Walking the Talk: How Effective Strategic Communications Unlock Maximum Strategic Action

In a world distracted by information, calls, tweets – clarity is power. The same goes for executives running multinational organizations. Disruptive technologies, macro uncertainty, and complex market dynamics command an outsized share of executive attention. It's no secret, then, that other foundational elements of organizational success rarely end up being the squeakiest wheel. But an equally important, yet nevertheless often underestimated force shapes the trajectory of any enterprise: communication. Or more pointedly, how well the organization's leaders are able to convey critical data, themes, and strategies in a way that captures the urgency of a given moment and resonates beyond the C-suite.

It would be easy to tuck this discussion into the territory of “inefficient meetings” but communication and lack of clarity is much larger than that. We are talking about leveraging communication as a strategic asset.

Getting the story straight

The true power of good strategic communication lies in its ability to translate abstract strategic concepts into a relatable and motivating framework that drives concrete action and unlocks excitement in an organization’s people - the "doers" who are ultimately tasked with living a strategy day to day. Well-crafted narratives build and enhance critical emotional connections with stakeholders that engender goodwill, make a company's people more loyal, and foster a substantive sense of trust. Importantly, when employees at all levels are anchored in a shared strategic narrative, a sense of alignment permeates the organization, simplifying decision-making and providing, at the risk of sounding like a consultant, a "north star" that efficiently guides choices large and small.

At BizLove, we consider storytelling to be a core component of strategic narrative, mostly because practical communication benefits by capturing attention with a story more effectively than with dry data alone. This makes complex information more digestible, and helps to build leadership-employee bridges of trust and empathy that, again, engender loyalty, enhance employee comfort levels, and generally imbue people with a greater sense of purpose than if a strategy was less rhetorically accessible by making sense of potentially dense, complex documents and themes and framing information within a memorable and relatable structure that allows employees to focus on what is strategically vital to an organization.

One of the lessons that we most often try to convey with clients in the midst of change or who are embarking on strategic shifts for which a solid narrative is a crucial component, is that narratives achieve full potential only when they move from being top-down monologues to instead becoming a catalyst for organization-wide dialogue and curiosity. Creating platforms and opportunities for employees to engage with the narrative, ask questions, provide feedback, and even share their own experiences that exemplify its themes is important insofar as it fosters a sense of co-ownership and makes words, concepts, and ideas more meaningful at an individual level. The most effective strategic narratives inherently actively encourage this kind of open dialogue and positive feedback loops.

When talk is cheap, but silence gets expensive

The repercussions of inadequate communication extend far beyond minor operational hiccups; they span the organization and can create a cascade of confusion. When communication falters, it creates a vacuum often filled with ambiguity, inefficiency, and disengagement, setting the stage for strategic failure.

In place of what should happen, organizations are forced instead to deal with departmental silos, duplicated efforts, and initiatives that operate at cross-purposes. This directly impacts resource allocation, diminishes efficiency, and can lead to significant wasted resources of both money and time. Most importantly, these internal communication deficiencies can have direct externalconsequences, including disconnects between internal knowledge of products and services and what is offered to the market, leading to operational inefficiencies and poor customer experiences.

The fact is, many leaders have big strategies -- bold visions laid out in detailed slide decks -- but far fewer ever see those strategies translate into results. In many organizations, strategy has become a corporate game of telephone: leadership’s message gets distorted or lost as it travels down the hierarchy. In fact, 90% of senior executives report failing to reach all their strategic goals due to poor implementation, and 95% of employees either don't understand or are unaware of their organization's strategic direction.¹ This disconnect inevitably results in the aforementioned organizational inefficiencies, misaligned objectives, diminished morale, and missed revenue.

Not surprisingly, we've seen this type of breakdown become particularly evident in complex transformation initiatives, where, if departments operate in silos with limited communication and coordination, innovation efforts become fragmented and fail to address overarching strategic challenges, not to mention also miss tactical steps that are equally crucial to success. Unsurprisingly, the potential trust deficit caused by poor communication frameworks or narrative execution is particularly damaging during these periods of substantial change.

These dynamics can also be seen in post-merger integration scenarios. One study of an acquisition found, and we've noted firsthand, that poor communication, a lack of structural clarity, and siloed management approaches from senior leadership directly contributed to increased employee disengagement. This, naturally, led to demotivated employees, heightened uncertainty about job security, and ultimately, the loss of personnel with critical skillsets.² Such talent attrition represents a significant loss of intellectual capital and a direct blow to an organization's long-term strategic capabilities.

