The Story That Should Not Have Been

Stories of internal announcements poking at a CEOs seems to be the norm lately. This WSJ story, in particular, is of debate among PR, communications and media professionals offering advice, criticism along with some praise for the team behind the initial memo.

In the grand scheme of business news and dropping headcount in the tech space, this one should have gone under the radar. The size of the organization is small enough to provide a personal and human touch. The people facing termination deserved to be spoken with one-on-one, however time consuming.

Most importantly, a leadership memo outlining bad news for others should never be turned into a platform of self-praise and grandeur. Certainly not an undertone that compares oneself to a greater leader who faced a life full of events that are completely unrelatable to the person inserting a quote to support their own message of success (while announcing layoffs).

Some communications pros are kowtowing to the CEO's team who likely worked incredibly hard on this memo. Not to say that they did not. They probably worked very hard on self-preservation to deliver something that the CEO would approve in order not to be part of the broader lay-off that was underway.

This begs the question as to whether or not this CEO was open to listening to feedback that did not support her own agenda. Did she surround herself with people who would simply execute her demands, and unwilling to take contradicting advice from people who are experienced professionals who were not afforded the luxury of providing insight and perspective?

Working with senior leadership on a broad range of topics, I have faced a number who refuse to believe that tough questions may be asked, or that their story could be viewed in a different, and likely cynical light. This is short-sighted and typically leaves leaders and their teams completely unprepared when tough questions are asked, stories are written and negative feedback is delivered publicly. This is the moment an issue becomes a crisis or worsens an already existing one.

Leaders need to surround themselves with people who are good at their jobs, can respectfully challenge a narrative or path forward. Opinions and experience truly matter, especially when people and their livelihoods are at stake. If these things truly don't matter, then we can all just put down our pens and let AI do the work for us.

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Melissa F Daly is the Founder of Dfynz Communications+ (previously known as MFD Communications) which was established in 2011. Melissa has worked in financial and business communications for more than 20 years, with a special focus on key message development and strategy around critical issues. Melissa started the practice after spending three years at Goldman Sachs as Vice President, Corporate Communications. There, she focused on communications programs for its asset management (GSAM) and private wealth divisions as well as the firm’s political and lobbying activities. Prior to that, she was a Director at Brunswick Group, a London-based strategic communications firm. There, she spearheaded its financial services offer in the US, managing communications and special projects for hedge fund, private equity, insurance and traditional asset management firms. Before Brunswick, Melissa was responsible for marketing communications and media relations for Fred Alger Management, helping it rebuild after 9/11. At The Hartford, as Director of Communications, she was instrumental in building brand awareness around its new mutual fund family as well as being responsible for communications for The Hartford’s investment related products businesses. Early in her career, she worked alongside A. Michael Lipper as his namesake company’s Head of Media Relations. Melissa is often quoted in the press discussing a variety of business topics and has frequently appeared on CNBC and CNN serving as an industry commentator and Bloomberg calls her “a veteran Wall Street message maker.” Her experience spans across business sectors and continents.