If any of us needed affirmation that there is no such thing as going ‘back to normal,’ I think we’re getting that message right now. COVID-19 is not going away, everything is not returning to the way it used to be. A global pandemic has changed our lives in ways we likely couldn’t have imagined. It is time for leaders in both public and private roles to humbly acknowledge the reality of how much is forever changed. Not to scare people, but to inspire them.

It is time to begin imagining all kinds of new experiences. Working in offices is forever changed, so we need to start thinking very differently about commercial real estate, about how we use space in our communities. Organizational cultures must adapt to new ways of thinking about employee commitment (we have two employees who have permanently moved to different parts of the country!). Innovation in schools and learning will continue, as the pandemic triggered some amazing creativity and passion to overcome adversity. The reality of essential workers not making a livable wage cannot be buried, nor escape from political and economic consequences. It is like the landscape after a shift of the tectonic plates: navigation and expectations are forever changed. But so are possibilities. More of us need to start leaning into THAT part of the future. Take two steps forward.

But first we need to contain this virus. Finding the right combination of ‘carrots and sticks’ to motivate vaccinations and safe behaviors has proven elusive – and that leaves us all at risk. Giant step back.

My observation: two massive global realities are colliding and creating this time of both extraordinary opportunity and risk. First, technology has allowed us to curate our existence: we consume the news and content we choose, we interact with those we choose, we can conduct much of our lives without venturing out of our comfort zones. But at the same time, the extent of our shared fate is emerging into our consciousness: global warming is real and has dramatic consequences; a pandemic can spread around the globe in days and harms indiscriminately. And so individual liberty – a concept of patriotic passion in the USA – is being challenged by the realities of responsibility for collective health and safety. The fact of shared fate is not new; but the need to acknowledge it has never been more dramatic. There are things that need to change. Urgently.

I’ve written about this before: humans generally do not do change well. A part of the dilemma is that we are not wired to like endings…and change inevitably involves things ending. We get stuck on endings a lot. A key to solving the dilemma of managing change is to get focused on what happens because of an ending: a new beginning! Newer, better things can happen after an ending if we open ourselves up to those possibilities. Two steps forward. But of course, there is often a catch: there are usually winners and losers when things change, and so people cling to endings. One step back.

Leaders in organizations, in communities, in our political systems need to turn up the volume on the upside of what is ahead. We’ve got to create momentum for our new beginnings, not allow ourselves to be stuck in inevitable endings. Two steps forward!

I really love it when some big news breaks and I can say ‘I was just thinking about that!’ It happened earlier this week, when President Biden issued Executive Orders that are aimed at spurring innovation, much of it by making it harder for the largest of our private sector companies to have such commanding control of their competitive eco-systems and an overall tax system that has been groomed to enable powerful financial protection of the status quo.

I have not made a careful study of the specifics of POTUS’s orders, so I do not intend to defend or applaud them here. But it is hard to argue against the basic rationale of his economic team: the pace and impact of innovation has been slowing in our economy for more than twenty years.

Of course, we have seen introductions of amazing products and services – but the economic value of those innovations as a percentage of our economy has been falling. In part that has happened because it is easier for companies to ‘buy’ their growth via acquisitions and marginally-innovative extensions of existing products (i.e. how many varieties of instant oatmeal or Cheerios are in your cupboard?). Investing in real innovation requires research and development; market analysis; audience segmentation; manufacturing ramp-ups; distribution, marketing and sales channels. There is real risk in dramatic innovation – but there is also real impact potential.

Think not just of Amazon – but of the innovations that are happening in the eco-system created by Amazon. The genius of Bezos and his team was not just the construct of their online destination; it was how quickly they also took control of the value propositions in the ecosystem around their destination. They accomplished in twenty-five years what it took more traditional manufacturing sectors a generation or more to create: an ecosystem of vendors and suppliers that can be manipulated by sheer scale. I doubt what Biden’s team is looking for is more Amazons; but the phenomenon of that company is a powerful illustration of the potential of innovation.

