Talk Is Chief: Leadership, Communication, and Credibility in a High-Stakes World

Leaders today spend up to ninety percent of each day communicating to make good things happen in their organizations. They communicate with colleagues, customers, shareowners, creditors, regulators, advocates, and competitors. They influence culture, opportunity, risk-taking, and risk aversion. The stakes in this new communication environment are very high, driving home Winston Churchill’s statement: “The difference between mere management and leadership is communication.”

These days, leaders are likely to face adversity and career-testing situations. Crisis defines leaders and their organizations. But it does not have to take them down. Talk Is Chief provides sound advice, examples, and even a list of the Ten Commandments of Crisis Management so that leaders can either avoid crises or avert worst-case scenarios when confronted with an existential threat.

Jack Modzelewski’s vast years of experience working with numerous Fortune 500 companies as a communications consultant tells us that too many leaders undervalue and, therefore, underperform their vital communication responsibilities. They do so at their own disadvantage, and sometimes peril, in this age of heightened activism, transparency, disinformation, and disruption.