You want to be a better leader in strategic communications. What steps should you take?

Don't just self-assess, seek diverse perspectives. While introspection is crucial, combine it with soliciting honest feedback from colleagues, superiors, and even external mentors. This multi-angled approach can reveal blind spots and provide invaluable insights into how your communication resonates with different audiences. By embracing 360-degree feedback, you gain a more comprehensive understanding of your strengths and areas for improvement, allowing you to tailor your development efforts for maximum impact.

Don't just read about successful leaders; engage with them directly! Seek out mentorship opportunities, attend industry conferences and workshops, or join online communities where you can connect with and learn from experienced leaders. Through these interactions, gain valuable insights into their communication strategies, decision-making processes, and leadership philosophies. Remember, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but don't simply copy their every move. Adapt their approaches to your own unique style and context to become a truly authentic and effective leader.

Think about what topics you want to communicate the most, follow experts on these topics on LinkedIn, see who you can connect with in your personal and professional life. Who is doing creative work, who is excellent at sharing stories, who is implementing and promoting strategic ideas?

One of my favorite things to do is talk to other professionals in my alumni network who are doing well in their respective fields in other industries. It frequently inspires me. I'm not looking for anything other than to hear from them about their own experiences. There's never a hard ask or anything from me - I'm just genuinely curious about them and their experience and I lean heavily into that. I get a lot of fulfillment out of those conversations and I inherently walk away with some new energy and ideas on how to do things in my own career.

Don't just practice in isolation - seek out opportunities for real-world application. Volunteer for presentations outside your department, offer to lead brainstorming sessions, or even join a public speaking club. Putting yourself in unfamiliar situations will not only hone your skills but also build your confidence and resilience when facing tough communication challenges. Remember, leadership is a journey, not a destination, so embrace the learning opportunities that come with every interaction.

Three skills that are core to strategic comms are: writing, pitching, and research. Writing: Can you communicate your ideas clearly, cogently, and in a grammatically correct fashion? All of these elements matter, and in pr, usually less is more. Practice by ruthlessly editing your work. Edit your team's work. Take a grammar course on LinkedIn and expand your vocab based on your product/industry. Write so people care! Pitching: When creating one, practice answering the question: "SO WHAT?" and take a class with Michael Smart PR. Research: Strategic pr pros read the news every day, always looking for connections and new ways to drive relevance. Read, dig, set-up alerts, take a data analysis class, find the white space in the conversation.

Emotions are not enemy forces. But they can derail you on the battlefield. All of them are contagious. They can lead to stress. ⚔️ Defend ⚔️ Military training builds resilience and adaptability. We test ourselves to withstand pressure and adapt to changing circumstances. We practice the things we aren’t good at. 🛡️Deflect🛡️ Check if there is a need to protect your team – showing up in the service of others takes some stress off of you. Don’t get trigger happy – recognising (and preparing for) the sources of stress is half the battle. 💣Detract 💣 Gather intelligence on what works and what doesn’t. Build a support system – don’t try to go it alone. There are always others ahead on the path you’re on – chat to them.

You need to always have your finger on the pulse to monitor what is new, what is trending, and how might you leverage the opportunities. Communities of Practice are valuable spaces to learn emerging trends and paly a critical role in expanding one's knowledge base. Find how you can join and contribute to these networks. Virtual short causes on both comms and non-comms related topics such as strategic management, innovation etc, are also great to explore for additional knowledge that will augment you practical skills and experiences as a communications expert earning you both the credibility and knowledge to operate at more strategic level.