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 - Being inconsistent can damage your reputation

• Narrative Power - A Vision Statement without story is just wallpaper

• Influence and Framing - Resist sending a proposal. Do this instead…

• Crucial Conversations - How to approach the elephant in the room

• Internal Comms - Addressing Toxic behaviour the right way

• Getting Clear - Unclear intent leads to generic sales presentations

• Ask Edith - Use provocative statements when you’re being ghosted

• The Leadership Imprint - Communication lessons from Demis Hassabis, CEO & Co-founder of Deep Mind

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

When Consistency Breaks, So Does Trust

Charisma grabs attention, consistency earns belief. Robert Cialdini calls it a pillar of persuasion: people trust leaders whose words and actions align over time.

But consistency doesn’t mean rigidity. You can pivot strategy, launch new products, or change course entirely.

What must stay consistent are the behaviours you’ve signalled define your company - keeping promises, showing up with the same voice and honouring your stated values like ‘commitment to excellence’ or ‘co-creating with customers.’

Nothing undermines trust faster than leaders whose actions aren’t consistent with their stated values.

Narrative Power – The leadership story playbook

Is Your Vision Statement Just Wallpaper?

When a vision turns into wallpaper, it stops being noticed, let alone believed. Phrases like ‘delighting customers’ or ‘driving innovation’ fade quickly if they feel disconnected from lived experience.

Take this example: “Our vision is to make digital simple.” On its own, it risks sounding empty. But when you add a story like, “last quarter, a client told us we helped her launch her online business while caring for her sick dad,” - that vision suddenly has flesh and meaning because that’s what ‘simple’ looks like in the real world.

A vision only stays alive when it’s continually refreshed through stories. This helps your people feel it, believe in it and communicate it effectively to customers, partners and the marketplace.

Need to bring your vision to life through story? Download the team exercise to help you do this effectively. 👎

Influence & Framing – Small moves, big impact

Dealing With Proposal Requests The Right Way

In complex sales, influence most often comes before ink on paper. When a client or potential client asks for a proposal, the reflex is to send it off quickly.

Resist complying with this request! 

Sure, prepare the proposal but secure a meeting to present it. (Also, resist the urge to send it in your meeting invite or slightly before the meeting, even if they request this). 

Go through the proposal at the meeting, which gives you the chance to frame the solution, demonstrate capability, and probe deeper via smart questions that work to uncover hidden motives, needs, agendas, resistance points, and challenges.

You then have an updated proposal to send afterwards that more accurately reflects and aligns with the buyer’s needs and business outcomes.

Why is this a better way? Because you’re inviting the buyer to help shape the proposal, and psychologically they’ll feel ownership of it, making them far more likely to accept it.

Extra Tip: You can also share your written ‘draft’ of the Unique Promise of Value and ask them to challenge it. How would they write it? Remember, they may need to present your proposal to other decision-makers, and you want your value proposition to reflect the value they’re seeking, not what you presume it is.

Crucial Conversations – Navigating high-stakes comms

What To Say About The Elephant in The Room

Every team has issues everyone feels, but no one voices.

Left unspoken, these ‘undiscussable elephants’ can breed toxicity.

Try this: “I’ve noticed something we’re not saying out loud…” in a neutral, curiosity-led tone.

Examples? The project that’s clearly over budget, the exec whose behaviour erodes trust, the strategy everyone doubts but no one challenges.

Once surfaced, don’t push for instant agreement, give space to process.

Breaking the silence is the first step to easing tension and showing it’s safe to speak up.

Internal Comms – How to connect, not just inform

Addressing Toxic Behaviour

Culture is shaped less by what leaders say and more by what they tolerate.

When toxic behaviour appears, don’t target people; name the behaviour.

Use neutral language, show it undermines the team, and restate values.

Examples:

• Dealing with toxic gossip: “We don’t gossip about colleagues, we raise concerns directly, so people have the chance to respond.”

• Noticing a manager putting down their team: “We don’t dismiss ideas as ‘stupid’, we challenge thinking with respect so better ideas can emerge.”

Addressing toxic behaviour like this safeguards culture.

Getting Clear – Communication that cuts through

Clear Intent, Clear Message

In B2B sales, a proposal without clarity is just noise. If you don’t know your goal, your message won’t land.

Ask yourself: “What do I want them to know, feel, or do?” Don’t bury your ask in the fine print; state it upfront. 

Every sentence written and word spoken should serve that intent, and anything else should go. 

Specificity beats vagueness: “We’re seeking input on X” is stronger than “We’d love your thoughts.” 

Other examples of clear, intentional questions to ask buyers:

• Intent: Gain alignment on decision-making
  “Who else will need to review this proposal before a decision is made?”

• Intent: Uncover priorities
  “Of the outcomes we’ve outlined, which matter most to your business right now?”

• Intent: Clarify next steps
  “If this approach works for you, what would you like the next step to be?”

• Intent: Test fit with organisational goals

  “How does this proposal align with the goals your leadership team has set for this quarter?”

• Intent: Surface hidden concerns

  “What concerns or objections do you think might come up when you share this internally?”

Clear intent turns questions into influence and influence into closing the sales gap.

Ask Edith - Your communication challenges, answered

How To Stop A Buyer Ghosting You

Q: I’ve poured months into this deal, workshops, deep discussions, building what I thought was a strong relationship. The buyer seemed fully engaged, then suddenly…nothing. No replies, no calls back. I’m starting to wonder if I’ve put my foot into it or they’ve just moved on. How do I handle this without sounding desperate or wasting more time?

A: Ghosting happens, and the worst move is to keep sending polite nudges they can ignore. Instead, try respectful but provocative questions in the subject line of your email like:

• Have I missed something?

• Have I upset you?

• Have I done something wrong here?”

• I’m guessing other priorities have taken over?

Next craft a short sentence in the body of the email that adds a bit more to the subject line like, “I have a feeling I’ve done something wrong. Let me know to rectify.” Key is to keep it very short. I’ve used this a few times and it usually elicits a response that either moves the deal forward or provides clarity on the delay.

However, if they still don’t reply, take the silence as your answer. Send a final message to close the loop gracefully. “I’ll stop reaching out, but if priorities shift, I’m here.” That way, you keep your professionalism intact, protect your energy, and leave the door open for re-engagement.

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.