The bulk of my professional experience stems from working within Fortune 250 corporations, and from collaborating directly with executives and the other leaders and employees within their respective business or support units. Administration, finance, human resources, legal, information technology, marketing, sales, service—my teams supported all of these areas, and more.
What proved most challenging, communication-wise, when working cross-functionally? You might have guessed: mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures. Sure, rolling out new products or services was sometimes tough. But, most of those efforts involve leaders and teams who already know and trust one another. The sense of relationship that’s already in place helps provide some degree of mutual trust and cooperation. That’s not at all the case when it comes to merger, acquisition, or joint venture.
Want to witness people being really on-edge? Start working on a merger, acquisition, or joint venture behind closed doors, and observe how your fellow leaders, and especially those of the other organization, respond. Change rattles even the best of leaders, especially when that change might impact them personally. Negotiating for power, control, and longevity only exacerbates these nerves.
Having spent so many years in the financial industry, I have worked on more mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures than I can recall. One particular experience sticks out more than any other memory, though. You will quickly appreciate the leadership lesson.
The acquisition in question was to be announced later in the week, and had been in a confidential planning process for months. Less than 48 hours before the internal and external announcements, which were to be closely synchronized, an urgent conference call for the members of the project leadership team was held. The senior sales and marketing executives within the company to be acquired were threatening to inform key vendors and mid-level managers on their side in advance of the announcement, or even convince their chief executive to pull their company out of the deal altogether. They used this leverage to force a midnight-hour renegotiation of compensation terms for themselves and their management teams, which inevitably opened the door to a host of further short- and long-term ripple effects, some of which had been planned for as contingencies, but many of which could not be remediated on such short order. Literally tens of thousands of dollars were burned in the final hours, as both parties scrambled to protect turf. Meanwhile, suspicion grew among employees in both organizations, and among members of the trade media and the investment community. Ultimately, the deal came together, but not without significant financial and reputational impact.
The reality is that this unnecessary situation was an ego play by a few irresponsible leaders of the company to be acquired. They were not leading with values. Key leaders from both companies had been involved in the due diligence and change management processes for months, all under signed confidentiality agreements. Values and principles had been clearly articulated at the outset. What changed in those final hours had nothing to do with value-based concerns.
From a communication perspective, we managed through this difficult situation as best we could, striving to be as accessible, responsive, and transparent as possible with managers, supervisors, employees, contractors, and other key stakeholders. The lesson, though, is that communication can only be as effective and responsible as the leaders involved. They set the tone. Likewise, you set the tone within your organization. Be upfront. Don’t have hidden agendas. Never let power go to your head; people’s lives and livelihood are at stake.
Take ART to heart: stay Accessible, Responsive, and Transparent. Your role, as a leader and a responsible communicator, is to empower others to help lead, regardless of their rank or title. Pontefract (2013), author of Flat Army: Creating a Connected and Engaged Organization, explains the modern leadership role this way: “Asking questions, involving people, connecting them to each other, creating a platform for their insights and ideas to make real impact—in other words, unleashing leadership behavior everywhere.”
As a leader, you have a responsibility to voice your values early and often—and every right to speak up when things don’t seem fair or right. But, how much your personal wallet will be padded isn’t a question of organizational values. There should be a higher calling, or at least a more altruistic purpose.
Most companies these days have clearly defined codes of ethics and/or principles (Murphy 2005). These documents mean nothing, though, if leaders do not take ownership and take these values to heart, through their daily words and actions. As a leader, you sign on to be involved in tough decisions, and to understand that your role is to move the organization, and not your personal agenda, forward.
What you do and how you act, particularly on issues and initiatives that are not yet employee or public knowledge, is pivotal. Gentile (2010) makes note in her book, Giving Voice to Values, of many things within our control that make it easier to speak and act on our values. Consider a few of these key factors:
• Start with questions rather than assertions.
• Secure more information to better inform your viewpoint.
• Appeal to shared purpose and values.
• Accept that managing conflict is simply part of a leader’s job.
• Take difficult conversations offline, one-on-one, at a mutually convenient time and place.
• Enlist allies.
• Find win-win solutions.
What I know from the acquisition described earlier is that there would have been a much better way for the sales and marketing executives to conduct themselves. They could have asked more questions, rather than make assertions. They could have appealed to a shared purpose and values. They could have proposed a win-win solution, instead of making a selfish threat. They likely should have enlisted allies before making a midnight-hour bargaining threat. Waiting until the final hours like these two did, then making a power play out of the blue, is simply not values-based leadership, nor is it responsible communication.
Imagine that managing communication is your full-time job and your number-one responsibility. What competencies would find to be most important? Mid- to senior-level executives who work in public relations consider excellent leadership in their profession to involve strategic decision-making capability, problem-solving ability, and communication knowledge and expertise (Meng et al., 2012). They must have a compelling vision for communication, understand diverse forms of media and information systems, and develop and implement strategic communication plans.
