why dare to dream?
Setting your own ‘terms of business’ as an Internal Communication Specialist
Why it’s always been trickier for folk in IC
If you’re an Internal Communication Specialist you face a unique challenge when it comes to defining the terms on which you’re going to work. Why is this?
Without a single exception, everyone communicates with colleagues in the workplace. But not everyone manages people, or budgets, or IT systems or, indeed, any other business activity.
This means that, unlike folk who work in HR, Marketing, Sales, or anything else, you’re a specialist in the one activity everybody else does. So only with IC can leaders be fooled into thinking: “Anyone can do it”. Let’s think this through.
Because everyone does it, that statement must be literally true. But when people say “Anyone can do it” what they usually mean, colloquially, is: ‘it needs no specialist knowledge or skills to do it well’.
And even though everyone knows that’s far from true, is it any wonder business leaders and managers might unconsciously think they know how to do the job as well as you?
They wouldn’t think that about Finance, unless they were a qualified accountant. They wouldn’t think it about IT unless they’d worked as a specialist in that field.
The reality for other business specialists
No question the C-Suite will define specific priorities for other business functions. But they wouldn’t presume to dictate the very rules of the game to those specialists. Only with IC might they do that, or allow someone else to do so. (Would they let HR call the shots for Facilities Management? Of course not.)
This means that, historically, IC has never been the master of its own soul. You have never been the master of yours. Not really. Not in the way a Finance Specialist would be.
Even though you’re the specialist in your field, you have never had a mandate to dictate terms to the senior managers who aren’t.
How does that make you feel?
It doesn’t have to be like that any more
It’s always important to be realistic about situations you can’t change. Far healthier to accept them, and make the best of what you can influence, than to beat yourself up over immovable objects.
But the world is constantly moving on. And even if there wasn’t a solution last time you looked, that never meant one wouldn’t be found.
In fact, over the last quarter of a century we have discovered the key pieces of the puzzle which you’ll need to put in place. Finally we’re in a position to share them.
Just imagine…
…being in a situation where you have a permanent mandate to set your own terms of business.
It doesn’t matter how many new clients you get, or how much they think they know about your specialism. It doesn’t matter which new personalities arrive in the C-Suite.
You and your team can define the rules of the game for everyone, forever. We appreciate that may sound like a bold claim. Some may even say it feels like cloud cuckoo land. And if that’s how it strikes you, maybe you could ask yourself why.
The Finance team do it. HR do it. Marketing do it (and without even having the backing of legislation to force people’s hands).
IC can do it too. Let us show you how.
A FREE online workshop
It all comes down to a five step model. And each step is completely within the capability of any experienced IC Specialist.
In this interactive 90 minute workshop we’ll spell out all five steps for you, and the sequence in which to take them.
We’ll help you begin clarifying where you are now, and where you want to get to. And we’ll look at:
- the key inherited blocks that have always held you back from that journey, and
- what it takes to remove them…
…so you can acquire everything you want:
- all the permission and authority
- all the budget
- all the time
- all the everything.
We’ll also point you to a collection of free resources you can use to support you in taking those steps.
What’s in it for you?
The first thing we hope you’ll come away with is a sense of what’s possible. That dream of having a mandate to set your own terms of business is not only achievable, but will make everyone’s lives better (including those who haven’t yet given you that mandate).
We also believe you’ll discover it’s not a difficult thing to establish. In fact, the five steps would almost make it mundane, if it weren’t so exciting.
Our intention is to give you the insights you need to:
take the necessary steps to get the mandate you desire, and make it permanent
access the resources you need to support you along the way
use us as a sounding board if you want.
In short, you’ll be in a position to turn that dream into an everyday reality this year.