Lack of passion can impair an organization’s impact and growth. This “Minute with Messaging” by Kelli Newman, APR reviews essential priorities for leadership messaging that inspire passion throughout an organization.
Shared passion makes a powerful contribution to an organization’s success. It inspires innovation and creativity and heightens customer expectations, as well as experiences.
Employees with a passion for their organization’s vision are the result of leadership that believes in strong communications. Not just communications that describe what needs to be done and how, but why. So, if passion is a missing ingredient in your organization, it’s time to take a close look at your internal messaging.
Confidence in leadership is strongly influenced by understanding, incorporating why a decision, policy or direction is being initiated is an effective method of leading through answers. It reinforces employee trust and encourages enthusiasm for the vision. But to be effective, it requires that each level of an organization’s leadership be responsible for acquiring, understanding and communicating organizational messages to help their team members prioritize shared information and translate how it is specifically relevant to their work.
In an attempt to inspire passion, some leaders make the mistake of applying the principle, if you can’t sing well, sing loud. But passion comes from a belief in purpose. Members of an organization want to feel that they’re part of something special; that what they do is making a difference. Regularly make the cause and beliefs of your organization part of the conversation. For example, we had a client who began each quarterly board meeting by playing a thoughtfully produced video to ground the following conversation in why their organization existed and who they served.
Lack of passion can actually cause gridlock in an organization’s progress. Clearly, leadership is responsible for steering the organization’s functions and managing its business model, but don’t let that consume communications. A 2014 study by KRC Research reported that a CEO’s reputation among employees is damaged when the perception is his or her communications are “focused almost exclusively on the bottom line.” Internal audiences don’t want the first message from leaders to always be about finances. A company can achieve remarkable outcomes when sound judgement and passion coexist.
People may not remember exactly what was said, but almost always remember how it made them feel. Fueling passion comes, in part, from communicating passionately.
I’m Kelli Newman and this has been a “Minute with Messaging.” Visit the Articles & Podcast page of our website for past episodes of a “Minute with Messaging.” And for information on how your organization can benefit from Newman & Newman strategies, call me directly at 281-589-0750.