Companies that fail to anticipate and manage the disruption inherent in strategic shifts, and who neglect to ensure clear and consistent communication, often encounter significant employee resistance. This resistance can manifest as delays, further inefficiencies, and, in some cases, the outright failure of strategic initiatives.

Take GE under then-new CEO Jeff Immelt. Fresh off the heels of the Jack Welch era, General Electric’s ambitious "Industrial Internet" initiative under Immelt was intended to revolutionize the company's approach to technology and innovation. However, inconsistent messaging and unclear communication channels led to significant misunderstandings across departments.³ Employees received fragmented messages about the strategic direction, which undermined coordination and diluted execution efforts. Ultimately, GE failed to fully realize the initiative’s potential, reflecting the profound impact of communication breakdown.

The Boeing 737 MAX crisis is a particularly tragic example of the catastrophic effects of poor communication. In the case of Boeing's airplane, critical safety concerns raised by engineers and test pilots were inadequately communicated through hierarchical structures, resulting in misinformation and delayed responses.⁴ The consequences were disastrous—both financially and reputationally—as the failure to communicate transparently and effectively directly contributed to the grounding of the aircraft and profound long-term damage to Boeing’s global standing. More recent events, including the first-ever crash of Boeing's 787 "Dreamliner," have only served to underscore the years-old issues that continue to plague the company.

Lastly, the Wells Fargo scandal underscores how poor strategic communication can drive unethical behavior. Employees, under immense pressure to meet aggressive sales goals without proper ethical communication guidelines or guardrails, resorted to opening fraudulent accounts.⁵ The lack of clear communication about ethical standards and organizational priorities directly led to substantial financial penalties, legal repercussions, and severe reputational damage that translated into a sizable hit to the bank's growth.

In these examples and in our own work, we have observed several recurring communication pitfalls among companies struggling with strategy execution:

• Fragmented Messaging: Inconsistent narratives across departments lead to confusion and misalignment.
• Top-down Communication: One-way communication from leadership without active employee engagement results in reduced buy-in and resistance to change.
• Delayed and Infrequent Communication: Sporadic and reactive communication fosters uncertainty and allows misinformation to flourish.
• Lack of Clarity and Relevance: Employees struggle to connect high-level strategy to their daily tasks without clear, relevant explanations.

To add to the complexity of this landscape, the increased pace of adoption of advanced tech like AI -- and the specter that automation and AI represent to many employees -- further underscores the need for narrative clarity and the importance of widespread understanding of a leader's strategic goals. Beyond operational inefficiencies, communication that misses this mark diminishes the value of the vital currency of trust between employees and leadership, and in the organization's overall direction even from external stakeholders and the marketplace. When information is scarce, opaque, or perceived as inauthentic, uncertainty, apprehension, and dissatisfaction can flourish, leading to a decline in morale and productivity.

Especially now, when multiple levers of uncertainty are being pulled (political, economic, technological…) one of the worst things a CEO, or any leader, can do is allow their people to either draw their own, probably cynical or skeptical conclusions, about the true goals of an enterprise strategy, or become apathetic to those goals to the extent that buy-in and lasting change becomes impossible.

It's important to note, though, that if your organization hasn't invested sufficient resources into its comms function prior to an enterprise-level shift -- M&A activity, new market activation, product extensions or portfolio expansion, etc. --  it's likely too late. The level of trust required to effectively deploy comms that will resonate with an organization's people and read as sufficiently authentic during these types of existential changes is more or less impossible to earn quickly, so prioritizing a well-functioning comms apparatus as an ongoing business goal is critical. If a strategy can be explained and implemented with authenticity because transparency is embedded in a company’s comms function, leaders can worry less about scrambling to shore up support on the fly and are less like to find themselves flat-footed when the time comes to rally the company's troops around the flag.

While many companies view strategic comms reactively (if at all), there are others who, notably, have made an ongoing commitment to a healthy comms function a priority. When those companies have faced change that might have otherwise sidelined weaker comms or narrative structures, they have been able to lean on and leverage the authentic trust, engagement, and understanding already earned among their people. The following examples, conversely to what we explored above, illustrate how narrative can become a potent force for successful strategic execution.

Under CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft exemplifies how strong communication supports effective strategy execution. Nadella articulated a clear, compelling narrative centered around collaboration, innovation, and growth.⁶ He reinforced this narrative consistently across multiple platforms and levels within the organization, significantly boosting employee engagement, driving successful product innovation, and facilitating strategic realignment. Microsoft's market success, notably with cloud services such as Azure, underscores the tangible benefits of strategic communication.

