How can Corporate Communications professionals prepare for leadership roles?

No executive is good at everything. Know where you add the most value and where you can hire to fill in the gaps. At the leadership level a clear strength has to be business acumen, ensuring a communication strategy aligns with a company’s overall business objectives. If that is not a strength, you aren’t ready to step into the c-suite.

Listening is such an underrated skill. Sometimes people feel they need to speak up to be "part of the conversation," but there's also an art to reading the room, taking diligent notes and understanding what others are trying to accomplish. That way, when you are in a position to become a leader (or, just as importantly, when leadership asks for your input), you can participate with the benefit of institutional knowledge, insight and expertise.

Having a clear sense of how you come across is fundamental to communicating effectively as a leader. My mantra in my MBA class is, “It’s not about what you say, but how you are heard. It’s not about what you write, it’s about how you are read.” We’ve all seen examples of the gap between intention and impact. Instead of starting to prepare by thinking about what you want to say, start by analyzing your audience. When you have a strong sense of what drives them and how they are likely to respond to your ideas, proceed to crafting a narrative that will resonate with them. In my classes and courses we use simple tools to ground our communication in a deep understanding of our audiences and how to tailor our communication to each of them.

Se atualize nas tendências do mercado, invista em gest?o de pessoas e lideran?a, aprenda continuamente para refinar o repertório técnico, explore a sua curiosidade ouvindo pessoas, aprenda a se relacionar com pessoas dificeis, seja orientado para resultados, lide com desafios com resiliência e mantenha um padr?o ético. Sobretudo, entenda profundamente a cultura e a estratégia da sua empresa, para desdobrar isso na marca, na reputa??o e no employer branding. O desafio é viabilizar para o seu negócio. Essa é a chave.

Comms pros have unique advantages in evolving into strong leaders that they should lean into and master: emotional intelligence, empathy, listening, understanding how to build consensus, knowing how and when to persuade, and self-awareness. Today's leaders must excel at communicating their ideas and vision to their diverse stakeholder communities. Companies and boards who are looking for strong leadership skills at C-levels would be wise to consider those with deep communications experience.

An example of this lies within the walls of your current office. I typically find on the job training to be far more valuable than sitting through 2 days of presentations. I can’t stress enough how important it is for communications professionals to understand business. How much do you know about supply chain, accounting, financial statements, manufacturing? That may not apply to all, but business does. Step outside your box and become far more valuable with the knowledge you glean from those in your office, they will be more than happy to help.

C'est aussi important d'apprendre et de comprendre le fonctionnement des autres entités de l'entreprise pour assurer une communication efficace, alignée sur la stratégie globale et capable de répondre aux besoins spécifiques de chaque partie prenante. Il faut s'approprier les valeurs de l'entreprise, comprendre sa culture et interagir avec les différents services. S'ouvrir à notre environnement interne permet de développer notre leadership et nos compétences en communication.

Identifying opportunities to add more value goes a long way in stepping up to a leadership role. The more one is willing to experiment in ways to add greater value, the faster they get those opportunities.

Leer está bien. Ir a cursos está bien. Pero lo mejor que alguien puede hacer para baquetearse y aprender es el voluntariado. Porque no hay nada como aprender haciendo. Hay organizaciones, como Toastmasters International, en las que por muy poco dinero al a?o puedes entrenar tus habilidades de liderazgo. A tu ritmo y sin "romper nada".

Joining a communities help us to hear things in different point of views, which is very good for our skill growth. In communities, we would learn from other's experiences not only from theories.

D'aprés mon experience, il est necessaire et pertinent de reconnaitre les personnes avec une ancienneté et une expertise dans l'accompagnement des nouveaux arrivants. Ce mechanism a vocation d'être vertueux pour les deux parties.

To find the right mentor, pay attention to people you feel are great leaders. Notice how they lift others up, show up as their authentic selves, and the impact those behaviors have on company culture, employee engagement and business results. That’s what I did when Elaine Gregg was my mentor and supervisor 25 years ago at American Retail Group. A deep listener, she handled everyone with respect and ensured that people throughout the organization were truly seen and heard. Her behaviors strongly influenced my management style then as a department director and continue to do so today as the Chief Communications Officer at a $3 billion company.

Essa é sem dúvida uma orienta??o importante, n?o apenas do ponto de vista de desenvolvimento mas de gest?o de carreira. Estar próximo a pessoas que te inspiram a ser a sua melhor vers?o, trocar experiências com os colegas e construir uma robusta network s?o fundamentais para o sucesso de um comunicador. Para isso, a participa??o ativa em associa??es profissionais e grupos temáticos s?o bons caminhos.

The idea that a sponsor, a mentor, and a supervisor are three separate roles is something to consider. Making sure that these roles are filled is one of the best actions you can take in support of yourself in your career.

Always put your hand up, especially when you can make a real impact! Being taken out of your comfort zone is something we should all do to grow and build our skill set.

