Being brave

I’m an awful electrician. Seriously, don’t let me anywhere near your wiring – I know nothing about it. You’ll end up with no power to your TV, a possible electrical fire in the kitchen, and my hair will perm up like I’m Kevin Keegan in the early 1980s.

Of course, I don’t pretend to be an electrician, I’ve not had business cards printed or come up with a memorable name (If I did I would be called I.M.A.Leccyman). But when it comes to my own profession, I often face just that problem – people who think they can do my job, but really can’t.

You know what it’s like. You spend an hour crafting a message, keeping it tight, focused, positive, and appropriate for the audience. It just needs sign off from the appropriate person in your business. So you send it to that person.

The next thing you see is a zombie version of your work heading back. It’s now lurching towards the reader in overlong sentences, slurring and screaming inappropriately hostile language, random apostrophes and commas hanging out like entrails.

For some senior managers, admitting that communications isn’t their thing would be a statement of failure. No-one ever wrote on their high-powered CV “I’m an expert in strategy, delivery and business planning – but I really have no clue about communicating, not one iota. In fact – I don’t even know what an iota is”.

The role of communications is something I’m passionate about, and not just because it pays the mortgage. Recognising that getting communications right, every time, is the key to helping organisations work better, is the mark of a great business. The best companies I’ve worked for have been the ones that understand that and use you as an expert, in the same way they would call in an expert on finance, HR or property if the need arose in those areas.

So, if you’re a communicator, believe in yourself and don’t be railroaded because someone is bigger, older, or claims to know better. With some people you can tell them straight, and they appreciate the feedback. I was in my early twenties when the Chief Executive of our FTSE 100 Company asked if a bit of filming we had done was any good. Frankly it wasn’t, so I told him: “It was alright, but I think we can get you better.” He listened, and we got something much, much better. It was scary, but not as scary as making him look bad on camera.

So be brave. Be better than just 'alright'. You might even surprise yourself.

Oh, and if you know a good electrician too that would be great, as I can’t get the lights back on in my house after trying to change a light bulb last week.