Nothing the VP says makes a difference. It is what the VP always says that moves the needle.
Directors operate through the management of people and projects. Senior leaders lead through influence, primarily through leading vision and culture. Nothing a senior leader like the provost or vice president for finance says in one meeting, email, or speech makes much of a difference. But when other leaders are in meetings saying, “remember that the VP is always saying…” that moves the needle even when the senior leader is not in the room.
A senior leader might repeat the same message a dozen times in a single week, in a dozen different rooms. Often, they are sick of saying it over and over. And yet, most people in the room heard it once, if that.
The person three seats down is thinking about the tense staff meeting she has after this one or the conversation tomorrow where she has to let someone go. She isn’t absorbing your vision. She’s rehearsing what she’s about to say to someone whose job is ending. Another colleague is texting about how to manage the sick kid getting home from school in the middle of the morning. Another is worrying about a parent’s medical diagnosis. These are not disengaged or disrespectful employees; these are humans managing the best they can, just like you.
The messages that really move the needle are the ones that are said explicitly and often. It’s the ones repeated so often, so plainly, that they stop belonging to you.
Getting there takes less inspiration than people assume, and more discipline than most leaders want to admit. It starts before you ever open your mouth. Get clear, really clear, on what matters over the next year, the next three to five, the next five to ten. Then narrow. You don’t get an infinite list of things you care about. You get a small handful you’re willing to say again and again without apologizing for the repetition. What are the key messages that you want to invest in that will make the biggest difference?
Write them down. Massage the wording until it’s tight, clear, simple, memorable, and without confusion. Have it ready at your fingertips, in the hallway, in the budget meeting, in the exit interview, so it’s never something you’re reaching for.
And then say it more than feels reasonable. Explicit and repetitive. You cannot expect people to internalize what you’ve only told them once, however well you told it. For senior leaders, this can feel redundant to them long before it feels redundant to anyone else, because they’re the only one in every room.
Clarity that moves a culture doesn’t come from saying something once, well. It comes from saying a few things, over and over, until they outlive the meeting they were said in and become part of the culture.
If you’re a senior leader, what are your priority messages? Have you refined them down? Are you explicit and repetitive? Have they taken on a life of their own? Do others start repeating and owning them?
If you’re moving into senior leadership or new to it, and challenges like this resonate, I’d be glad to connect and think through it with you.
