Aligning Communication with Organizational Goals

Here’s a conversation I’ve had one too many times in my communications career: 👨💻 Them: “Let’s spin up a press release for this!” 🤷🏻♀️ Me: “Okay, sure—what’s the goal of pushing out this release?” 👨💻: “To get media coverage.” 🤷🏻♀️: “Right, but getting media coverage to further what strategic goal?” 👨💻: “To have media cover us.” 🤷🏻♀️: “Cool, but WHYYYYYY? How does this coverage align with our strategic goals?” 👨💻: <blank stares> . . . It’s funny / not funny how often this conversation happens. Don’t get me wrong—media coverage can be a powerful way to support your goals. But if you 1) don’t know what those goals are or 2) aren't aligning your activities to those goals, then you’re just... doing things for the sake of doing things. 🤦🏻♀️ To make it very simple: press isn’t the goal. It’s a tool. And like any tool, it’s only useful if you’re clear about what you’re trying to build. Are you trying to: → Build brand awareness in a new market? → Establish thought leadership in your industry? → Create buzz ahead of a major event or milestone? → Generate leads for a new product or service launch? → Attract investors and secure funding for your company? → Address a specific brand misconception or improve your reputation? Without clarity on the "why," even the most brilliant PR campaigns can feel hollow—or worse, like a waste of time and resources. Effective communications should always serve a clear purpose and tie back to your broader goals. You don’t need a press release just because you have something to say—it might be the right tactic, but it also might not. 🤔 So, before you start thinking about press—or any initiative—ask yourself: 💡 What’s the bigger picture? What broader organizational or strategic goal are we trying to achieve? 💡 How does this press activity contribute to that goal? Is it part of a larger campaign, a step toward long-term growth, or a way to address a specific challenge? 💡 What does success look like? Is it increased brand awareness, a boost in leads, stronger industry positioning, or something else measurable and meaningful? Aligning press efforts to the bigger picture ensures they’re not just one-off actions but *intentional* moves that drive real impact. So, while yes, “getting press” might feel great at the moment, if it’s not tied to a clear purpose, it’s just empty noise. 💥 Have you dealt with this situation? How do you handle the "box-checking" mentality?

Here’s the honest truth: You can be great at your job and still not be seen as a strategic communicator. It’s not about how many town halls you organize. It’s not how beautifully your intranet stories are written. And it’s not the number of campaigns you’ve launched or emails you’ve sent. The difference between tactical and strategic communication comes down to one question: Is your work directly aligned with business goals? Too often, communicators get stuck in execution mode: busy supporting every team’s announcements, launching new channels, and “getting the word out.” That’s important work. But it’s not strategic unless it connects back to what your company is trying to achieve at the highest level. Let me give you a clear example. Tactical Communicator Let’s say the company wants to increase customer retention. The tactical communicator thinks, “We should launch a new internal newsletter focused on customer success stories.” Even if it's well-written, beautifully designed, and goes out on time, there's a problem: It's an assumed solution, not a business-aligned one. There are no metrics that show increase retention. Strategic Communicator The strategic communicator starts with the business goal. If retention is the goal, they ask, "What are the biggest drivers of customer churn? What do employees need to do differently to reduce churn? How are frontline teams being supported to improve service in order to reduce churn?" Then they work with business partners and data teams to identify gaps, co-create messaging that supports behavioral change, and embed communication into operations such as onboarding, frontline manager huddles, or incentives. They don’t just tell a good story. They move the needle. This is where the leap from tactical to strategic happens. The deliverable isn’t the point. The impact is. If you’re a communicator looking to earn a seat at the table, stop thinking of your job as “translating” strategy and start thinking of yourself as a co-creator of it. The real value of communications isn’t in making people aware. Instead, it’s in helping the business perform.

