Communicating Who & What Matters Most

The “new normal” is anything but normal.  We have witnessed a terrible pandemic with reverberations throughout our country, our people and our economy.  This is a very difficult time for many people, We know that we’ll get through it but these are challenging times.  We wish all our readers the best.  Stay safe and healthy!

These days have seen a massive change in how we interact, collaborate and communicate with others.  Our days are filled with conference calls and video conferences since we are all “social distancing”.  In times like these it is critical that we find ways to communicate how important our employees and customers are to our business.

In our work we often visit C level officers of client companies.  Most executive offices today are smaller than in past years and are no longer interior decorated to communicate importance and prestige.  Most C level offices are supported by an administrative assistant that could have written the book on great hosting.  Some C level offices are on high floors and have superb panoramic views.  There is always one feature that makes the offices very different--what the C level leader choses to display on the office walls.

Some have framed stock certificates of each of the smaller companies the organization has acquired.  They are typically displayed much like a big game hunter might display the stuffed heads of animals killed.  Some choose to display photos of employees, production facilities or customers...some with the executive in the photo; some not.  The interesting part to us was the fact that CEOs with the acquisition walls made no comments about what was displayed.  The C level leaders with employee and customer faces were all eager to tell us about many of the relationships.  You can guess what mattered to the front line of each company.  How can you communicate what is most important in the remote world of work we find ourselves in these days?

People don’t judge you by conversation, but by observation.  What they see and hear you do is far more important than what you say.  How can you find ways to show what would be on your trophy wall at work given most things today are done remotely?  What photo, plaque or framed distinction would you display so others might easily gauge what matters most? How can you do this effectively?
 

© Chip Bell Group, 2023.  Courtesy of John R. Patterson (www.johnrpatterson.com).  Permission is given to download and distribute this article as long as it contains this copyright notice.