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2024 DBA Design Effectiveness Award winners revealed


Spanning work for global companies, major retailers, start-up challengers and beyond, the 2024 DBA Design Effectiveness Award winners have been revealed.

09/10/2024


News


Read more >>

DBA takes on British Industrial Design Association (BIDA) interests


The British Industrial Design Association (BIDA) has officially transferred its interests to the DBA, marking a shift in the national...

04/10/2024


News


Read more >>

DBA Roundup


A roundup of industry expertise, exclusive resources, business support and tools for your design business.

02/10/2024


News


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DBA Members’ Forum | September Summary


In our September DBA Members' Forum yesterday, we had an enlightening conversation about leading the modern workforce and how we might need to adapt. Here’s a summary of the conversation.

02/10/2024


News


Read more >>

When profit growth doesn’t have to stem from new business


Rather than chasing that new piece of business, what if improved margins on existing business could deliver the same profit? DBA Annual Survey Report sponsor, VisionFR takes a look. 

04/09/2024


News


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DBA Members’ Forum | August Summary


In our August DBA Members' Forum we had an energising conversation about working internationally. Here’s a summary of the conversation.

12/08/2024


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DBA Members’ Forum | July Summary


In our July DBA Members' Forum we talked about right-sizing, how to spot it might be necessary, and what action to take. Here’s a summary of the conversation.

02/07/2024


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New DBA board directors appointed at AGM


At the DBA’s Annual General Meeting on Thursday 27 June, the membership voted in three new board directors.

27/06/2024


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DBA Members’ Forum | June Summary


In our June DBA Members' Forum we talked about profitability with a specific focus on recovery rates and client servicing. Here’s a...

05/06/2024


News


Read more >>

DBA Members’ Forum | May Summary


In our May DBA Members’ Forum we discussed financial benchmarking, bringing together expert advice and drawing on some in-agency examples. Here’s a summary of the conversation.

08/05/2024


News


Read more >>

Main Content

Leaders need to show who they are, what they value and where they are going. They need to set the tone, the destination and the direction. Their personal story and the story of the business must come together into something authentic, credible and commercially powerful.

Often the stories are left to the PR, comms and marketing people, whilst the leadership skills are in the hands of an army of coaches and trainers. The magic happens when you combine them: bring the story to the heart of the strategy. Then empower the leaders to deliver it.

The best stories are human stories. They are about people. Stories about companies, organisations and governments only take us so far. We usually want to know about the human beings leading them, and the people they serve.

In my experience of over 20 years as a BBC correspondent and communications consultant, I’ve thought a lot about why some individuals cut through and others drift in obscurity.

As a reporter, I interviewed presidents, prime ministers and global CEOs. Now I’m fortunate enough to advise some of the most senior business leaders in the world. So, what are the secrets to powerful leadership communication?

Two themes come up time and time again. The first is that stories are essential for effective PR, marketing, communication and leadership. Through stories, our species was able to mobilise over tens of thousands of years and achieve a dominant position on earth. Our brains are wired for storytelling. Those with the ability to tell the most powerful stories have hacked the path of history.

The second theme is that stories are about characters. It’s hard to find riveting stories about artificial constructs or legal entities. We want someone to play the lead role, and others to join the supporting cast. PR comes unstuck when the human element goes missing.

So, the challenge for any PR, comms or marketing campaign is this: does it make the business more human? Are we telling a story that’s going to work for an audience of real human beings?

Sounds obvious? I can tell you from my experience working on both sides of the TV lens that it’s amazing how frequently the human bit goes AWOL in the business world. Either the spokesperson doesn’t sound like a human being. Or the ‘key messages’ are robotic and clunky. Or the ‘PR strategy’ is an ‘engagement grid’ or ‘stakeholder map’, with no organic and characterful story.

To my mind, Leadership and Communications are inseparable disciplines. PR only really works well when the CEO understands that they need to be the Chief Story Officer. They must personally authorise and enable the business story creation and delivery. Plus, they have to be able to articulate it – in pitches, speeches, media interviews, videos and articles.   

 

In my new book PR for Humans: how business leaders tell powerful stories, I uncover the principles of effective leadership communication and weave them together with my own stories. From the corridors of Westminster to the war zones of the Middle East, I’ve been searching for the most potent storytelling secrets.

None of this is to say that technology is irrelevant. Far from it. As digital tools become more powerful, and data creation accelerates, the most effective PR people will be the ones who can master the analytics and measure their activities accurately. But it will be the union of high-speed, high-tech story propagation with timeless human story creation and ownership that will deliver exponentially powerful results.

My message to business leaders – tell better stories as well as utilising new PR technology.

My message to businesses and their advisers – embrace human storytelling and the most advanced digital tools.  

Robots will never beat us on storytelling. Because they can’t know what it is to be human. And stories will always be about that deeper connection to the nature of our species. But without the machines, we can’t make sense of this vast universe of code that we’ve created or try to navigate it. 

And if you want to be a better, more credible leader, then the work usually starts with finding a clearer, more powerful story – for you and your business.

