To communicate better you need to act more ‘jazz’

I made memories last week with a family vacation in New York City. On the first evening, I took my eldest daughter to the famous underground jazz club, the Village Vanguard. It was a moment.

She’s a trombonist, a jazz fan, and spent the whole night peering over the shoulder of the pianist to spot the part, and see how it all fitted together.

The performance was second-to-none. The tightest ensemble I’ve ever heard.

It all comes down to communication.

Herbie Hancock puts it this way:

“The best band leaders encourage their sidepeople [ed.] to think and play however they wish, knowing that the entire group, in turn, will get more ideas and be inspired to play better individually and collectively. The leader and the sidepeople work through each song as a team, learning from, complementing, and enhancing each other as they go along. Jazz musicians realize that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”

Back to the day job with a bump, I’m discovering more schools where the communications director, manager or assistant doesn’t have a direct line of communication with the Head of School. And of course, in state schools, there is no communications person at all. It’s just another role for the CEO - the Chief Everything Officer.

If you’re lucky enough to have anyone in your communications team, then the least a school can do is given them a permanently open door to the person whose communication people want to hear.

Sit in the same office.

Drink coffee together.

Listen to each other’s voice. Find your common voice.

Not having a communications person who can amplify your thinking might now seem like a terrible disadvantage. But it’s not necessarily so.

A state school head teacher, for example, can make or break morale through a few sentences. Knowing how to find your own voice, and help others communicate with the same message and tone, is a skill.

We’re teaching it in our upcoming course, Brand Strategy for Schools. We understand that for an international or private school, the return will very likely be financial. Even if one prospective family chooses that kind of school thanks to a strategy, technique or the product of work on the course, it’s paid the course fees two, three, four or ten times over.

But for a state school the return will be even more powerful, if less tangible.

If you need to bring people together, improve behaviour or simply generate the right vibe, nailing your brand strategy is the first step.

For state schools, we’re offering some free bursary spots until November 10, because the return for them will never be financial but the stories will be phenomenal.

We can offer one right now. And if we have enough international and private schools jumping on board, we can offer more. All we ask in return is the chance to capture your successes in a case study.

You have to apply. Eligibility and all the details are on our website.

#brandstrategy #branding #schools #leadership