Saying it that way sounds bad – it is not inherently bad to be big. There is a lot of good about scale. But the insight from Biden’s economic team is important to reflect on: how do we incentivize innovation that creates real growth within our economy and our opportunities? Not just for some, but for all of us collectively? Economists talk about it this way: how do we make the pie bigger, not just fight over who gets the biggest pieces of the existing pie? So far, Amazon has not so much grown the pie as they have overseen the redistribution of the pieces. The idea now is to find ways to unlock the potential for growing the pie that is an inclusive economy.

What does a communications consultancy have to do with all this? We believe in the power of communications to inspire people about possibilities; to illustrate the need for dramatic change and innovation; to illuminate the path of innovation and its consequences.

Let us know if we can help you imagine the possibilities, or make the case for change, or navigate the process of change. Be brave…here we go!!

Is anyone else sick of the the alarming messages we are seeing about important topics these days? Whether on the topic of beating COVID-19, global political dynamics or climate change, it seems things are either dire and dystopian or fabulous and we’ve ‘turned the corner.’

I have been around long enough to expect shades of gray on most topics and am so disappointed by the jarring nature of good news/bad news pendulums delivered by too many leaders. Somehow, we have got to train ourselves back to the reality of how l-o-n-g it takes to work through gnarly problems. How vexing it can be to see potential breakthroughs only to realize that achieving them will take immense resources, or courageous realignment of political priorities. And then we will need to find the political will and practical approaches to actually commit those resources or take those political steps. And I believe we need organizational leaders to be part of taking these responsibilities in each of our communities, on each of the challenging issues we face.

As I reflect on why and how we have devolved into such unimpressive discourse (to say nothing of decision-making), I land on one of my oft-visited topics: trust. We have suffered devasting declines in the extent to which people find the institutions around them trustworthy. No sector has escaped the trend: media outlets, public officials at every level, Wall Street and corporate leaders collectively, law enforcement, higher education, even philanthropy.

Interestingly, individuals will give higher scores on trustworthiness to specific leaders: the CEO of their company, or the mayor of their town, the governor of their state. And there are important things to take away from that distinction.

Trust is built by meeting expectations over time. Say what you are going to do; then do it. After a few repetitions of that experience, a level of trust is formed. Over longer spans of time, we learn that trusted entities can even make a mistake, or miss a goal, and still retain trust. Once established, trust has capacity to show some tolerance for human error. That is the good news.

The bad news is that, again, whole categories of leaders in our society have seen their trustworthiness decline. And rather than striving to rebuild trust by carefully setting expectations and then meeting those expectations, it seems it is easier to opine on what is wrong and demonize – or to catch the wave of a positive develop and jump to the front of the crowd to declare victory. Soon, of course, the trend lines change, and expectations are yet-again not met. And trust declines.

There are great opportunities right in front of us to reverse this trend. Some individual corporate leaders are sticking their necks out with commitments related to equity and to climate change. Big gnarly challenges that they cannot actually solve on their own. But by focusing attention on building trust in their leadership, they can also rebuild in institutions more broadly. Same for individual public sector leaders; same for leaders in media, in public safety.

It took time to create the devolving phenomena we are experiencing now. It will take time to rebuild institutional trust. Let’s get started.

As a 65-year-old white female executive, I must confess that I have serious work to do on the challenge of talking comfortably about race: about differences, about commonalities, about privilege, about systemic racism and its corrosive impacts on people – on Black people, on Indigenous people, on Asian-heritage people. On all of us, really. The desire to be honest and authentic drives me – followed closely by fear of offending others, of sounding arrogant, or ignorant, or privileged: any of which I can sometimes reflect without intending to do so.

One of my Black colleagues gave me the greatest gift for this work some years ago. He said, “we all need practice for these conversations; so let’s start practicing.” It gave me and all our colleagues permission to begin, knowing that we would likely not be very effective – or comfortable – at first. But like so many important things in life, practice does make a difference.