About: Mike Sergeant

Mike Sergeant is an author, consultant and international leadership communications adviser. He provides media training, pubic speaking training, reputation advice and PR strategy for world-leading corporations and globally prominent individuals.

Read more about his work at www.sergeantleaders.com and www.prforhumans.com

 

Image credits:

Mike Sergeant

Rita Vicari | Unsplash

award

2024 DBA Design Effectiveness Award winners revealed


Spanning work for global companies, major retailers, start-up challengers and beyond, the 2024 DBA Design Effectiveness Award winners have been revealed.

09/10/2024


News


Read more >>

DBA takes on British Industrial Design Association (BIDA) interests


The British Industrial Design Association (BIDA) has officially transferred its interests to the DBA, marking a shift in the national...

04/10/2024


News


Read more >>

DBA Roundup


A roundup of industry expertise, exclusive resources, business support and tools for your design business.

02/10/2024


News


Read more >>

DBA Members’ Forum | September Summary


In our September DBA Members' Forum yesterday, we had an enlightening conversation about leading the modern workforce and how we might need to adapt. Here’s a summary of the conversation.

02/10/2024


News


Read more >>

When profit growth doesn’t have to stem from new business


Rather than chasing that new piece of business, what if improved margins on existing business could deliver the same profit? DBA Annual Survey Report sponsor, VisionFR takes a look. 

04/09/2024


News


Read more >>

DBA Members’ Forum | August Summary


In our August DBA Members' Forum we had an energising conversation about working internationally. Here’s a summary of the conversation.

12/08/2024


News


Read more >>

DBA Members’ Forum | July Summary


In our July DBA Members' Forum we talked about right-sizing, how to spot it might be necessary, and what action to take. Here’s a summary of the conversation.

02/07/2024


News


Read more >>

New DBA board directors appointed at AGM


At the DBA’s Annual General Meeting on Thursday 27 June, the membership voted in three new board directors.

27/06/2024


News


Read more >>

DBA Members’ Forum | June Summary


In our June DBA Members' Forum we talked about profitability with a specific focus on recovery rates and client servicing. Here’s a...

05/06/2024


News


Read more >>

DBA Members’ Forum | May Summary


In our May DBA Members’ Forum we discussed financial benchmarking, bringing together expert advice and drawing on some in-agency examples. Here’s a summary of the conversation.

08/05/2024


News


Read more >>

Main Content

DBA Chief Executive, Deborah Dawton, will be speaking at the event alongside industry leaders from Visa, UCB Pharmaceuticals, Lloyds Banking Group, Siegelvision, GE and Space150 and more on wide-ranging topics such as:

    •    Maintaining your brand voice through disruption 
    •    AR, AI, and the next computing revolution
    •    Brexit and discontinuity 
    •    Design for prosperity

DBA members receive a 10% discount when using a members promo code. Login to the Members Area to access the discount code.

Find out more about the dmi conference, register and book your place.

Image credit: 

John Salzarulo on Unsplash

award

2024 DBA Design Effectiveness Award winners revealed


Spanning work for global companies, major retailers, start-up challengers and beyond, the 2024 DBA Design Effectiveness Award winners have been revealed.

09/10/2024


News


Read more >>

DBA takes on British Industrial Design Association (BIDA) interests


The British Industrial Design Association (BIDA) has officially transferred its interests to the DBA, marking a shift in the national...

04/10/2024


News


Read more >>

DBA Roundup


A roundup of industry expertise, exclusive resources, business support and tools for your design business.

02/10/2024


News


Read more >>

DBA Members’ Forum | September Summary


In our September DBA Members' Forum yesterday, we had an enlightening conversation about leading the modern workforce and how we might need to adapt. Here’s a summary of the conversation.

02/10/2024


News


Read more >>

When profit growth doesn’t have to stem from new business


Rather than chasing that new piece of business, what if improved margins on existing business could deliver the same profit? DBA Annual Survey Report sponsor, VisionFR takes a look. 

04/09/2024


News


Read more >>

DBA Members’ Forum | August Summary


In our August DBA Members' Forum we had an energising conversation about working internationally. Here’s a summary of the conversation.

12/08/2024


News


Read more >>

DBA Members’ Forum | July Summary


In our July DBA Members' Forum we talked about right-sizing, how to spot it might be necessary, and what action to take. Here’s a summary of the conversation.

02/07/2024


News


Read more >>

New DBA board directors appointed at AGM


At the DBA’s Annual General Meeting on Thursday 27 June, the membership voted in three new board directors.

27/06/2024


News


Read more >>

DBA Members’ Forum | June Summary


In our June DBA Members' Forum we talked about profitability with a specific focus on recovery rates and client servicing. Here’s a...

05/06/2024


News


Read more >>

DBA Members’ Forum | May Summary


In our May DBA Members’ Forum we discussed financial benchmarking, bringing together expert advice and drawing on some in-agency examples. Here’s a summary of the conversation.

08/05/2024


News


Read more >>
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