From Network to Community: The Real Moments That Transform Professional Connections
I absolutely love this photo. Not because it’s perfectly posed but because the photographer caught a real moment. Someone pulled out a phone, everyone leaned in, and for a few seconds we were just a group of people laughing together. When I look at it now, I see something else. There’s probably a 25-year age […]
Finding Fulfillment: The Three Dimensions of Meaningful Work
Since my teen years, I have always thought about my work in three categories: • The work I got paid for to earn a living• The work I paid for to help me learn and grow• The work I didn’t get paid for that allowed me to contribute and give back I didn’t always love […]
The Confidence Catalyst: Why Management Roles Matter More Than Experience in Comms
I’ve been going through some research from 2025 on what actually builds confidence in comms careers, and one thing surprised me. It’s not years of experience. It’s two specific moves. We asked 200+ comms professionals to rate their own skills across a bunch of areas. When you look at how those scores change as people […]
Rebuilding Connections: How Kintsugi Workshops Foster Community and Transform Conversations
There are a lot of things that feel broken right now. How can create conversations that build community and culture? I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the importance of creativity and art that fosters the connections people are craving. I recently met an artist who has this vision of doing workshops using the Japanese […]
Unlocking Potential: Join My Open Office Hours for Personal & Professional Growth
I’m trying something new this fall. Starting this Friday, I am putting two hours aside as my own open door policy and hosting office hours. You have two options:💥 Office Hours – Group Meetings – where I allow up to six seats for people who want to ask questions that are professional or personal. The […]
What is the SWOT analysis from last year’s Inner Strength i5 Communications Skills Benchmark study?
Strengths: It should be no surprise that execution is genuinely strong among practitioners. Highest average scores are in technical/digital competency and clear writing. We also see ourselves as strategic since strategic thinking is the second-most cited strength in the open comments…so we do not lack ambition or self-belief. Weaknesses: Measurement is the clearest weakness. It’s […]
The biggest mistake leaders make is assuming how their people will react to news.
After 30 years working in communication, one of the biggest mistakes I’ve often seen is leaders thinking they will know how employees will react simply based on their personal opinions without checking in. What they forget is that employees:– don’t have all of the research and analysis that helped make the decisions over months and […]
I have a theory. I think AI is about to become the world’s greatest organizational detective.
Not because it’s smarter than people, but because it’s about to uncover everything we’ve forgotten. Imagine walking into a library that’s been growing for 25 years. Some books are brand new, others haven’t been opened in a decade. There are three copies of the same story, each with a different ending. Some chapters are missing, […]
How can Internal Communication Professionals build influence one “Yes” at a time?
One of the biggest mistakes I see Internal Communication Professionals make is asking for a big investment before they’ve earned confidence in smaller ones.Influence isn’t built by making one massive request. It’s built by collecting a series of “yeses.” Think about it like climbing a staircase. Step 1: Ask for less than $100A webinar.A networking […]
Valuing Your Expertise: How to Handle ‘Pick My Brain’ Requests and Turn Conversations into Opportunities
Do you ever feel like “Can I pick your brain?” or “Let me buy you a coffee” is really a request for free consulting? It happens to me all the time. After 12 years as a consultant, I am learning to value my time and expertise more intentionally. One of the best phrases came from […]
Embracing Change: Why the Internet and AI Are Opportunities, Not Threats
“The worldwide web is a meeting place and will never be used for commerce.” I heard those words from a speaker in the late 1990s, when the internet was first becoming a thing. He explained that the internet was created for research, collaboration and conversation and people were expected to contribute. If you tried to […]
Navigating Leadership Messages: How to Ensure Your Voice Reaches the Right Shore
Why do important leadership messages get lost at sea? You can write the perfect leadership message, place it in the hands of managers and send it across the organization…..then you wait. Did it reach employees? Did it arrive at the right time? Did anyone understand what it meant for them? Too often, manager communication resembles […]