Leadership Communication: Are You the Problem?
- Kim Fischer
- Jul 7
- 6 min read
"We have a strategy," the co-founder yelled. "Make videos."
Videos are a tactic, not a strategy. A strategy is the thinking that decides whether the videos are worth making at all, and he didn't know the difference. He'd given himself the title of head of marketing without ever having done a day of it, then hired two people with years of experience to do what he said and nothing more. My colleague and I started where you're supposed to start, with a strategy and the tactics that would sit inside it, but he cut us off before we finished the sentence.
That was the moment I knew the work was doomed, and it had nothing to do with the marketing. The leadership communication problem was sitting in the box next to mine on our Zoom call. Every recommendation after that hit the same wall. So we finally stopped recommending and became very expensive content producers.
This person was the most extreme version I've ever worked with. I would joke that he was closer to a "bad-boss" villain from an '80s movie than a real person. Most leaders aren't like that, thank goodness. The everyday leaders who create these problems are milder and easier to miss, especially if you're that leader. That's exactly why they're worth naming. While you likely won't see yourself in this guy, you might see yourself in the smaller versions listed below.
When the Marketing Isn't the Problem
When a leader's message keeps failing, the instinct is to change the message. New words, new agency, new hire. But if you've already cycled through writers and consultants and nothing holds, it's worth a harder look at the one factor that stayed the same the whole time. The person with final say is usually the common denominator in messaging that won't improve.
I've watched skilled people produce weak work because the leader above them made good work impossible. That is not a comfortable thing to consider about yourself, which is exactly why it's worth considering. If you're frustrated that your messaging isn't working, the most useful question might be whether you're standing in its way.
The Four Red Flags I Watch For
Before I take on a client, I'm reading the leader as closely as I'm reading the brief. These four patterns tell me whether the work has a real chance of landing.
The leader who already knows better. This was the co-founder with the videos. They hire experts, then override them. A comms person's job is to challenge you, to ask the uncomfortable questions, to tell you when the message isn't working. When every piece of feedback gets shot down, the expertise becomes decoration. If you're certain you have a strategy but the only thing you can name is a tactic (events, community engagement, a video), you might be part of the problem.
The leader who won't pick a side. This one cares so much about keeping everyone happy that they never take a hard position. They let every voice in the building edit the message until it offends no one and says nothing. A message written by committee is a message no one remembers, because it was built to avoid disagreement rather than to mean something. Sometimes, as the leader, you have to make a hard decision, and not everyone is going to be happy. A former colleague of mine used to say, "we can disagree, but commit." Meaning, we may not agree on the final decision, but we must all commit to it anyway.
The leader whose priorities move. What mattered on Monday is gone by Thursday. The audience they want shifts, then the goal shifts behind it, and the messaging is left chasing a target that won't sit still. You can't build something consistent on a foundation that keeps moving, and consistency is what makes a message stick. Bonus tip: this also proves your strategy isn't solid, which means your team can't align. That can be an even bigger problem.
The leader who disappears. No direction, no feedback, just "make it pop" and then silence. The team is left to guess. Those guesses are typically wrong (we're communicators, not mind-readers), and the leader resurfaces frustrated by a result they don't like. The back and forth that follows costs everyone time, costs the organization money, and wastes energy on frustration that was avoidable.
How to Tell If It's You
None of this makes you a bad leader. It usually means you're closer to the problem than you realize, which is fixable. A few honest questions can tell you most of what you need to know.
Can you state your strategy in one sentence that isn't actually a tactic? "Make videos" is a tactic. "Create a behind-the-scenes campaign using the experiences of successful districts to convince other administrators to switch to our platform" is the start of a strategy. That could include several tactics: thought leadership, emails, even a video! And they all point back to one clear narrative.
Did you hire someone for their expertise and then overrule them? Bringing in a communications expert and then editing against their judgment is paying for a skill you've decided not to use. Instead of overruling, dig deeper. Have the hard conversation. Your comms person may need more information from you, or maybe you need a better explanation of why they're taking the work in a certain direction. Get clear on the goals together so your message is stronger.
Has your team stopped bringing you ideas? People rarely run out of ideas. They run out of reasons to share them. This is a hard truth, but when the room goes quiet, that's usually feedback about you, not about them.
If a few of these land, that's good news, because recognizing your own part is the most direct route to fixing the messaging that's been frustrating you. The leaders who are easiest to help are the ones willing to ask whether they're part of the problem.
FAQ's
How do I know if my marketing problem is actually a leadership communication problem?
Look at what has stayed constant. If you've changed writers, agencies, and campaigns and the messaging still isn't working, the common factor is usually the person approving the work. Leadership communication problems often hide as marketing problems because the words are the visible part, the decision-making is not.
What's the difference between a marketing strategy and a tactic?
A strategy is the decision about who you're trying to reach, what you want them to believe, and why. A tactic is the thing you make to do it, like a video, an email, or a landing page. "Make videos" is a tactic with no strategy behind it. Strategy versus tactics is the distinction most leaders skip, and it's the one that decides whether the tactics are worth anything.
Why does my messaging keep falling apart even after I hire help?
Usually because the help is being overruled, ignored, or redirected before it can do its job. If your messaging isn't working despite experienced people working on it, the breakdown is often above them, not inside the work itself. Fresh words can't fix a decision-making problem.
What should I look for when hiring a communications expert?
Look for someone who will challenge you, not just execute. A good communications expert diagnoses the underlying problem before writing a word, and part of their value is telling you things you'd rather not hear. If you only want someone to produce content on demand, you need a specialist, not an expert. Save yourself the money.
How do I stop getting in the way of my own team?
First, decide what you do, why you do it, and who you do it for. That way your message stops moving. Give clear direction up front, then let the people you hired do the work they're good at. Resist the urge to rewrite expert work into something safer or more agreeable. The goal is to be the leader who makes good work possible, not the one whose habits prevent it.
About the Author
Kim Fischer is a strategic communications consultant and Fractional CCO with 16 years of experience in journalism and nearly a decade working with founders, executives, and leadership teams. She helps leaders understand how to talk about what they do, whether that means writing messaging, sharpening a pitch deck, or finding the story that was buried in the one they already had. She is based in Dallas-Fort Worth and works with clients across the country.
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