Cut Through!

In this third part of my series on the ‘four Cs’ of leadership, we look at how to build team confidence. How can you create a workplace where people are willing to give discretionary effort and support each other? How can you build the belief to keep going when things get difficult? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

This is the second part of my series on communications leadership. This episode is about 'capability': how to identify what the function must be good at to deliver its strategy, assessing whether it can do those things well today, and closing any gap. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

Over the next four weeks, I am sharing my thinking on the fundamentals of communications leadership. What is your job as a communications leader, be it of a small team or a major function? My 'four Cs' of communications leadership are clarity, capability, confidence, and continuous improvement. This week: clarity. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

Far from having had enough of experts, it seems that we are in thrall to the idea that deep specialist expertise is what’s needed to succeed today. But I’m starting to wonder: is everyone right ? Do we really need more deep expertise, or, in a rapidly changing world, might the ability to operate across multiple domains actually be a good thing? Should the next generation of communicators be narrowing their scope or broadening it? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

When I was in government, we studied the data from thousands of social media posts and found that people tended to watch for only three seconds when content featured a government minister. So is Andy Burnham rewriting the rules of social media? Should every CEO now front their company’s digital content and spend their Fridays rating pub snacks with their Chief Financial Officer? Well, no. Here's how to follow the data and avoid the hype around what works on social channels. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

COM-B is a behavioural change approach that helps you identify the real barriers preventing your audience from taking action. It stands for Capability + Opportunity + Motivation = Behaviour. This episode is about why it matters and how to use it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

There’s a famous parable in Daoist thought. A rock sits in a river with water rushing around it. Which is stronger? The rock or the water? It’s the rock, right? It stays completely unmoved. Well, no. At least, not in this parable. The parable is intended to illustrate the Daoist concept of Wu Wei or “ action through inactio n”. Properly understood, I think it is a massively overlooked approach to achieving change while protecting your resilience. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

These are the questions that I hear most often about AI. Listen now to hear my answers. 1. Where should I start with AI? 2. Why do so many AI adoption programmes disappoint? 3. Why is the output I’m getting still so generic? 4. What AI tool should I use? 5. What is an AI agent? 6. How do I persuade sceptical colleagues? 7. What governance really matters? 8. What is GEO and how is it different from SEO? 9. What skills will matter most in five years’ time? 10. What will AI mean for communications jobs? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

How does the Government's emergency response committee, COBR, work? What can communications leaders learn from it? And what did I decide was the most important element of crisis response after attending countless meetings? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

One of the most superficially attractive arguments in corporate affairs is: “ Don’t put your head above the parapet. ” For most organisations, it is bad advice. Keeping your head down does not only reduce attention. It also reduces the relationships, trust and visible backing you can draw on when you need them. Those who favour this approach miss three important things about how support works. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

Who do people support and why? To answer that question we asked people to describe, in their own words, why they supported the companies they admire and what action they would be willing to take on their behalf. The key drivers of support were straightforward. But the drivers of opposition were different. And there were some other unexpected findings too. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

Saturday marks the 250th anniversary of the United States. There will be many essays written about Washington, Jefferson and Franklin. Communications leaders may learn more from Samuel Adams. I’ve had an interest in Adams since I worked in Washington DC back in 1997. The only half decent beer available at the time bore his name, and every bottle carried the insignia “Brewer. Patriot”. He was both of those. He was also a dangerous, disingenuous and highly-effective propagandist. He fermented hops and fomented revolution. He saw something that many leaders still miss today. A dispute is not won only by being right. The court of law and the court of public opinion ask different questions. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) is a poor starting point for setting communications objectives. It distracts people from asking the most important question of all: why are we communicating in the first place? So what does a smarter way of approaching communications objectives look like? A technique borrowed from Toyota may form part of the answer. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

Why did humans start to communicate? The obvious answer is: ‘to exchange information’. Yet this may not be why language was so important to our ancestors. And the real reason might tell us something we often forget when communicating today. Thinking about communication as a social act changes our view on what good communication looks like today. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

Can a Japanese secret to long life help you live past 100? Probably not. But it might help you to identify what kind of communications roles are going to give you energy, be worth periods of strain and be a good fit for your skills. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

“Germany calling. This is Germany calling.” Throughout the Second World War those words echoed through the static of Britain’s airwaves. The clipped tones of William Joyce, better known as Lord Haw-Haw, were broadcast daily from Nazi Germany with the aim of weakening Allied morale. But in a conflict today, would we spot enemy influence so easily? What do foreign influence operations look like in a world of algorithmic recommendations and AI mediation? And as Europe boosts its defence budgets, should we also be spending more on protecting our information environment? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

People are REALLY ANGRY because Gemma Collins appeared in a social media clip for the Department for Education. " Bizarre ”, “ tone-deaf” , “ sickening ” and “ ridiculous ”, said the critics. Communications teams spend a great deal of time asking what they should say. They spend much less time asking who should say it. So what does this row reveal about the importance of the messenger? Is it worth working with content creators? And if so, how can you avoid a backlash? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

If you’re not measuring communications, you don’t know it’s working. Yet our profession has an evaluation problem: we’re counting the wrong things for the wrong reasons. So what does good communications evaluation look like? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

Why would giving a train passenger a quiz question make them more likely to accept an excess fare? And what can that teach us about how to communicate bad news more effectively? Procedural justice is the ideas that the process - how decisions are made and how people are treated - is more important to public trust than the actual outcome. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com

What can a traditional Chinese painting, an Austrian psychologist, and a Roman Emperor teach communications leaders about how to manage personal resilience? Recognising you have more power to choose your response to events than you might think can be a powerful and liberating insight that boosts personal resilience and performance. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonbaugh.substack.com