By Kristy Dixon
Wednesday 20 September saw our first event of the year with a great attendance in a cozy downtown setting. The event focused on what executives wished communicators knew.
Four wonderful guest speakers joined us:
- Susan Borrows, CPHR, Chief People & Culture Officer for Alberta Central
- Leslie Bruce, President and CEO of Banff & Lake Louise Tourism
- Liz Elliott, Founder and Executive Director of Families that Work
- Ian Holloway, QC, Professor and Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Calgary
Below are just ten of the many great tips and insights shared by the panel:
1. Understand the business, it’s not so much about tactics but the big picture, be aware of the external environment—executives count on you to be the ears of the organization.
2. Be authentic, approachable and have self-awareness, think of yourself as an innovator in human communication.
3. Use evidence through technology (metrics and reports) to demonstrate value and drive investment into the communications department.
4. Ask to join meetings you may not have thought about joining and constantly build your credibility.
5. When you move into a role take advantage of learning the business and its unique value proposition. At each stage of the sales funnel—attract, engage, convert, retain—show how communications plays a key role.
6. Have the confidence to push back.
7. Work to understand tomorrow’s business, calculate your return on investment based on educated guesses about the future.
8. A good communicator needs to live in multiple worlds at once, and come in and out of those worlds.
9. People need to understand “What’s in it for me?” Communicators can help their leaders think outside the box.
10. Take chaos and create clarity.
Thanks again to our wonderful guest speakers for your time, insights and frank discussion. It’s always useful to hear different perspectives on the role and value of communications.
Thanks also to the great volunteer event organizers and Will Tigley for leading the panel discussion. Interested in our upcoming events? Click here to see what’s planned!
