Best Ways To Communicate A New Company Vision

Most change initiatives don't fail because of the change that's happening, they fail because of how the change is communicated. I've watched brilliant restructurings collapse and transformative acquisitions unravel… Not because the plan was flawed, but because leaders were more focused on explaining the "what" and "why" than on how they were addressing the fears and concerns of the people on their team. People don't resist change because they don't understand it. They resist because they haven't been given a compelling story about their role in it. This is where the Venture Scape framework becomes invaluable. The framework maps your team's journey through five distinct stages of change: The Dream - When you envision something better and need to spark belief The Leap - When you commit to action and need to build confidence The Fight - When you face resistance and need to inspire bravery The Climb - When progress feels slow and you need to fuel endurance The Arrival - When you achieve success and need to honor the journey The key is knowing exactly where your team is in this journey and tailoring your communication accordingly. If you're announcing a merger during the Leap stage, don't deliver a message about endurance. Your team needs a moment of commitment–stories and symbols that anchor them in the decision and clarify the values that remain unchanged. You can’t know where your team is on this spectrum without talking to them. Don’t just guess. Have real conversations. Listen to their specific concerns. Then craft messages that speak directly to those fears while calling on their courage. Your job isn't just to announce change, but to walk beside your team and help your team understand what role they play in the story at each stage. #LeadershipCommunication #Illuminate

Some executives inspire action. Others get ignored. Why? Because facts fade. Stories stick. After a 1-minute pitch, Stanford research found: ⟶ 5% recalled a statistic ⟶ 63% remembered the stories Here’s how storytelling can reshape your career: Too often, leaders default to data dumps: ⟶ Dense board decks ⟶ Endless bullet points in team updates ⟶ Info overload in all-hands meetings The result? Information is shared—impact is lost. After a career in corporate communications, I know firsthand how storytelling makes the message stick. Here are four ways to bring your messages to life with narrative: 🟡 Board Meetings ⟶ Don’t just share quarterly results—frame them as a journey: What challenge did you overcome? What shifted? ⟶ When outlining strategy, position it as the next chapter in a larger story. People engage with progress they can visualize. 🟡 Team Communications ⟶ Go beyond status updates—share moments of resilience, creativity, or lessons learned. ⟶ Instead of reciting company values, illustrate them with real team examples that people remember. 🟡 Customer Presentations ⟶ Open with a real customer journey: their pain point, your partnership, and the change they experienced. ⟶ Before/after stories make transformation tangible—more than any stat ever could. 🟡 Change Management ⟶ Paint a picture of the future state so people see themselves in it—not just the steps to get there. ⟶ Share your own experience navigating change to build empathy and trust. ↓ ↓ Want to start? 1/ Look for the human impact inside your metrics 2/ Use a simple structure: beginning, conflict, resolution 3/ Practice with small stories—in meetings, Slack, or 1:1s 4/ Always end with a clear shift or takeaway Facts inform, but stories move people. Try adding one story to your next presentation using these ideas—then watch what changes. P.S. Have you used any of these approaches already? I’d love to hear what worked. ♻ Repost to help your network lead with more story. (Research: Jennifer Aaker, Stanford GSB)

