2009 April | Write Speak Sell

Archive for April, 2009

Apr

Communicating With Passion

Posted by: Jeannette Paladino | Comments (0)

Whenever change permeates a big company, resistance is inevitable. The announcement of change itself raises anxiety levels, creates doubts in employees’ minds, and makes them feel vulnerable and uncertain. And it raises serious questions:

•    What will this mean for me?
•    If I must operate differently, am I up to it?
•    Do I really believe what I’m hearing about the future of the company?

Sound leadership and a clear vision are required to answer these questions. Straightforward communication is essential to calm fears and build support for change. But most important, the CEO’s honest passion and belief in the vision will inspire people to follow.

Imagine if Martin Luther King Jr. had stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial and said, “I have a business strategy.” King didn’t do that. He said, “I have a dream,” and showed us what his dream was, his picture of the future.

You get more people to change by showing them something that affects their feelings than with a detailed factual analysis.

It takes passion to break out of habits. Ask dieters.

Categories : Motivation

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Apr

Domino’s Pizza — a Classic Failure in Crisis Communications

Posted by: Jeannette Paladino | Comments (2)

This morning’s newspapers were filled with stories about two Domino’s Pizza employees videotaping a prank in which they do pretty disgusting things to a pizza they were preparing for delivery. They put the video up on YouTube and the rest is history. The viral community swiftly carried the story to a world-wide audience eager to spread the dirty word about Domino’s. Too late, the company realized that the traditional response — send out a press release and hope for the best wasn’t going to work. This is the lesson they learned.

The company has since opened an account at Twitter and the comments are beginning to turn positive. But the damage to the company’s reputation will take a long time to heal. And the company still isn’t using all the viral tools at its disposal — at the writing of this post, the company had nothing on its corporate website to reassure its customers nor a link to its Twitter account. This may be a calculated decision, but they need to be in control of the message. It is naive to think that customers and investors aren’t online getting the most up-to-date commentary on the crisis. Shouldn’t the company’s official website be carrying the key messages the company wants to communicate?

Did Domino’s have a crisis communications plan in place for this kind of event? As a company in the food business, didn’t they know that the potential for bad news — food contamination high among them — could turn into a reality they would need to address?

Savvy companies will stay tuned into the viral community 24/7 and be ready to respond at the speed of light — which is the speed at which news about a company circles the universe.

Categories : Communications Strategy

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Apr

The CEO as the Chief Communication Champion

Posted by: Jeannette Paladino | Comments (0)

The shadow of a leader – meaning the impact an executive has on his or her employees – is always bigger than you think. This is especially true when it comes to trust and believability in internal communications. For internal communications to be meaningful, it is important for executives to lead by example: “Don’t just do as I say, do as I behave.” In addition, employees in most companies are craving leadership – they want champions they can trust to lead them in new directions.

The CEO must also be the CCC – Chief Communication Champion of the company. S/he needs to ensure that other executives are truly leading the development of a Culture of Communication – meaning that all corporate communications are reliable, truthful and contain the full story. The CCC needs to establish a Champion Program with rewards and incentives to instill new behaviors. A healthy two-way communication culture will lead to better performance. For the Champion Program to succeed, it must ensure that:

• The CEO is the visible leader of corporate communications

• Executive behavior in support of positive communication is rewarded

• Communications ambassadors are created at all levels of company

During bad times – such as layoffs, a hostile takeover, a product recall – those CEOs who are truly CCCs will have already gained the trust and commitment of employees to work through any crisis.

Categories : Employee Engagement