LEAD DIFFERENT

Welcome to Lead Different - delivering strategic communication on the edge of AI and upheaval - helping you shift thinking and mobilise change.

This week in:

• Reputation and Trust - What Deloitte’s AI debacle teaches us

• Narrative Power - Why character-driven stories are highly persuasive

• Influence and Framing - Is ‘Thought Leadership’ dead?

• Crucial Conversations - Win/Loss reviews: harsh but needed

• Internal Comms - The power of a weekly CEO email to all staff

• Getting Clear - Brevity isn’t clarity if substance is missing

• Ask Edith - Respectfully resisting unfair client demands

• The Leadership Imprint - Mike Cannon-Brookes, CEO, Atlassian

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Reputation & Trust – how to earn trust or get it back

Case Study: Deloitte AI Debacle

By now, you’re likely aware that Deloitte delivered a 237 page report to the Department of Employment filled with “AI- generated errors, including a fabricated quote from a federal court judgement” and non-existent academic references.

They later admitted using Azure OpenAI GPT-4o in drafting, issued a corrected version, and agreed to refund part of the AU$440,000 contract.

My View How Deloitte Must Claw Back Trust

Deloitte’s hit was to ‘Expertise’ on the Trust Radar (Empathy, Transparency, Expertise, Commitment). To rebuild:

• Be fully transparent: include a public disclosure of every section where AI was used.

• In the future, show your document quality control process inside documents (I suggest you put this at the end of the report), e.g.:.

• Add cross-discipline peer review: assign at least one independent subject-matter expert (outside the immediate team) to review technical arguments, not just copyediting.

By showing exact human oversight, exposing AI use zones, and enforcing external expert checks, Deloitte can begin restoring its lost ‘expertise’ credibility.

Lesson: ANY tech company producing analysis or POV must integrate AI use disclosures, traceability, and rigorous multi-level human validation, especially when you charge premium rates for thought leadership.

Narrative Power – The leadership story playbook

Why Character-driven Stories Are Potent

When explaining value fast, character-driven stories cut through. Instead of abstract benefits, these types of stories demonstrate how outdated or absent tech disrupts someone’s day, and how your solution changes it.

A senior exec story can focus on lost competitiveness; a middle manager’s on inefficiency and frustration; a frontline worker’s on repetitive tasks stealing time. These narratives tap into emotion while subtly selling the solution. They make impact real, not theoretical.

The trick: have a ready bank of stories: short, to the point and relatable that you can adapt on the spot. When hard-pressed to explain your value, these stories do the heavy lifting.

Character-driven storytelling blends empathy with proof, letting buyers feel the problem and believe in the resolution.

Influence & Framing – Small moves, big impact

Thought Leadership Isn’t Dead. Lazy Content Is.

“Thought leadership is dead.” That’s what people say when all they see is shallow copy dressed up as insight.

The truth? Real thought leadership still cuts through, but only if it clears a higher bar:

1. Provable facts from credible research

2. A fresh, defensible POV that challenges convention

3. A narrative delivered by a professional writer, crafted with rigour in your brand voice

Do this, and your content stops being noise. It becomes influence, earning attention in a market drowning in fluff.

Crucial Conversations – Navigating high-stakes comms

Why the Post-Deal Review Should Be Mandatory

Win/loss reviews aren’t optional, they’re crucial. Done internally or via a third party, they reveal the truths buyers won’t tell you in the pitch.

External reviewers are best: buyers open up about why you lost, and even how you won but fell short.

Common feedback? Sloppy proposals, poor alignment to business goals, or weak value justification.

Your price isn’t the problem, failure to connect value to outcomes is.

Instead of bruised egos, sellers (and the managers that protect them) need to treat these tough conversations as fuel - to improve, adapt, and win more often.

Internal Comms – How to connect, not just inform

Why a Weekly CEO Email Matters

Employees want to hear directly from their leader, not corporate boilerplate.

A short weekly email, written in the CEO’s own voice, builds connection and trust. Proof it, yes, but never dull the personality. Authenticity wins.

Handled well, these notes keep people informed, show empathy, and humanise leadership.

Just remember: anything written can leak, so balance candour with care.

End every email by inviting feedback. The message: “We’re in this together.”

Getting Clear – Communication that cuts through 

Don’t Confuse Brevity with Clarity

Short isn’t always sharp. Too often, brevity produces vagueness, empty one-liners like “Simplify processes” or “Drive innovation.”

Real clarity comes from precision, especially when combined with character-driven storytelling.

Instead of saying “simplify processes,” show it: “When your supply chain team spends three days reconciling mismatched orders, our solution cuts it to half a day - and improves accuracy by 80%.”

Or instead of “drive innovation,” say: “When your product development team spends months testing prototypes manually, our platform automates 70% of the process - so they launch products faster and with fewer costly errors.”

That’s brevity that speaks volumes.

Ask Edith - Your communication challenges, answered

Holding Your Ground Without Losing The Client

Q: How do I negotiate a tough financial conversation without breaking an important client relationship? They’re pushing for a big discount that isn’t warranted and will impact both revenue and service quality. How do I hold my ground without losing them?

A: Stay calm, firm, and empathetic. First, clarify what they truly want, and who, beyond the negotiator, is driving it. Ask questions without interrogation. Often, a discount request hides a budget mistake on their end. Be transparent: “If we cut this price, service quality suffers.” Invite perspective-shifting: “If you were in my shoes, what would you do?” Or ask: “What’s the risk to you if service levels drop?” and “If price wasn’t on the table, what outcome would matter most?” These questions reframe value without sacrificing respect.

Got a communication challenge you want answered in the next issue of this newsletter? Reply to this email with your question and I’ll give you my perspective.

THE LEADERSHIP IMPRINT

30-second read on what great, and not so great, leaders reveal about communication: what to emulate, what to avoid and what to apply today.