This offer to practice should not be mistaken as an expectation that our Black and Brown colleagues and friends can do the work of becoming inclusive for us “white folks.” But practicing amongst only those who share our racial identify will not enable us to achieve all we say we want to achieve: an equitable future. Conversations about race amongst those of us from our majority ethnic populations can enable educating each other, sharing information about the reasons we should all want to achieve equity. Not motivated by guilt, but perhaps moral conviction. Or perhaps a rational assessment that, as the late U.S. Senator from Minnesota, Paul Wellstone, said: “We all do better when we all do better.” Amen. Our national economy needs us all to do better to compete around the world.

Another good friend has shared with me his experience that, as a Black man, he has understood the need to ‘perform’ for much of his life: engage with white professionals in ways that allow the white colleagues to feel comfortable. He has also told me that he will not be doing that anymore. He is successful enough that he can project who he really is, what he really thinks, in the ways most authentic to him. Am I ready for that? I want to be, so we’ll see.

I came of age as a professional at a time when being a young female meant I had some experiences that paralleled that notion of ‘performing.’ Trying to fit into a group of colleagues, though the only one wearing a skirt, hosiery and high heels was a daily grind – and wore on my self-confidence. As I commit myself now to the work of advancing equity, it helps to reflect on the experiences I had early in my career as a ‘performer,’ but also, over time, as a leader of colleagues, both men and women.

Finding places and ways to practice talking about race should be a personal commitment for each of us – and we should encourage each other that there are no right or wrong ways to proceed. Just proceed! Be willing to be vulnerable: expect to unintentionally offend others, perhaps embarrass yourself. Be prepared to apologize and learn from those moments. Try again. You will keep getting better, and your life will be enriched in ways you may not anticipate: richer, more adventurous, more rewarding.

In the same way our organizations and our communities have benefitted exponentially from the progress toward giving women equal access to opportunities, to power, to wealth (though it must be noted: we have more work to do!), we will collectively benefit from marking that progress for our colleagues of color. All boats will rise.

Let’s keep practicing.

At Tunheim, we have a mantra that guides our communications work for clients: “Well-understood organizations have the best opportunity for success.” This is particularly true in a time of disruption and change.

There has been a lot written about how much has changed in the past 12-14 months. Arguably, the period between February 2020 and April 2021 has been the most consequential in recent history. We had three seismic events that impacted every aspect of our lives; the pandemic changed nearly every daily norm; the murder of George Floyd, the trial and verdict brought about an ongoing cultural and social reckoning that has forced many of us to face long-ignored systemic injustice and; the 2020 presidential election and its aftermath continues to challenge our system of self-governance. The implications from these events will endure for some time and, despite our collective want to return to “normalcy,” not much will ever be the same.

For business, disruption and change have become the new normal. The economic collapse in 2020 caused severe disruptions and had acute adverse impacts on many sectors. For the businesses that have survived or even prospered, large and small, all have been compelled to adapt and change not only to dynamic economic conditions but also from the monumental shifts in our social and cultural norms.

Successful organizations have historically focused on understanding the stakeholders critical to their success. Today, however, in this time of transformational change and disruption, businesses are faced with an essential imperative; be intentional about ensuring your stakeholders understand you. The risk for being misunderstood can be significant and has the potential to be catastrophic if not managed correctly.

Just last month, Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines found themselves hustling to ensure their stakeholders understood their positions on Georgia’s voting reform law after some troubling headlines. Both companies recognized that a failure to speak out with clarity would not only stain their reputations with important stakeholders but also have the potential for significant impact on their bottom lines.

Major League Baseball made a similar, albeit, a more decisive move. It recognized that critical stakeholders, internal and external, needed to understand its commitment to an important organizational value by strongly embracing voting rights and moved this year’s All-Star Game.

Its not just large organizations that need to be understood. Stakeholders for nearly every size business demand accountability from leadership now more than ever and expect an elevated level of responsibility for establishing a public character that reflects their interests.

Today we see a renewed focus on organizational values and big investments in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) activities. In addition, businesses are placing greater emphasis on Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) as well as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). A public embrace of these initiatives has become essential and “must do” investments, not only because they are significant drivers for building and maintaining a reputation with important stakeholders but because they are a necessity for doing business.

