Reset to Find Your Authentic Self

Two weeks ago I was climbing the vividly hued mountains in Telluride, Colorado and hoping that my born at sea level lungs would get me both up and down the trails (I had my doubts a few times). I was hiking as part of a new wellness program called Reset: Telluride. Reset puts you daily on the trails of the spectacular San Juan mountains to allow your body and spirit time to breathe and rediscover what matters. The purpose is not to reset in order to get back to who you were, but rather to reset to help you move forward to the person you are becoming. 

I was lucky to be able to experience this reset in Telluride because for the last six months I have been on a true sabbatical for the first time in my professional life. It has been amazing. When you are ambitious and hard-working and you have been in the workforce a long time, your entire value and personal brand gets tied up in the company that employs you. The true time off allows you to figure out what you actually want to do, what you are best at and what you offer as a team member regardless of the company you keep. If you ever get a chance to take real time off without email and deadlines do it. It is scary, weird and awesome and the fear can be overwhelming, but if I was able to do it you can too.  I am rejuvenated and ready to go.

On the theme of finding authenticity…last time I posted I wrote about the lack of authenticity in communications. Here is my starter “authenticity action list” to help you provoke a new way of thinking in your organization (or support what you are already doing!).

1.    Clearly map out all of your key stakeholders and what winning looks like for THEM. It is especially important to have a deep understanding your culture and colleagues.

2.    Be a real truth teller. Spin always fails in the long run. Find a way to the truth that your executive team can live with.

3.    Build a coalition (but don’t hide behind it). Sometimes it is necessary to put aside competitive concerns. For example, how powerful would it be if all of the airline CEOs got together on one platform and spoke with one voice about the state of the airline industry post-pandemic? If a company wants to break through the noise, business as usual won’t cut it. Make sure you include iconoclasts on your team to help break old cycles and make sure they are taken seriously. 

4.    Speak clearly and simply and be yourself. Business school jargon and scripted messaging don’t work. As I said in my last post - authenticity is the new perfection. 

5.    Talk to your team a lot – more often than you think you need to. You can’t communicate internally enough. Use all available mediums – video, town halls, travel, social media and email.

6.    Spend more time on communications than you think you need to – global CEOs and leadership teams need to spend as much as 40-50% of their time inclusive of all audiences.

7.    Invest. The budgeting process in many companies is totally broken – sometimes taking 4-6 months and countless power point presentations. Market-focused short-termism and CFOs who claim ignorance of the intrinsic value of a company’s brand and reputation often end up reducing communications budgets when they should be increased. With increasingly complex global political and social dynamics, a company needs to invest to promote its brand and protect its reputation.

8.    Show real action and talk about the results. Communications can’t solve business problems or fix a weak culture. Do real things with strong outcomes and talk about them to your audiences.

9.    Have a unique story to tell and tell it often and creatively (see budget point #7!).

10. Be brave. Fight fear.

What points have I missed? Please let me know.

#communications #leadership #publicrelations #ResetTelluride