The Hidden Rules of Change Communication: Why Most Organizations Get It Wrong After observing dozens of transformations, I've discovered a hard truth: Great strategy with poor communication, Is the perfect formula for failure. Here are the 5 Golden Rules that separate Successful transformations from the failures: 1. Start With WHY Begin all change communication with purpose, not process. ✅ Create a compelling story that connects to both organizational mission and personal growth. 2. Maintain Message Consistency Ensure core messages remain consistent across all channels and leaders. ✅ Develop a central message platform and create communication toolkits that keep everyone aligned. 3. Create Two-Way Dialogue Make listening as important as telling. ✅ Establish multiple feedback channels and visibly respond to input received. 4. Visualize the Journey Make change visible and tangible through visual communication. ✅ Create visual roadmaps and progress dashboards that make the abstract concrete. 5. Communicate With Radical Honesty Build trust through transparent communication, even when challenging. ✅ Address concerns directly and create safe environments for difficult conversations. Communication isn't just about transferring information. It's the operating system for successful transformations. Which rule do you find most challenging to implement?

Aligning executive stakeholders with conflicting priorities is a puzzle many product people face. How do you solve it? When stakeholders pull in different directions, the secret isn't in aligning immediately around a product vision. Instead, elevate the conversation: align first on company goals. What outcomes do we aspire to achieve as a company? This unified understanding of company priorities becomes your north star. Here's how you can approach this: 1️⃣ Level Up the Discussion: Before diving into a product vision, ask stakeholders to agree on broader company goals. What did your CEO emphasize as priorities for your business? This context is crucial. It sets the stage for aligning individual goals to the bigger picture. 2️⃣ Connect Back to Product Vision: Once unified on company objectives, demonstrate how the product vision helps achieve these goals. "Here's our shared goal. Based on customer insights and priorities, this vision drives us towards it.” This shows your vision isn't just arbitrary—it's informed and intentional. 3️⃣ Seek Constructive Feedback: Encourage dialogue. Why might a stakeholder disagree with the vision? Is it truly about priorities, or personal impacts and unmet goals? This feedback refines your approach but remember, the product vision isn't a committee decision. It's guided by data and customer needs. 4️⃣ Give Credit and Build Back: Stakeholders feel valued when their input shapes outcomes. Make sure to recognize their contributions. This fosters trust and buy-in. Being stuck in the build trap often arises from chasing outputs over outcomes. Aligning on higher-level goals ensures your product strategy isn't just a list of features but a pathway to delivering real value. 🎯 So, next time conflicting priorities emerge, remember: align at the top, then articulate a product vision that navigates towards those shared company goals. How have you managed stakeholder alignment in your organization? Share your experiences!

Only 9% of employees feel fully aligned with company goals. That stat from the new Axios HQ report reveals a shocking disconnect in our workplaces. Add in $37K in lost productivity per employee and the fact that half of the teams can’t find critical information when they need it… and a serious execution risk is evident across organizations. This is exactly why I developed the Five by Five framework: to close the alarming gap between strategy and performance. Based on my experience, I recommend this approach: – Establish a North Star. Every organization needs that overarching goal that aligns leadership, employees, and stakeholders toward a shared vision. – Focus on Five Pillars. These are derived from a mix of Board priorities, executive offsites, employee feedback, and market research. By boiling strategy down to just five areas, you align everyone's efforts with what really matters. – Cut the noise. Five clear initiatives per pillar, each with defined ownership, milestones, and financial outcomes. Initiative overload kills execution. – Make it visible. Hub meetings, CEO town halls, and strategy scorecards reinforce alignment and turn strategy into cultural transformation. When communication systems break down, execution fails. Successful leaders build strategies that prioritize giving teams what they truly need: clarity, context, and connection to the bigger picture.

Gallagher recently released its Employee Communication Report 2025, and some of the insights might surprise you. One that worried me more than surprised me was the lack of guiding documents and frameworks in place to help ensure strategic focus. That tells me we’re still focusing on the tactical, reactive stuff, not the strategic work that drives business outcomes. What are some of those guiding documents? In my opinion, they’re tools like: - A communications strategy aligned to business goals - Policies and procedures that support best-practice communication and reputation management - Tools to make it very clear how you work, like channels governance and stakeholder engagement matrices. These documents are the toolkit that help you decide what you’ll focus on, why, how, when, and with whom. They’re also great for educating your stakeholders about what you do and why, and the value you add to the organisation, especially when it comes to business goals. So if you haven’t already got these tools in place, please get onto it ASAP! #InternalCommunications #tips [Image description: a screenshot from Gallagher's report. It highlights results in response to the research question: Overall, how confident do communicators feel? A graph shows the average confidence level is only 32% when it comes to Strategic Focus: Guiding documents and frameworks are in place.]