My colleague Kathy Tunheim, often says, “businesses earn the reputation they deserve.” At the heart of that truth is the critical need for organizations to be proactive in defining themselves so as not to be misunderstood by the stakeholders necessary for their success. Success is no longer just about profitability and shareholder value. Success is defined by what stakeholders determine it to be.

For the past thirty years, Tunheim has helped organizations define and execute their narratives to ensure that stakeholders understand who they are, what they do and what they stand for. Let us know if we can help you.

In the blur of a massive global disruption, taking time to occasionally stop and listen to other people in different situations can be a wonderful gift. Last week, our team at Tunheim had the opportunity to connect, listen and learn how members of our IPREX Global Communication network in 110 cities are being impacted by and dealing with the triple challenge of a global pandemic, a worldwide recession and the urgent move to eradicate racism. A series of conversations over four days revealed an amazing collection of insights.

Part of the gift of being a member of a global organization is access to firsthand information and insights from others living and working beyond our horizon. The leaders of our Italian office in Milan warned us early that working from home would reveal “the things that really matter.” For instance, we learned early that having a dog in Milan led to the precious right to take a stroll outdoors. As the pandemic worsened, we got early insights on evolving new needs and requirements both for our talent and systems as well as our client organizations. That intel led our team in Minneapolis to create a process and system that several clients are using today to pivot during the crisis and emerge as stronger organizations.

Last week, we got deep insights into how differently COVID-19 is playing out across our global regions. If you ask Ben Haslem in our Sydney office, Wells Haslem Mayhew, he will tell you COVID-19 as a disease had a comparative low impact with 123 deaths – though every passing is still a tragedy. Australia has been heralded as a global leader, but despite the government’s best efforts to protect the populace, the Commonwealth is entering its first recession in three decades. Many business leaders in Australia have never experienced recession as managers – there is, in effect, no playbook.

Some of our offices may never go back to the “office” as we knew it. Others are downsizing space, reconsidering the definition of “workday,” exploring productivity and worrying about finding effective ways to collaborate. Our collective strength, it turns out, has been our longtime ability to collaborate across time zones, continents and cultures. Those efforts over the past decade are serving our team members well.

It took 8 minutes and 46 seconds to ignite the greatest urgency to eliminate racism since Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama in 1965. It is personally enlightening to see and hear the impact George Floyd’s murder ignited worldwide.

Our industry’s miserable failure to create inclusive work environments to attract (and retain) people of color was the subject of the most illuminating discussion among our network partners. I have personally viewed the overwhelming whiteness of the communications industry as a “U.S. problem.” I have fresh perspective after hearing Xavier Prabhu, the founder and managing director of PRHub in India, share his experience moving through subtle structures designed to restrict access and upward mobility in our industry. The bottom line is systemic racist practices prevent talented people from bringing their varied perspectives and talents to our communication practices.  In addition, Xavier pushed our network to “broadening the definition of diversity and inclusion to include race, religion, color to caste and even access among others.”

We were duly challenged by the leader of our Tallahassee, Florida office to stop complaining about the lack of Black applicants. Heidi Otway, president and partner of Salter Mitchell, challenged us to get out of our offices and actively recruit talented students seeking marketing and communication careers from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Heidi, who is Black, graduated from an HBCU and has introduced other public relations agencies to her alma mater and other schools to find talent. She challenged the members of our network to recruit Black interns and graduates and she is building a list of HBCUs with journalism programs. I can assure you Heidi will have a lot more company recruiting students during future visits.

The challenge moving forward is to focus on the unique things we heed to do to strengthen our business, practices and team. In the past we gave up because it was too hard, too big and other things could distract us from the truly difficult work. If we learned anything last week, it is the hard truth that there are no more excuses. It is time to make the difficult pivots required to create work environments that are safe, inclusive and equitable.

Patrick Milan serves as Tunheim’s Chief Insights Officer. He also serves on the Board of Trustees for Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota and the Board of Directors of Artistry, a producing theater and visual arts nonprofit.