Nobody expects you to act just like a corporate communications executive. However, you can model behavior that you desire to see in your peers, in your direct reports, and in all of the employees of your organization. The more you care about communication, the more people will care about communicating with you. It’s really that simple.
First, you can develop a compelling vision by drawing on your experiences in decision making and problem-solving, and carrying those stories through in your various communications. Help others understand how and why you make certain decisions, and the values which inform those important choices. Second, you can and should communicate effectively in multiple ways. Face-to-face is the most powerful and meaningful, but that’s not always possible, especially for a busy leader. Become adept at videoconferencing, hosting town halls, meeting with small groups, blogging on the company intranet and Internet, and so on. There are surely communication experts in your organization who can help expand your skills and reach, while connecting with stakeholders in the ways that are the most meaningful and efficient. Finally, take an active interest in communication plans, and/or how communication challenges are addressed as part of larger strategic plans. You should care, because in this digital age, any issue can spiral out-of-control very quickly.
Charismatic, human-oriented leaders tend to be perceived as the most communicative (De Vries, Bakker-Pieper, and Oostenveld 2010). Whether you consider yourself charismatic is not that important, though. What matters is that you make a real and human attempt to be actively engaged with stakeholders. Be supportive, assured, and precise, and you’ll find that people will respond.
Unless you are a sole proprietor, you are not alone in leading your organization. You need the support of your leadership peers, and all of you must share and promote fundamental values and principles. That’s nonnegotiable for long-term organizational success and viability.
Why should you hold your peers accountable for responsible communication? Organizations must evolve over time, and change is exceptionally difficult for individuals. Effective change is more likely when people believe a change initiative is needed, has been designed appropriately, that organizational capability exists, that leaders believe in the change, and that the change will ultimately benefit them personally in some way (Torppa and Smith 2011).
Kotter (2005), the retired guru of change leadership, championed eight steps necessary for transformational change to happen effectively. The first three of these steps—establish a sense of urgency, form a guiding coalition, and create a vision—are essential elements of responsible communication. People need a burning platform in order to be moved to action. They need to see disparate leaders coalescing around an issue, to believe there is a concerted effort. And, finally, people need a clear vision in order to understand where change is headed, and what that change is necessary.
Kotter (2005) found that organizations could not skip or rush through steps and still hope to realize necessary change. The process takes considerable time, patience, and a sense of discipline. Similarly, organizations that make mistakes along the way lose momentum, and run the risk of never realizing the intended change.
Think about restructuring an organization. There must be an urgent and compelling need for such dramatic change. The right leaders have to get on board with the idea. And before any of the other change-related steps take place, there must be a clear vision, one that’s values-based and truly compelling for people. Have you seen such a process bungled? What would have made such a transitional time unfold more smoothly?
What you should take from this chapter, is that if you do not voice your values and help drive communication, change will be exceptionally difficult for the organization and for all of the individuals who look to you for leadership. Commit to being a more responsible communicator, and hold your peers accountable for doing so, too. The organization will function more effectively and efficiently, and, ultimately, each of you should, too.
Reflection Questions
• Accessibility—Charismatic, human-oriented leaders tend to be perceived as the most communicative. Would you consider yourself charismatic? How might you bring more charisma to your approach? Charisma aside, in what ways can you make more real and human attempts to actively engage with stakeholders?
• Responsiveness—As a leader, you have a responsibility to voice your values early and often—and every right to speak up when things don’t seem fair or right. How are you voicing your values at work? What specific examples could you cite as evidence?
• Transparency—Help others understand how and why you make certain decisions, and the values which inform those importance choices. Then, you can and should communicate effectively in multiple ways. How are you doing on both of these fronts? Do you regularly and explicitly discuss the values that factor into your decisions? Do you consciously strive to communicate in different methods, to ensure a consistent message reaches multiple stakeholders? How might you do better?
Responsible Actions
• Commit to shared principles—As a leader, you sign on to be involved in tough decisions, and to understand that your role is to move the organization, not our personal agenda, forward. What you do and how you act, particularly on issues and initiatives that are not yet employee or public knowledge, is pivotal.
• Model desired behavior—Help others understand how and why you make certain decisions, and the values which inform those important choices. Communicate effectively in multiple ways; become adept at adapting your approach with stakeholders, as necessary. Take an active interest in communication plans, and/or how communication challenges are addressed as part of larger strategic plans.
• Hold peers accountable—Organizations must evolve over time, and change is exceptionally difficult for individuals. Effective change is more likely when people believe a change initiative is needed, has been designed appropriately, that organizational capability exists, that leaders believe in the change, and that the change will ultimately benefit them personally in some way.