I often return to an experience from my work with a leadership team supporting a newly appointed chief executive. Before the CEO’s first address to staff, there was considerable pressure to use the opportunity to explain everything that would happen next. New priorities, structural decisions, operating changes, and unanswered questions all competed for space in the message.
During our preparation, the CEO chose a different approach. Rather than trying to answer every question, the focus was on three things that required the CEO’s voice: what they had heard since arriving, where the organization needed to go, and the principles that would guide decisions in the months ahead. In the weeks that followed, managers were already using the three points to frame their own team conversations, which told me the message had given them something to build on.
Some of the most important decisions are made before the leader begins to speak.
Executive Communication Begins With Purpose
A message becomes less effective when it tries to do too many jobs at once. The CEO can explain the direction. Managers and functional leaders can then explain what it means for individual teams and how the work changes. Compressing all of that into one message usually creates more complexity than clarity.
In this case, the address worked because there was a clear view of what needed the CEO’s voice and what belonged elsewhere. People rarely judge a message by how much information it contains. They are trying to make sense of what matters, what deserves attention, and how leadership is thinking about the future.
As I explored in my article on what people actually take away from organizational communication, leadership teams can become so familiar with their own thinking that they assume others see the same picture.
Preparing the Conversations That Follow
An address like this rarely works in isolation. People leave with questions. Managers then begin helping teams interpret what the message means in practice. Functional leaders provide the detail that would have distracted from the executive communication if it had been included from the start. This matches what I see during organizational change: people make sense of significant change through a series of conversations rather than a single announcement.
The strongest addresses account for this from the start. They establish direction while creating the conditions for understanding to develop afterwards. Managers, functional leaders, and teams all contribute to how people ultimately understand a decision, which means preparation has to extend beyond the message itself.
Leaders need to consider the conversations that will follow, the questions people are likely to ask, and who is best placed to answer them. Before an important communication, leaders should be able to answer three questions:
- Why does this message require my voice?
- What does this audience need to understand from me?
- How will the conversation continue after I have spoken?
Strengthen Your Executive Communication
High-stakes communication requires leaders to make careful decisions about what the moment needs from them and what only they can provide. When those choices are clear, the executive’s voice can provide direction while the wider organization supplies the detail and follow-through people need.
If you are preparing for a consequential leadership conversation or strengthening communication across your executive team, I’d welcome the conversation. Explore Executive Advisory and Coaching or contact Funke Olufon to start a conversation.
