Internal Communications: To Get to the Heart, Start from the Top
For me, the objective for employee and executive communications is to get the inspiration from the heart of the leader into the hearts of the employees that are, after all, the lifeblood of any organization. The communication should be frequent, transparent, and bi-directional. In addition, it should be repetitious, redundant and served up through a variety of formats just in case somebody missed it the first and second time it was presented (and yes, I am being redundant).
Here are links to two employee communications I crafted that feature executive talk tracks.
Beyond the written word, I believe in the communications value of the CEO video, the employee town hall and in walk-around management. The more contact the better, for when employees can hear the conviction in a leader’s voice and see the spark in his or her eyes, that’s when the best communication results.
Call me old school, but I believe in leadership from the top. Much has been said about networked organizations and how “everyone” is a leader, but I believe that deep down, people enjoy being led by a strong, fair, compassionate visionary who can drive an organization to meet its goals. I enjoy nothing more than helping just such a leader succeed.