How can you future-proof your Comms career and set yourself up for success?
I was the opening keynote speaker at Comms Hero week this morning and focused on these topics in my talk.
The week ahead is packed with 50 speakers sharing their stories with fellow Comms professionals.
It’s not too late to sign up for tickets and if you can’t tune in live, all the sessions will be available on demand for 12 months. See their website for more information. CIPR members can claim CPD points for attending the event.
Through this blog post, I’ll share what I covered today, including the personal branding checklist I mentioned. This article doesn’t cover everything from the 45-minute session, but some of the key points.
If you need help with your Comms career and would benefit from talking it through confidentially, why not book a Power Hour call with me?
Thank you to everyone who watched live and has shared their feedback with me today @AllThingsIC on Twitter. I’ve been amazed by your note-taking prowess and creativity. I’ve included some below and you can follow the conversations this week via @CommsHero on Twitter and #CommsHero.
I shared three keys to success: consistency, clarity and certainty and addressed them all in turn.
Consistency
Consistency means repeatable tasks. What are the repeatable tasks in the way you work? How are you being consistent?
You are the Chief Communicator in your organisation, whether your job title says it or not.
This means how you show up matters.
I also talked about three superpowers for Comms professionals: kindness, ethics and empathy. Focus on weaving kindness, ethics and empathy into your work.
If you work in a way that is in congruence with your values, it will be the best job in the world.
Clarity
I focused on personal branding, including what it is, how it works and why it matters if you want to future-proof your career.
Your personal brand is your reputation and promise. It’s who you are and what you’re known for.
I shared the four answers I hear when I ask Comms professional how people describe them: Trusted Advisers, Comms Police, I don’t know and People don’t know me.
The qualities are:
- Trusted Advisers – asked for by name, asked to comment outside a Comms remit, brought into conversations early.
- Comms Police – brand guardians, love a red pen/tracked changes, known for maintaining high standards
- People don’t know me – employees don’t know I exist, leaders don’t know I exist and I’m a faceless “Comms person” in my organisation.
- I don’t know -I have no idea what I’m known for, it’s not something I’ve considered before and I don’t know how my stakeholders/leaders/boss view me.
If you would like to analyse your own personal brand, check out my personal branding checklist. You can download it here for free.
Further reading via the All Things IC blog: How to build a strong personal brand inside your company – published in 2019.
Learn more about working strategically in internal communication via our latest Online Masterclass: How to be a strategic internal communicator.
Certainty
I closed the session by focusing on the importance of mindset, skillset and toolset. To future-proof your Comms career, you need to invest time, money and effort in all of them.
We are spoilt for choice globally when it comes to the number of communities that exist to support us. You can see some of them via the image below.
They include the Institute of Internal Communication, Chartered Institute of Public Relations, A Leader Like Me, ICology, Public Relations Society of America and the UK Black Comms Network.
Thank you Comms Hero for inviting me to open this week’s conference. I enjoyed the conversations and questions and hope the rest of the event goes well.
If you would like me to consider speaking at your event, please see the speaking page. Please note we are taking bookings from 2022 onwards.
Further reading about Comms careers via All Things IC
- What Comms pros need to know about IR35
- How to hire an IC pro
- Why internal communication professionals hire Consultants
- How to be a Comms Consultant
- These are the skills you need to be an internal communicator
- How to learn about internal communication.
Learn more about internal communication with All Things IC
Do you want to increase your internal communication skills, knowledge and confidence? We offer a range of options to support IC professionals.
Choose from 1-2-1 conversations, in-person Monthly Masterclasses and Online Masterclasses. If the in-person course you’d like to book is full, please contact us. You can also pay via invoice.
We can also host your team for a half or whole day session at The All Things IC Hub in West London, and create a bespoke agenda to suit your requirements. See our team training options.
Learn with All Things IC at your own pace online
See the dedicated website to access all the latest Online Masterclasses. They are packed with bespoke text lessons, videos, workbooks and quizzes to help you learn about the wonderful world of IC at your own pace.
They are pre-recorded, which means you access the content at the time you choose and you have 12 months’ access.
Our Summer promotion is still running, use the code summersaver at the checkout to save 15% until 30 September 2021. Please note this offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion.
Choose from:
- The internal communicator’s guide to hybrid working – to help you prepare for different ways of working.
- How to be an internal communicator – ideal if you’re new to the world of IC or have up to three years’ experience.
- How to be a Comms Consultant – Exploration – this is for you if you’re thinking about going freelance.
- Introduction to internal communication channels – get up to speed quickly.
- How to create a 90 day plan – to set you up for success in your new Internal Comms role
- How to be a strategic internal communicator – just launched.
Thank you for stopping by
Rachel.
First published on the All Things IC blog 27 September 2021.
