight—they trust the ground crew and Navy processes implicitly. In M&A, that trust must span all stakeholders, from due diligence teams to newly integrated workforces.
Transparent Leadership: Leaders must openly communicate deal objectives, key milestones, and potential challenges. Hidden agendas or sugar-coated updates can backfire, immediately eroding trust.
Two-Way Dialogue: True trust isn’t top-down; employees and partners need channels to ask questions and voice concerns. This inclusivity prevents small issues from festering into major morale problems.
Protecting Employee Engagement: SHRM’s recent surveys show that employees who feel micromanaged—or left in the dark—are 28% more likely to leave. High attrition during an integration can cripple productivity and create negative market perceptions.
Billed as a “merger of equals” in 1998, Daimler/Chrysler quickly crumbled under mistrust born of stark cultural differences. Resentment swelled when employees felt they weren’t being heard about critical decisions. By proactively embracing cultural dialogues and inviting feedback, leadership could have bridged the gap in values and management styles, possibly preserving the merger’s original promise.
The Blue Angels walk onto the tarmac in near-perfect unison, a testament to the shared culture that underlies their precision. For merging companies, culture clashes are a top reason deals falter—often due to ineffective communication about how (and why) cultures should blend.
Identify Cultural Flashpoints: Whether it’s risk tolerance, hierarchy, or informal norms, pinpoint where each organization’s culture might clash.
Rituals & Symbols: Shared rituals (like new recognition programs or cross-team brainstorming sessions) unify disparate workforces. Communicating the “why” behind these initiatives makes them far more effective.
Demonstrate Commitment: Public statements, consistent actions by leadership, and frequent updates show employees that cultural integration isn’t just a tagline—it’s a top priority.
Quaker Oats’ purchase of Snapple in 1994 overlooked Snapple’s grassroots distribution and quirky brand persona—an integral part of its culture. A top-down approach destroyed relationships with local distributors and alienated loyal customers. Had Quaker clearly communicated how it planned to preserve Snapple’s unique identity—while still leveraging broader marketing channels—the brand might have flourished. The fallout was a massive financial loss, and the merger cost the chairperson and president of Quaker their jobs.
Like the Blue Angels debriefs that dissect every maneuver, M&A success hinges on meticulous communication at each step. This includes due diligence, integration planning, post-merger reviews, and stakeholder engagement.
Due Diligence Transparency: Outline the assessment process (financial, cultural, operational) for relevant audiences. If employees sense hidden agendas, they’ll assume the worst.
Phased Rollouts: Breaking down integration tasks—systems consolidation, brand alignment, role changes—into clear phases demystifies the process. Publicize each phase so everyone knows the roadmap.
Continuous Feedback Loops: Like a Blue Angels post-flight critique, frequent feedback sessions help leaders course-correct swiftly. This iterative approach to communication fosters confidence that the deal remains on track.
In 2022, Discovery merged with WarnerMedia to form Warner Bros. Discovery, but the rollout of new streaming strategies, program cancellations, and layoffs felt haphazard to many. The resulting confusion signaled weak internal and external communication. Employees feared for their roles and brand identity took a public hit. A clear, phased plan—communicated consistently—would have calmed anxieties and reinforced faith in the merger’s strategic vision.
After every flight, Blue Angels pilots highlight their own mistakes first. This culture of humility sets the tone for continuous improvement. In M&A, executives must similarly own the narrative around challenges or missteps to preserve trust.
Own the Tough Calls: If layoffs or major restructurings are part of the deal, be open about the reasons. Sugarcoating or delaying the news fuels rumors and worsens morale.
Invite Feedback: Employees who feel safe pointing out blind spots can save the company from bigger problems later.
Guard the Brand: In a hyper-connected media landscape, silence or evasive messaging can quickly become negative headlines on social media and news outlets. Communicate with empathy and clarity to maintain corporate reputation.
Thanks to the plurality of media platforms, any gap in official messaging will be filled by someone else—sometimes inaccurately or maliciously. Today’s M&A communication strategy requires active management of multiple channels:
Social Media Readiness: Monitor platforms where employees and customers share opinions. Promptly correct misinformation and respond to legitimate concerns. Be hyper-responsive.
