Get rid of the curtain and take a walk down the yellow brick road
In the movie “The Wizard of Oz” the Wizard hides in the shadows and uses a voice modifying microphone to make his voice boom. He uses lighting effects to make his “persona” powerful.
He scares the crap out of everyone.
And what do we find out at the end? He is a vertically challenged, cowherd. So many years of his life were wasted in solitude because everyone was so afraid of him. Why did he do this? I think it was power. He believed the scarier he was, the more power he would yield. Nope. He created trust issues. Did they do what he want? Sure. But no one wanted to talk to him.
He had no idea what was going on in Oz.
Don’t be the wizard. It seems like easy advice. But, quite frankly, you need to make sure you aren’t hiding behind a curtain right now. You could be concealing yourself and not even know it. This advice stands for people who just started a new job, as well as those who have been around for a while. How well do you know the agency you work for and those who are in the leadership roles?
No. Really. How well?
If you only see them in meetings, your answer will be “not well.” If you communicate primarily through email because, let’s face it, who has the time for one-on-one meetings when there is so much to do? Your answer is “not well.”
The communications department of any non-profit agency can become an island if you don’t hit the internal ground running. I cannot stress enough how important it is to start any career in the non-profit space by doing “The World Tour.” This means getting out of your office and heading down the yellow brick road (or indoor/outdoor carpet stained with coffee....work with what you got). Meet the key players of the agency one-on-one. You need to have an unfiltered dialogue with each person to understand what works and what doesn’t.
Take this information back to your office and put together a strategy. This strategy will help bring a new understanding of the role you play for them. Come up with an elevator pitch. Suggest collateral changes. Clean up the way you market services. And, most importantly, maintain consistent contact with each department to ensure a solid, honest line of communication.
In a non-profit agency, departments tend to go rogue when it comes to messaging and graphic design. This is the NUMBER ONE indicator that you aren’t communicating well, internally. Make sure that every department knows the communications policies. Make sure they are aware that you are there to make sure all communications are on brand and on message. They should lean on you to provide this guidance. They shouldn’t dread it. If they do, your communications department has been behind the curtain for too long.
You are part of a team. Your expertise might be wildly different than the service providers in your agency, however, you are still a very important part of the team. You are training your ambassadors and the biggest advocates you have, simply by having these important internal conversations. The staff of the agency you work for are your largest advertising force. Trained correctly, they will have great cocktail conversations outside of the office that will promote the agency.
Lastly, it’s critically important to be able to work with your leadership in times of crisis. When, God forbid, the Wicked Witch of the West, rears her ugly head and tries to destroy the reputation you have worked so hard to build, your agency should turn to you for crisis communication. They will remain calm and react at the appropriate speed if they know and trust that their communications team has their best interest at heart.
It all comes back to relationships. Build them. Strengthen them. Maintain them.
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