LEAD DIFFERENT

Lead Different is for strategic thinkers who want to level-up their communications skills without slowing down. Each weekly issue gives you quick, practical shifts you can read in 4-minutes. Familiar sections, new insights - every time. Subscribe and command words with power.

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

10 Ways to Undermine Trust with Customers and Employees

1. Overhype the innovation or transformative capabilities of your solution.

2. Stay secretive about things like how your AI is being built or how you manage large volumes of customer data.

3. Patronise and talk down to customers during product demos, sales conversations or account and service reviews.

4. Hide implementation failures behind vague ‘go-live’ success PR.

5. Let customers know they’re an afterthought through subpar support delivered by bots or underpaid and overworked staff.

6. Keep employees in the dark or communicate strategy shifts and leadership changes in platitudes filled with word salads and corporate speak.

7. Abruptly execute a mass layoff with little or no communication.

8. Stay silent when caught collaborating with partners facing human rights or ethical controversies.

9. Implement non-disparagement clauses to prevent employees from speaking negatively about the company.

10. Say you value employee feedback, then ignore it, or worse, punish those who speak up.

These are some of the trust fractures that chip away at credibility across the tech and corporate world; many go unnoticed until it’s too late.

Is it time to review the above to earn back trust?

Narrative Power – The leadership story playbook

Identify The Villain, Unleash the Hero

Talking about challenges in vague or abstract terms is forgettable. But give the problem a face, a villain, and suddenly your message has teeth. The villain might be inefficiency, indecision, legacy systems, or an outdated way of doing things.

For example:

Meet the Drag:
She’s polite. Predictable. Permanently busy. She clings to old systems and outdated workflows like they’re lifelines. The Drag lives in duplicated processes, endless approvals, and “the way we’ve always done it.” She doesn’t block progress, she just slows it until momentum dies of boredom. But change doesn’t need more meetings. It needs force.
Enter the Integrator:
Focused. Precise. Invisible at her best. The Integrator doesn’t chase tasks, she re-architects flow. She closes gaps, dissolves duplication, and frees your team from the tyranny of low-value work. She doesn’t disrupt for the sake of it. She eliminates friction, so progress moves like it’s meant to: fast, aligned, and scalable.

Whether you're speaking to employees, buyers, customers, partners or investors, this is a great way to capture people’s imagination and win commitment and belief.

Influence & Framing – Small moves, big impact

When a Key Customer Is About to Walk

When a high-value client signals they’re ready to walk, panic is natural, but strategic communication can pull things back from the brink. Reignite the relationship through questions and framing that signal accountability, openness, and long-term commitment. Like:

1. “What’s made you feel like we’re no longer the right fit?”

2. “We clearly missed something. Can we walk through where we fell short?”

3. “We take this seriously. What matters most to you now that didn’t get addressed before?”

4. “How has this impacted your business, your team, or your customers?”

5. “Would you be open to exploring what we can do differently to get things back on track?”

6. “If we could reset, what would you keep, change, or stop?”

7. “Before we propose a new solution, we want to fully understand your frustrations.”

8. “If we can show meaningful improvements quickly, would you be open to a short-term trial to rebuild trust?”

9. “Would a short-term remediation plan give you confidence we’re serious?

10. What would a reimagined partnership need to look like for you to feel confident staying with us?

Crucial Conversations – Navigating high-stakes comms

Client Challenge: Pushing Back Without Losing Ground

 The project ballooned, but the deadline didn’t. Sound familiar?

When scope creeps quietly but relentlessly, don’t just put up with the pressure. Acknowledge the change, then ask:

“Can we revisit priorities given how the scope has evolved?”

 Another good question:

“What matters most for us to deliver real value at this stage?”

This approach and questions help to focus on shared outcomes, invite prioritisation, and position you as a partner, not an obstacle.

Internal Comms – How to connect, not just inform

How to Persuade, Not Command

Telling people to “just do it” rarely drives lasting change.

Behavioural science shows that people are more likely to change when they understand why it matters to them, their team, and the bigger picture.

Show how the change improves employees' work, not just yours. Influence starts with shared purpose.

Yet too often, leaders push painful changes through and hope for the best. The grumbling may be silent but burnout and turnover tell the real story.

Getting Clear – Communication that cuts through

Brevity Is a Power Move

Long-winded leaders dilute their message and their influence.

Brevity isn’t about saying less for the sake of it; it’s about choosing words that land precisely.

It’s about communicating complex ideas succinctly, which is also a sign of a strategic thinker.

When you use brevity, your words have impact, are remembered and leave less room for confusion.

Ask Edith - Your communication challenges, answered

When Vision Moves Fast and Tech Moves Carefully

Q: I manage a highly technical team, and we’re wired differently. I’m fast-paced, big-picture, and focused on business outcomes. They’re super-smart but slow, detailed, and process-driven. I keep interrupting because I don’t have the bandwidth for the deep dive, and they see me as pushy and impatient. I’m trying to brainstorm solutions, not manage code. There’s a lot of frustration on both sides! How can we meet in the middle to create something of value for the client?

A: First, name the mismatch, don’t avoid it. This builds trust when your teams see that you get it. Then, implement some structure, such as time-boxing your brainstorms so they know the pace, and clarify that the session is for idea generation, not implementation details. Set a clear agenda with roles: who’s leading, who’s noting, who’s following up. After the meeting, let them unpack the how in their own space and cadence. You don’t need to slow down; you just need to sync with your team, smarter.

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 how the best leaders communicate to leave a lasting mark, and what you can apply today.