Internal Communications as Advocacy: Well-informed employees are your best advocates. Underestimate internal communications at your peril—especially during major transitions.
Coordinated Brand Messaging: Make sure PR, investor relations, and HR teams sing from the same songbook. Consistency helps the organization avoid conflicting narratives that fuel skepticism.
When navigating the complexities of mergers and acquisitions, the level of precision and clarity required mirrors that of the Blue Angels executing flawless aerial maneuvers. Just as each pilot relies on coordinated signals to maintain formation at breakneck speeds, M&A leaders must foster transparent communication and open dialogue to build trust and ensure seamless integration. By setting clear objectives and establishing continuous, two-way channels for feedback, organizations can transform potential challenges into coordinated success. Embracing this disciplined communication approach empowers teams to move as one, enabling the entire organization to soar with the precision and unity of the Blue Angels.
In both an aerial demonstration and a high-stakes merger, the margin for error is razor-thin. The Blue Angels count on impeccable communication—every command, every formation shift, every post-flight critique—to synchronize actions and maintain trust. In M&A, communication is just as critical, forming the bedrock for:
While financials, markets, and regulations matter, many M&A breakdowns trace back to communication missteps. When executives prioritize strong communication, they create the conditions for seamless integration, sustained morale, and positive public perception. Like the Blue Angels at an airshow, when your M&A communication soars, the entire enterprise can rise with it.
When senior executives begin to craft their remarks for National Sales Meetings and other high-stakes events, their broad goals are generally to foster confidence and pride, build teams and promote embrace of, and engagement in, strategies and/or initiatives.
One of the most effective disciplines many accomplished executives use to achieve those goals is to define them as specifically as possible – essentially, to start at the end:
From that starting point, developing an engaging, effective speech is a matter of following a proven roadmap that based on a clear thought process before you start writing:
Identify their needs, challenges, and aspirations. What motivates them? What concerns might they have about the business or their roles? Reflect on their shared experiences – both successes and struggles – to make the content relatable and authentic.
Clarify the primary objective of the speech: Is it to inspire, inform, celebrate, or set direction? Typically, a National Sales Meeting speech should do all of these, but prioritize based on the current business context.
Decide on 3-4 core messages the audience should remember. These messages should align with the broader organizational goals and be actionable.
Ensure the speech provides intellectual clarity (Think), emotional resonance (Feel), and actionable motivation (Do). All three elements should be integrated throughout.
Use storytelling techniques to make the speech memorable and human. Stories should highlight challenges overcome, lessons learned, or key wins tied to the speech’s themes.
Consider how visuals will complement the speech. Slides should emphasize key points without overwhelming the audience using imagery, minimal text, and clear and simple data representation.
For National Sales Meetings, a typical senior executive speech lasts about 20 minutes. Depending on the circumstances, that can feel like an eternity or a blip. But if you follow this Roadmap, it will feel just right. Note that this Roadmap outlines messaging related to “Think” and “Feel” for all elements, but leaves the “Do” for elements that embody a specific call to action.
Open with a surprising fact, bold statement, or industry insight to engage the audience intellectually.
Example: “Did you know that 80% of our revenue this year came from just 20% of our customers? This insight is changing how we go to market.”
Share a personal or team story that establishes connection and pride.
Example: “Last year, I watched our Southeast team navigate a customer crisis with grace, turning it into a record-breaking opportunity. That’s the spirit of this organization.”
Provide a roadmap of the speech, setting expectations for the audience.
Example: “We’ll celebrate our successes, confront our challenges, and align on a bold vision for the future.”
Present data or achievements that validate the team’s efforts. Use visuals to emphasize progress. Example: “In the past year, we grew revenue by XX% and expanded into a new product category. Here’s how each team contributed to that success.”
Highlight stories that resonate emotionally, recognizing individual or team achievements. Example: “Let’s take a moment to acknowledge Jamie’s leadership in creating one of the most successful promotions in company history. It’s stories like these that show the power of creative persistence.”
