Strategic Communication

For many, “consultant” has become a dirty word

It wasn’t always this way, and while there are many excellent advisors to management in the world (including many with whom we partner), the industry as a whole has a reputation that’s been tarnished and subject to stereotype. In our Strategic Communication practice we strive to break that stereotype: to ensure our value exceeds our fees, to give willingly of our time, to draw on established research rather than business-lit fads.

We try to follow a different path.

We know things other people don’t

Unknown to many, there are nearly 100 years of data on how communication inside organizations works (and doesn’t): how to persuade a skeptical audience, how teams function, what makes leadership communication credible, how to best manage uncertainty, how people align to strategic messages, how to make messages compelling, how to enlist the power of opinion leaders, how to manage high-status relationships. The list goes on. We know the research, but more important, we know how to use it to help clients get things done. It’s a huge advantage in being able to offer counsel that works.

We believe communication products are necessary but secondary

For us focusing only on the technical practice of communication—the newsletters, the videos, the town hall meetings—is missing the point. Everything that happens within an organization—all results, all initiatives, everything that does or does not change—happens because of or within a conversation. Communication is a lever to drive the business; change the conversation and you change the outcomes. Achieving excellence in the delivery of communication is a waste of time if it doesn’t help the organization get the results it needs. The point is to use communication strategically, and that’s what we know how to do.

We believe we can add value anywhere, but we don’t sign up for everything

We believe every opportunity and challenge an organization has involves communication. As a result, we have yet to see an issue or opportunity where we can’t add value through its strategic use. This includes:

• Creating clear and compelling statements of corporate strategy and ensuring all employees see that strategy as credible and know how they can act on it
• Improving the maturity of the corporate communication function and its ability to drive results
• Helping leadership teams have productive conversations with each other, with employees, and with governance
• Designing and supporting the communication strategy for organizational change efforts of all stripes, from individual leadership changes to global, multi-decade business transformations

Finally, we think you should pay us based on our results

We price our engagements based on the value we expect to create for our clients. We want to be very clear about what will be different, and better, at the end of an engagement compared to when we begin—and if we don’t deliver on those results, we think you should pay us based on the value you think we added. And this commitment to results works both ways: if we don’t think a client will do what’s necessary to sustain the results we’re trying to help them achieve, we will question whether that’s an engagement we should pursue.

If you think we may be right for you, we would welcome the opportunity to work together as partners.