Netflix’s culture of radical transparency serves as another powerful example of effective communication supporting strategy execution. Netflix maintains open and timely communication about strategic decisions and operational changes.⁷ This approach enhances organizational agility, fosters innovation, and helps maintain alignment amid rapid market evolution. The result has been sustained competitive advantage and consistent strategic success.

Under the leadership of former CEO Paul Polman, Unilever embarked on a significant strategic shift, embedding sustainability and ethical practices at the core of its business narrative.^8,9 The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, launched in 2010, outlined ambitious goals to decouple growth from environmental impact and increase positive social impact. This narrative was not confined to corporate social responsibility reports; it was integrated into brand strategies, product development, and operational decisions. By consistently communicating its commitment to sustainability and demonstrating tangible progress, Unilever aimed to build trust with consumers, regulators, and investors, thereby enhancing its "license to operate" and potentially influencing its long-term market position and growth trajectory. Polman himself became a key storyteller, personifying this commitment and championing the idea that businesses could be a force for good while delivering strong financial performance.

These cases highlight a critical truth: the congruence between a proclaimed narrative and an organization's actual conduct is the cornerstone of credibility and impact. In markets where products and services can appear increasingly similar, a compelling narrative focused on meaning and purpose can serve as a powerful differentiator, fostering deeper brand loyalty that transcends purely rational comparisons.⁹ What’s important to understand is that these examples illustrate that a strong, well-understood internalnarrative is often a prerequisite for successful external brand communication. For employees to be convincing brand ambassadors, they must first believe in the company's story.

BizLove: Building Powerful Strategic Narratives

At BizLove, our extensive work with clients across diverse sectors has consistently demonstrated the critical importance of strategic narrative as a communication tool and the necessity to prioritize a strong ongoing comms function. Organizations that embrace narrative-based communication find greater success in aligning their teams around common objectives, fostering employee engagement, and achieving superior execution at times that matter most.

There's no magic bullet to developing a powerful comms function in an organization, but to the extent that there are universal truths, we've noted that the most successful organizations share several best practices:

• Clear Strategic Narratives: Compelling stories that link organizational strategy to employee role expectations and the broader company mission.
• Consistent Reinforcement: Strategic messages sent across diverse channels, ensuring they resonate across different employee groups.
• Interactive Dialogue: Two-way communication channels that leverage employee feedback to shape strategic understanding and execution.
• Transparency and Trust: Consistently open and timely communication that earns trust and mitigates resistance.‍
• Empowered Managers as Communicators: Managers with training and resources to effectively communicate strategic messages and serve as vital communication bridges within the organization.‍
• Regularly Assessed Communication Effectiveness: Communication outcomes that are measured through surveys, engagement metrics, and performance indicators to continuously improve strategies.

Strategic success hinges fundamentally on the clarity, consistency, and effectiveness of internal communication. Ultimately, if it's unclear what the strategy is or what is hoped to be achieved, strategic adoption will be haphazard, impact both internally and externally will be lukewarm, and an organization will likely find itself in need of a new story sooner rather than later. Organizations that undervalue communication risk significant strategic failures, misalignment, and employee disengagement. On the other hand, those that prioritize a clear, narrative-driven storytelling approach to strategic comms enhance organizational alignment, foster employee commitment, and significantly improve their capacity for effective strategy execution.

To realize strategic objectives effectively, organizations must elevate internal communication from a reactive support function to the strategic imperative that it has consistently proven itself to be.

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References:

¹ Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (2007). The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action. Harvard Business School Press.

² "The effectiveness of change management strategies in post-merger integration: a case study." University of KwaZulu-Natal. https://ukzn-dspace.ukzn.ac.za/bitstreams/f01c9ce2-ef5d-4081-a565-d35e9455b1c9/download

³ Gryta, T., & Mann, T. (2020). Lights Out: Pride, Delusion, and the Fall of General Electric. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

⁴ Travis, G. (2019). "How the Boeing 737 Max Disaster Looks to a Software Developer," IEEE Spectrum.

⁵ Tayan, B. (2019). "The Wells Fargo Cross-Selling Scandal," Stanford Closer Look Series.

⁶ Ibarra, H., & Rattan, A. (2018). "Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on the Importance of Empathy," Harvard Business Review.

⁷ McCord, P. (2014). Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility. Silicon Guild.

⁸ "Control the Narrative: How Strategic Storytelling Builds Your Brand." Staffbase Blog. https://staffbase.com/blog/control-the-narrative/

⁹ Bonchek, M. (2020). "How a company's strategic narrative should be like a North Star." World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2020/12/how-a-company-s-strategic-narrative-should-be-like-a-north-star/