Explain the current landscape—both opportunities and challenges. Help the audience understand the strategic priorities. Example: “Today’s customers expect not just products, but solutions that build their business. That’s why we’re enhancing our cross functional consultative sales training.”
Use relatable anecdotes or observations to connect emotionally. Example: “I know it’s tough to hear, but every conversation builds trust. And trust drives results.”
Present a clear and compelling vision for the future, supported by data and logical steps. Example: “Over the next 12 months, our goal is to increase market share by X%. Here’s how we’ll do it—together.”
Create excitement by describing what success will look and feel like. Example: “Imagine standing here next year, celebrating the best year this company has ever seen because of what we accomplished together.”
Issue a specific, actionable challenge. Example: “Going forward this year, I challenge each of you to recommend consultative solutions to our customers that will build their business and ours. Let’s see what’s possible when we take bold action.”
Reinforce the main messages in a concise, memorable way. Example: “We’ve reflected on the past, assessed where we are today, and set a vision for the future. Now it’s time to act.”
Share a final, inspiring story or quote that leaves the audience with pride and energy. Example: “A customer once told me, ‘You don’t just sell products—you solve problems.’ That’s the legacy we’re building together.”
Conclude with a clear and motivating call to action. Example: “Let’s take that first step today. Together, we’ll write the next chapter of our success story.”
Use a final slide with a bold statement, such as “Together, we win!” or “Let’s make history!” to reinforce the call to action. (Do)
Practice timing, tone and transitions, and double-check (walk through) visuals and tech readiness at on-stage rehearsal.
Use rhetorical questions or quick interactive moments to maintain energy.
Speak from the heart and connect on a human level.
The “Think, Feel, Do” construct is foundational to our approach.
The guidelines we’ve discussed here are based on our experience working with senior executives to produce impactful presentations and the communication campaigns around them. We think of meetings as inflection points that can kick off a step-change in how companies operate, implement initiatives and build their cultures and communities.
Meetings can be the action points in a holistic, year-round continuum of face-to-face and virtual touch points in a hybrid work world, if they are designed to powerfully drive your vision, map your strategy, foster your culture and deliver shared experiences that build teams and inspire action.
When you’re planning a high-stakes corporate gathering, whether it’s a leadership summit, management conference or national sales meeting, it’s natural to focus intensely on the event itself. It’s a big project that requires a big investment in money and time.
But none of these takes place in a vacuum, and the most successful meetings are those that achieve specific goals within a continuum of contacts and conversations. From our experience, the right kinds of pre- during- and post-event communications can transform the gathering from a transient event into the centerpiece of a larger campaign.
Meeting-related communications generally begin 3-4 weeks before the event with what is generally referred to as a “pre-read” or, even better, a “pre-watch or listen”, which incorporates video or podcast-like audio. Their depth, purposes and calls to action will vary, but in general, focus on what the attendees should know and do to optimize the time they will spend in the meeting itself.
Pre-event communications should enable attendees to do any preparation they can and should do to participate in the meeting at a high level and add value to it. The objectives of these communications could include:
Strong themes are often carried forward from year to year to maintain focus and consistency. After all, corporate messaging landscapes don’t need more themes; lesser ones are quickly forgotten while strong ones unify the message across the communication continuum.
Developing a theme can be daunting; the possibilities are endless, and it can be hard to know where to start. In our work, we’ve used specific processes, guidelines and disciplines to develop themes, in very close collaboration with our clients, who generally have a good feel for what will resonate with their audience overall and, where necessary, with specific teams or audience segments.
The value of a process-driven approach is that it helps organize the creative “riffing” and keep it focused. Theme development can be a very stream of consciousness-driven exercise, and often involves alternate variations on core themes.
As a beginning step, we often consider the two highest-level categories, and then organize our explorations within them:
A theme may embody the main takeaway that reflects the purpose of not just the event, but its business purpose. That’s usually defined by the classic “Think/Feel/Do” exercise that defines the desired outcome of the effort.
