Understanding Communication from the C-suite

When you’re part of a small team in a big organization, it can be difficult to understand statements you hear from the CEO and other high-level executives in “town hall” meetings. Perhaps they mention projects that don’t seem to have a direct impact on the work you and your team are doing. Or maybe they’re using acronyms and jargon you don’t understand.

In such cases, tuning out their messages is a natural response. But it’s a bad idea, especially if you’re a manager. Though C-suite executives may be focusing on the big picture, it’s up to you to interpret their statements and translate them so your employees can understand what the organization is doing and how they can contribute to meeting overall goals.

Here are a few suggestions to help you understand and explain those high-level messages.

• Pay attention. Some people ignore companywide messages and skip town hall meetings, assuming they have better things to do with their time. I think that’s a mistake. You need to know what your top executives are saying and how they communicate. Listen to them, watch their body language, and gauge the reactions of others to what they say. This will give you a good feel for their competence and reliability. You want to trust your company’s top executives, even if you’ll never have enough facetime with them to build that trust in person. By paying attention at “all hands” meetings, you can at least get a gut feeling about their trustworthiness by listening and noting whether they follow through on their plans. 
• Consider context and audience. You always think about your audience when writing a message or leading a meeting; remember that executives do the same. In an all-company meeting, put yourself in the executive’s shoes and think about the message you would try to convey in their place, considering the audience and context. I remember a town hall meeting in which a new CEO was introducing herself to the company. Putting myself in her shoes, I assumed she wanted to convey competence and intelligence, as well as some level of humility and approachability. She wanted us to know she had done her homework about the company, but that she also realized she had a lot to learn. And she hoped to make it clear that she cared for the people who worked at the organization while trying to ease concerns they might have about the change in leadership. In this case, the new CEO did an excellent job of covering those bases. Thinking about her message in terms of audience and context helped me better interpret and understand it.
• Don’t guess at meanings. The previous suggestion will help with this, as it should allow you to receive messages in the way they were intended. However, when we’re listening to our organization’s top leaders, it’s tempting to look for hidden meanings in their statements or interpret broad, general comments as having some specific meaning for us or our teams. Don’t go down that rabbit hole! In my experience, unless the executive says she is addressing you or your team directly, you should assume it’s not about you. You may be wrong at times, but playing those guessing games will mess with your mind. As always, it’s best to focus on what you can control, and that’s generally going to be whatever is happening in your cubicle (or home office) and within your team.
• Look for cues on culture and strategy. While an executive’s statements may not specifically cover your team or your projects, they do affect your work and the future of the company. To make sure I’m catching that information, I listen for comments about strategy and culture. For example, the new CEO I mentioned previously talked extensively about creating an inclusive culture for the company. She said she wanted everyone in the organization to understand why they were coming to work every day and to feel passionate about it. This told me that she saw challenges related to our company culture and wanted to build better unity and engagement throughout the business. As a manager, I took this as a cue to prepare to learn about specific follow-up plans and how to implement them with my team. If you look for hints about culture and strategy for the entire organization, you will be ready to help your team roll with changes and embrace opportunities. 
• Help your boss. Chances are, even if the statements you hear from executives are general and high-level, your division’s leader and your team’s manager are getting more specific instructions about how to implement the company’s plans. Be prepared to receive new marching orders and support your boss as best you can in implementing them. If you help your team or department hit its targets, that should roll up to the larger organization meeting its goals, which is good for everyone.

Communication from corporate leaders may sometimes seem difficult to understand, but paying attention is important. If you know what to watch for and don’t try to guess at hidden meanings, your engagement will help you and your team succeed.

Do you agree or disagree with this assessment of high-level communications in an organization? Let me know in the comments, and let’s talk about it.