A former colleague tweaked his profile description as Programme rather than Communication. His explanation - Comms professionals aren't usually the ones at the top. He also reached out for challenging assignments beyond his comfort zone beyond just communication as well. We need to diversify both our range of work yes and also how we position ourselves so people know we are ready too.

Growth, growth, growth. Be a lifelong learner. Take advantage of every opportunity presented to you and expand your skills. I've been in my role almost 15 years and welcome every assignment outside of my chosen profession as a chance to learn and become even more valuable to my employer.

Stretch assignments are a very good opportunity to reach beyond the actual limits of your experience and skills. But make sure you have the right people by your side to give advice and help you reflect on your actions and results. It is way easier to go down that route with people who want to watch you succeed.

Sugeriría que se precise más la noción de "estiramiento". Dicha noción podría referirse a la amplitud (cuánto abarcan), a la complejidad (mayor o menor dificultad) o a la extensión (cómo suceden en el tiempo). En función de dichos criterios, puede explicarse cómo se asumen las tareas, puesto que una tarea de mayor complejidad podría contar con una mayor extensión en el tiempo. Las tareas más complejas requieren una mayor inversión de tiempo y esfuerzo, mientras que las tareas menos complejas pueden realizarse de modo simultáneo y en menor tiempo.

A former mentor of mine once said, 3 things will make you successful. Roll up your sleeves, find the cracks, and work your ass off - and he was 100% right. What is important to the business but isn’t getting the attention it deserves? Maybe it’s sustainability or DEI, media training or reinventing the comms strategy - take it, own it - you want to make a difference? Do something from scratch that hasn’t been done before and turn it into a success, and then do it 100 more times. The best way to be “seen” is to win and drive change. It’s hard to show slide after slide of metrics - but it’s easy to show real, impactful work that only a communications professional can tackle. You’ll also earn the trust of the entire leadership team.

Build your brand. I cannot stress this enough. You cannot let your work speak for yourself. Find out what you want to stand for, create that brand and voice and showcase it in LinkedIn, on the job, in professional networks and beyond. We live in a world of busy people and information overload. Elevate your presence as a corporate communications leader and market yourself as you do clients and companies.

You need to define how you will contribute to value and then show that you have delivered in terms of hard numbers. It's not about the beauty of your work or your words. You need to show, via analytics and hard numbers, that you have contributed to the bottom line. You also can't be afraid of the data. Don't gloss over the areas for improvement. You need to be willing to tell leadership what they need to know, not just what they want to hear

Understanding the business you are in is vital before you can assume a leadership role. You must earn the respect of senior leadership by demonstrating your knowledge. It is not enough to be a good communication or pr professional. You must be able to demonstrate your grasp of the real business you are in.

Don't expect others to celebrate your work. You need to advocate for yourself and the work you do. Communication experts always tend to go to the next project and move on but make sure you take the time / a pause to look back on your work, recognise it and give yourself a shout out. I know many find that uncomfortable but at the end of the day the work wouldn't have been seen or told without you. So shout out and loud! LinkedIn is a great example of a platform that celebrates individuals and organisations. Don't do it for the likes, do it for yourself.

Corporate communication professionals can influence and inspire others with their communication skills, but they need other competencies to become leaders, such as: - Vision and strategy : Align communication goals with the organisation's vision, mission, and values, and create and execute communication plans that support the organisation's strategy and objectives. - Business acumen: Understand the organisation's industry, market, competitors, and customers, and communicate the value proposition -Relationshiop building - Engagement of stakeholders is very crucial for effective leadership - Innovation and creativity: Leverage new technologies, platforms, and channels to communicate with audiences in engaging and interactive ways,

Ability to show good judgment. It's mostly inherent but can be learned if you work at it. It's the most important skill in comms. And second to that, the ability to lead. Getting to leadership level isn't just about your skills and business performance. A giant part of the job is leading and managing a team of different levels and personalities. That's harder than any PR work will ever be.

Join the association and communities of leader professionals and learn from them and from each others can be helpful in process of becoming a great leader.

Preparing for leadership roles is all about starting small and building. The first intern you recruited and managed might one day come back to join your team. The sole contributor who was shifted over may need mentorship and direction. Once you’ve developed your first 2-3 person team, focus on ensuring your people are teaching you as much as you’re teaching them. Help them shine in the organization when they’ve done great work. Once you’ve developed a team of 5-7, focus on letting go more of the tactics, and instead guide the strategy, showing accountability to the business or client for delivery. Always, always have your team’s back. Over time, you will have evolved into a leader most people want to work for -- the best marker of one.

El liderazgo en comunicación requiere crear un tono y transmitir una visión capaces de acompa?ar la toma de decisiones de las marcas y los líderes de negocio para construir marcar que no solo sean rentables o formalmente funcionales, sino que sean relevantes, memorables y capaces de diferenciarse y conectarse con el entorno en el que operan.