Content-related themes can take different forms:
In some cases, a theme may be simply about the event itself. This is usually done to position it as exceptionally special. It may refer to the event itself and/or the location that people can look forward to, immerse themselves in, and look back on. There are countless reference websites with long lists of meeting themes. These are often generic but can still be meaningful when presented within the context of the event or circumstances around it.
Delivering functional details about the event
Finally, pre-meeting communications can provide so-called, “know before you go” information such as when and where it will be, what’s on the agenda, what travel and accommodation arrangements are or need to be made, and other nuts ‘n bolts information. That information may be packaged within the context of the theme.
One of the most transformative components of in-person meetings is the ability to engage with attendees virtually even when there are no sessions taking place. Not all messages need to be delivered from the stage.
Other messaging platforms include:
These days, we almost always use apps, either custom developed or off-the-shelf, to facilitate interaction such as polling or inviting questions and comments.
We often say that the most important part of any meeting is what happens the day after it ends. For sales meetings, that’s generally a matter of how well the sales team executes the strategies and plans discussed at the meeting. For leadership and management meetings, the desired outcomes may be more complex and nuanced.
But in all cases, the point of post-meeting communications is to continue nurturing the sense of community that meetings help build by keeping people connected, informed, recognized and empowered.
Those dynamics come to life through a cascade campaign that reaches across roles, geographies and business units. A typical post-meeting cascade from leaders to managers to teams and individuals might include:
Using collaboration tools such as SharePoint or Teams, and through a regular cadence of meetings to keep everyone engaged and provide updates, facilitates recognition of specific individuals and achievements, promotes “ambassadorships” among the ranks and helps equip the messengers who are responsible for cascading and implementing strategies and tactics within their areas of authority.
We think of meetings as inflection points that can kick off a step-change in how companies operate, implement initiatives and build their cultures and communities. From our experience, the most successful meetings are those that achieve specific goals within a continuum of contacts and conversations – before, during and after the event.
As a business communications agency, we focus on meetings as the action points in a holistic, year-round continuum of face-to-face and virtual touch points in a hybrid work world. We design them to powerfully drive your vision, map your strategy, foster your culture and deliver shared experiences that build teams and inspire action.
To see samples of our work, visit our website’s Meetings & Events Page.
It wasn’t long ago that experiential marketing was a novelty. No more…according to the data.
It’s now a rapidly growing phenomenon. Businesses of all kinds are investing in customer collaboration centers, immersive conference experiences, experiential road shows and VR/AR/AI experiences.
Experiential B2B customer co-creation centers are increasingly integral to B2B strategies. Also called collaboration centers, executive briefing centers, innovation hubs or insight centers, they have surged in popularity post-pandemic, as businesses and clients value visceral, must-be-there experiences after years of virtual-only meetings. (Gensler)
Notable examples include:
A customer co-creation center can yield multifaceted benefits – growing sales, curating the customer base, enriching the employee experience, and even jump-starting workplace culture. (Gensler) Industry observers note that EBCs are now “one of the hottest subjects” in corporate real estate strategy due to this focus on experience-driven engagement. (Work Design)
Sales–Marketing alignment is top-of-mind for enterprise B2B organizations in 2025.
In a recent survey of North American go-to-market leaders, 52% named strengthening marketing, sales, and customer success alignment as their top priority for the year. (Source: MarketingProfs)
This focus is well-founded. For example, a recent study found that fully aligned teams are 60% more likely to hit their revenue goals (80% success rate vs. ~50% when misaligned). (Source: CMSWire)
Moreover, a recent Forrester study concludes that traditional sales and marketing alignment is going to be derailed as the landscape of B2B marketing and sales is being reshaped by technological advancements, changing buyer behaviors, and evolving business models. That research unveiled four future paradigms (siloed, assimilated, subservient, and proportionate) that will govern the relationship between marketing and sales functions within B2B organizations, each of which has pros and cons.
