Well it is all over: the election and there were some winners, losers, angry, relieved, delighted and devastated individuals. As well as two unelected who were given their marching orders. There is a blame game; and post mortem analysis of the results. In the case of the Labour Party, there was celebration: did I miss something but they didn’t win the election, although they are finally a strong opposition who are in a position to challenge any decisions.
Of course this is all part of politics and the situation created in the last few days means that the electorate have managed to vote in a situation where a different line on the Brexit negotiations will take place. The Conservatives will have to work with other parties, and voices within the party to successfully deliver Brexit: taking into account the views of the ‘remainers’ as well as the ‘soft Brexiteers’.
May has had to apologise: yep, some of her MPs had lost their jobs and she had lost a majority in the House of Commons. The Tory Grandees know that an appearance of solidarity and supporting her = at least in the short term, is important, otherwise they WILL lose power in the House of Commons. They are using the “Smoke and Mirrors” approach, to give the impression everything is okay.
So why am I mentioning this within the context of business communication, and in particular, leadership skills? There are occasions when everything IS NOT going well; there are drops in profit; forecasts are not good; key clients have left or pitches lost. But it is important to give the impression that you are not only aware of this, but you have some plans. There is nothing worse than sharing a message of doom and gloom – how will your team feel? Do you think they could be tempted to look for another job?? Creating the impression of stability, even if the senior staff are stressed.
Once word escapes that a company is in trouble, morale falls, investors get jumpy and competitors will spin this to their advantage.
The lesson from this situation is to keep communicating in a positive way, and have solutions/ideas for getting out of trouble! Remain confident even if your heart is in your throat. Good luck!
If you would like to know more about our training, go to our Superstar Communicator page.
Surviving campaigns the Election Superstar Way