5 steps to help your team take ownership (and stop playing it safe): I'm working with an organization, and we're building out a brand-new arm of the business. It meant starting from scratch: • New team • New offers • New systems I thought I had made the vision crystal clear. Turns out, I hadn’t. A few weeks in, one of my top leaders fell behind on a critical project. Not because she wasn’t capable. But because we weren’t in sync. I realized I hadn’t communicated the vision clearly enough. Here’s what I learned: High performers don’t need handholding— But they do need clarity. Even the best strategy falls flat if your team can’t see it clearly—and own it. And no leader wants to waste time: • Chasing people down for updates • Re-explaining what you thought was obvious • Missing deadlines because no one was aligned Here are 5 ways to communicate your vision to your team—without micromanaging or endless check-ins: 1) Clarify the vision first Before I bring anything to my team, I check myself first. If I can’t see it, I can’t lead it. I use Whimsical to map it all out visually: • Goals • Workflow • How it all fits together I need to see the full road ahead before I can lead anyone down it. Whatever tool works for you, the key is to see it before you say it. 2) Show, don’t tell Words alone don’t cut it. Visuals speed everything up: • Understanding • Decisions • Execution I map the flow. They see it. We move faster. People process and retain visual information better—especially when dealing with complex projects. 3) Ask the right questions After I explain the vision, I don’t just say, “Got it?” —I ask: • What do you take away from this? • What have we not thought about? • What questions do you have? • What ideas do you have? • What did I miss? • What do you have to add to the conversation? Their responses show me: • What landed • What didn’t • What I missed This prevents future confusion and misalignment. It also gives me a real-time check on whether we’re actually on the same page... —or if I need to course-correct. 4) Involve them early High performers don’t want to be told what to do—they want to own it. I bring them in early. I let them poke holes in my thinking. When they help shape the plan, they own it. 5) Repeat, every single week Fast-moving teams can lose clarity. That’s why every team meeting starts with a check-in on: • Why this matters • How it ties to the bigger picture I build in this touchpoint weekly so that we never lose sight of where we’re going. Repetition isn’t redundant—it’s how leaders build clarity, alignment, and momentum. P.S. How many times this quarter have you repeated your vision to your team? Thanks for reading. Enjoyed this post? Follow Dr. Carrie LaDue ♻️ Repost to inspire someone who needs to see this today.

Clear strategy. Solid plan. Adequate resources. Yet your transformation is still struggling. The missing ingredient? Effective communication. I've learned that communication can make or break your change efforts. Here are the critical dos and don'ts that separate success from failure: 1. DO start with why before what DON'T jump straight to implementation details 2. DO tailor messages to different stakeholder groups DON'T use one-size-fits-all communication 3. DO address the "What's in it for me?" question DON'T assume people automatically see personal relevance 4. DO communicate regularly and consistently DON'T go silent during difficult phases 5. DO create two-way dialogue channels DON'T rely solely on top-down messaging 6. DO acknowledge concerns and resistance openly DON'T dismiss or minimize people's fears 7. DO use visual communication tools DON'T depend only on verbal or written messages 8. DO prepare leaders at all levels to communicate effectively DON'T expect executives alone to carry the message 9. DO celebrate early wins and progress DON'T wait until the end to recognize achievements 10. DO communicate honestly about challenges DON'T sugarcoat difficulties or overpromise results Communication isn't just part of change strategy — It IS your change strategy. Which do you find most challenging to implement in your organization?

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆? 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁. That is not an opinion—it is backed by facts. I spent this past weekend reading through a bunch of surveys, articles, and other publications. Here's what it boils down to: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 There is a massive disconnect between what executives think they’re communicating and what workers actually hear: ❗𝟲𝟲% 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 believe they’re aligned with employees on business goals. 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝟰𝟰% 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲. (2023 𝘎𝘌/𝘐𝘱𝘴𝘰𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺: 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦: 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵) ❗𝟳𝟳% 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 say they provide enough context. 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟰𝟲% 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁. 𝗢𝘂𝗰𝗵. 1️⃣ 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱: Employees still have full-time jobs while navigating change. 2️⃣ 𝗢𝗻𝗲-𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀: Less than half of organizations create space for real dialogue. 3️⃣ 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 ≠ 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Overwhelming workers with messages results in disengagement. 4️⃣ 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀: Leaders focus on strategy; employees focus on daily realities. If you want your teams to 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲, start with: ✅ 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲, 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀. Host listening circles where leaders ask and don’t defend. ✅ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝘁𝘀. Explain the why behind changes and how they fit into the bigger picture. ✅ Speak their language. Tailor messages to different levels—what matters to frontline workers differs from executives. ✅ Lead by doing. Employees believe what they see more than what they hear. ✅ Close the loop. Act on feedback. Employees stop speaking up when nothing changes. Change won’t fail due to strategy. It will fail due to people feeling unheard. Were you ever surprised by the manner in which teams really felt about a change? What did you do? Share your thoughts below. 👇 ----- Change happens. Fractional leaders help. And coffee. All the time. 👋 I’m Lars – I deliver transformation that sticks. 🔔 Follow me for more on fractional leadership and change management. ✉️ DM me ‘READY’ for more insights