The challenges fall into four categories: Organization Silos and Culture, Communication Gaps, Misaligned Metrics and Incentives, and Different Views of the Customer. All are addressable. In 2025, B2B enterprises are tackling silos and misalignment head-on by adopting new strategies, technologies, and organizational models.
Here are ten emerging trends we’ve helped support as companies advance the alignment of their Sales and Marketing teams evolve to meet the challenges of a changing B2B landscape.
After laboring endlessly over your website design, spending countless hours carefully understanding your customer persona and carefully selecting keywords that will drive SEO to alert your target that you exist — the moment of truth arrives. A viewer, who you hope will become a prospect, clicks on your link and arrives on your landing page. What kind of experience they have in the first 5 – 15 seconds will likely determine whether they ever go any further.
“What?!? All that work will be judged in 15 seconds? That’s all the time I get to tell my story?!?”
Yes. But guess what, this is not new. As business people we have always had an incredibly narrow window to make a first impression with a prospective customer of client. Many experts say that a potential employer (or customer) forms an initial impression of a candidate within the first ten seconds of seeing them. Sometimes before the person even opens their mouth. And those first impressions are only altered in a remarkably small percentage of instances.
“So what’s all that got to do with my landing page and website design?”
Your landing page is the digital equivalent of that first impression. Assuming you get past the initial visual inspection, you still have a very short while to engage the prospect with a clear understanding of your business proposition and what it will do to make them more successful. In the analog world this is called your “elevator pitch”. The idea is to write a script in your head that you could deliver in a five story elevator ride — one that would leave a stranger with a clear idea of who you are, what you do and why it might be beneficial to them.
One exercise used to create the elevator pitch is to write down your story on a 3×5 index card. And only one thought or bridge phrase per line on the card — NO CHEATING. (OK, you might have to go to the office supply store to buy index cards — you probably don’t use them any more. But it will be a dollar well-spent.)
Still interested in knowing what all that has to do with your landing page? Check out this article from Target Internet to find out.
These are times of profound change for employees everywhere. With new work paradigms like remote and hybrid work to the emergence of AI and gig employment, they’re grappling with more unsettling work issues than ever.
One thing is certain about organizational change: it is inevitable. It may come at you externally as something disrupts your market or upends the assumptions you hold. Or it may come not at you, but from you, as you devise your strategies for growth in an evolving business landscape. Whatever the circumstance, you have a real communication challenge ahead of you. Organizational change is rarely successful unless everyone is on board with it – receptive to change and willing to embrace it.
There’s no shortage of advice on this subject, and most of it is consistent across the board.
Having often helped large organizations conduct successful change management communications, we’ve seen how these guidelines, properly used, can help make transitions work successfully. We’ve worked with Corporate Communications, HR and change management specialists to tick off the finer points of execution, like making sure to take their organizations’ cultures and extended networks of relationships into account.
When change occurs, everyone is somewhere on the Change Curve.
As a basis for our approach, we lean toward a popular tool called the Change Curve. Adapted in different ways over time from a platform originally developed by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, the Change Curve is often a good starting point for planning to successful change management communications.
This is particularly true when the change is negative, but even positive change can affect some employees negatively. For example, when new processes are implemented, they require moving out of comfort zones and changing habits developed over many years. And when a merger or acquisition occurs, some duplicated jobs are eliminated. The resulting stress is not limited to those who are let go; it can be stressful for the survivors, who may be losing work friends, may be unsure of their roles going forward, and may even be alarmed to glimpse the reality of employment “mortality”.
The model we use most often charts motivation and performance against time, which is broken down into three stages: Endings, Transitions and New Beginnings.
What does great Change Communications look like? There’s no one formula, but we can say that it looks empathetic and personal. In a word, it looks human.
It also looks well-placed to be well-received. It comes from a place where people’s concerns are known, and their voices heard. It recognizes and addresses incorrect and incomplete information, rumors, and conjectures.
But for all the ways Change Communication is always the same, it is different in every case. Corporate cultures are different. Past histories are different. And whatever the change is, it is unique to each company.
To demonstrate, here are three examples from our own experience over the last twenty years.
