Business & Leadership News
Expert commentary on business & leadership communication events and trends.
Lululemon's CEO Crisis: A Communication Lesson
Lululemon is pushing aggressively into international markets while simultaneously searching for a new CEO and navigating internal boardroom friction. The company is trying to grow its global footprint at the exact moment its leadership structure is unsettled. That combination of outward ambition and inward chaos is not just a business problem. It is a communication crisis waiting to happen.
Why Communications Belongs in the C-Suite Now
A growing chorus of business analysts is making the case that communications should be treated as a core C-Suite function, not a support role tucked beneath marketing or human resources. The argument is simple: companies that elevate communications leadership make better decisions, move faster in a crisis, and build more durable reputations. The organizations still treating comms as a press release factory are falling behind.
What Brands Get Wrong About Transparency Online
Sprout Social research under the #BrandsGetReal campaign revealed a widening gap between what consumers expect from brands on social media and what brands actually deliver. Customers want honesty, human voices, and accountability. Brands keep offering polished statements and scripted responses. The data made one thing clear: transparency is no longer a nice-to-have. It is the price of admission.
Board Leadership: The Communication Skills That Win or Lose
Harvard Law School's corporate governance forum published a deep look at what separates effective board leadership from the kind that quietly destroys companies. The piece examines the dual reality facing board chairs and directors: mastering leadership communication creates outsized results, while getting it wrong carries serious institutional risk. The stakes are not abstract. Boards that communicate poorly make bad decisions and lose the room before they ever lose a vote.
How Corporate Directors Build Trust Through Transparency
Harvard Law School's corporate governance forum published a guide aimed at board directors on how to use transparency as a trust-building tool. The piece targets executives at the highest levels of organizational decision-making, arguing that openness is not just ethical but strategically smart. It frames transparency as a deliberate communication practice, not a personality trait or accident of good intentions.
What CEOs Get Wrong About Public Communication
The expectations placed on corporate leaders have shifted dramatically. Today's CEOs are not just judged on earnings reports and market performance. Employees, consumers, investors, and the public now expect them to speak clearly on social issues, company culture, and their organization's role in the world. The corner office now comes with a microphone, and most executives have no idea how to use it.
How Top CEOs Build Stakeholder Trust That Lasts
McKinsey recently published research examining how top-performing CEOs build and maintain relationships with their key stakeholders over time. The findings point to a clear pattern: the best leaders treat stakeholder communication as a deliberate, ongoing discipline rather than a reactive task they return to when something goes wrong. Most CEOs, it turns out, do the opposite.
McDonald's Board Changes: What They Got Wrong
McDonald's recently overhauled its board of directors in a significant reshuffling that raised eyebrows across the business world. The company brought in new faces and reorganized governance structure at the top level. For a brand of this scale, any boardroom shakeup sends signals far beyond the conference room. It lands in the laps of franchisees, investors, employees, and customers all at once.