A global manufacturer’s national sales meeting of about 300 hundred employees was taking place right after a reorganization. Recognizing the pervasive unease, the VP of Sales decided to forego the usual “pump ‘em up” opening. Instead, he arranged for the first two rows of chairs to be left empty, and he walked on the stage without the fanfare that would typically open a sales meeting.
He opened by telling the group that he understood how they felt. Sad. Uncertain. Scared. He talked with open, heartfelt sorrow about the leadership team’s distress over having to let good people go, and outlined what they had done to help those folks. (This happens to be a great company that takes very good care of its employees, and did so in this instance.)
In short, he validated their feelings. But then he helped them move on, explaining the three stages of the Change Curve and assuring them that together, they would all reach Stages 2 and 3, and come out stronger in the end.
With that, he asked everyone in the room to advance one row, representing the first step – the Transition Stage. The front row remained open, representing the promise of Stage 3 – New Beginnings. And at that moment, everyone in the room was moved and motivated to learn what’s next and what their respective roles would be.
In this instance, the company, a global services firm, had suffered a highly-publicized negative incident in one particular business unit, as the result of improper actions by a few individuals. The impact was felt not just in that unit, but by all employees in all business units. They valued the company name and were horrified to see it associated with wrongdoing. Many talented employees began looking for other jobs.
The leadership team took appropriate action to address the transgressions, but recognized that such a remedial action, while necessary and positive, would not be enough to restore its employees’ belief in the company. And so it committed to a plan to address the issue head-on, with substantive procedural changes and a communication campaign that began immediately and continued through the rollout of the new processes.
Recognizing that its employees were at the early stages of the Change Curve, the campaign was built from the point of view that the company’s employees defined themselves as professionals by the benefits they provide to their customers. This priceless understanding would prove to be the key to the company’s rebound. It began with a video that gave voice to employees’ concerns, expressed as a function of their self-esteem and professional pride.
Meanwhile, the company developed a system of fail-safe processes to help prevent improper actions, whether intentional or inadvertent. This is where the disciplines of great Change Communications was critical. The temptation is always there to launch with a stern warning that the process must be followed, and that there would be zero tolerance for failure to do so.
But the launch of that control system was heralded not as a punitive or restrictive measure, but rather as a mechanism for shared assurance for all employees that nothing would get in the way of their being able to provide valuable services to their customers. It was clear that compliance was mandatory, but the presentation turned what could have been perceived as a burden born of distrust into an expression of shared noble purpose – doing the right thing for every customer. It was assurance for all that the kinds of actions that caused the trouble could never happen again.
And it never has. Employees did embrace the control system, the expanding exodus of talent was stopped in its tracks, and the company was able to move on to regain its growth track.
Sometimes, the most important factor in cascading change through an organization is to emphasize that the change is not so much in the company’s strategy as in the way the company talks about the strategy.
This was the case in one engagement. The company had been through a rough patch, and a new leadership team had developed a strategy that began to turn it around. Then, based on insights gained from the initial rollout period, the team decided to make a few adjustments to accelerate growth, make operations more efficient and provide a better experience for customers.
One of those adjustments was to revise the company’s communications about its strategy. The existing strategy was described in relatively granular terms. Over the course of several months, a committee of leaders worked to distill the strategy down and to express it in a much more succinct way that would be instantly clear and memorable.
The internal communications team made a conscious decision not to hype or oversell the updated strategy. Employees were getting into a productive groove, and might be unsettled by a major overhaul. A lighter touch, they concluded, would be more credible.
So the launch was what could be called, “Change Management Light”. It celebrated the existing strategy and the employees around the world who had helped make it successful, and presented the updated strategy as a refresh of its presentation – simpler, more accessible and more memorable. In particular, the refined expression of the strategy’s objective and goal helped crystallize the company’s vision and made it easier for employees to engage in it.
What lessons can we glean from these stories? In all three of these cases, the leaders met their employees with empathy and respect. They actively sought to understand and acknowledge what their employees were feeling. And where some might have adopted a command-and-control approach, these leaders chose a care-and-engage approach.
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