For years, communications professionals have been having the same conversation. The wording changes slightly. The conference panels evolve. New surveys emerge. Yet the underlying debate remains remarkably consistent.
Why doesn't communications have more influence?
Why aren't communications leaders involved in strategic decisions earlier?
Why are so many communications functions still fighting for a seat at the leadership table?
The profession largely treats this as an organisational problem. If only communicators reported directly to the CEO. If only leadership teams properly understood the value of communications. If only communications functions were invited into more strategic discussions. It is an appealing explanation because it places responsibility elsewhere. The trouble is that it is not entirely convincing.
During a recent conversation on Strategy, Story & Stakeholders, Gab Ferree, founder of Off the Record and former communications leader at Slack, Bumble, Salesforce and OneTrust, offered a perspective that many communications professionals will find uncomfortable.
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The problem, she argued, is not primarily organisational. The problem is that too many communicators continue to think like communicators when they should be thinking like business leaders.
At first glance, that might feel harsh. Communications teams face genuine challenges. Many operate with limited resources. Some report into complex organisational structures. Others struggle to secure visibility with senior stakeholders.
Yet there is a deeper question worth asking.
Why do some communicators become indispensable strategic advisers while others remain tactical executors?
The answer rarely lies in the organisation chart. It lies in how those professionals choose to view their role. One of the most striking observations from my conversation with Gab was her belief that the strongest communications leaders stop identifying themselves primarily as communications specialists. Instead, they see themselves as business leaders whose particular expertise happens to be communications.
That distinction changes everything. If you see yourself as a communications practitioner, your focus naturally gravitates towards communications outputs. Coverage. Impressions. Share of voice. Engagement rates. Open rates. If you see yourself as a business leader, your attention shifts elsewhere.
Revenue.
Growth.
Profitability.
Retention.
Reputation.
Value creation.
Communications remains your discipline, but business outcomes become your objective. The distinction sounds subtle. In practice, it is profound. Consider how different functions typically communicate their value inside organisations. Finance leaders speak in commercial terms. Operations leaders speak about efficiency. Sales leaders speak about revenue. Human resources leaders increasingly speak about productivity, capability and retention.
Communications professionals, meanwhile, often remain trapped discussing communications metrics. None of those metrics are inherently wrong. Coverage has value. Visibility matters. Engagement matters.
But most executive teams are not making decisions based on media impressions. They are making decisions based on commercial outcomes. This is where communications frequently creates a problem for itself. The function often delivers business value but struggles to articulate that value in business language. As a result, communications becomes viewed as a support service rather than a strategic capability. That perception has consequences. When budgets tighten, support functions come under scrutiny. When organisations restructure, support functions are asked to justify their existence. When leaders look for strategic advisers, they tend to gravitate towards colleagues who can clearly demonstrate commercial impact.
The irony is that communications sits at the heart of some of the most valuable issues facing organisations today.
Trust.
Reputation.
Employee engagement.
Leadership visibility.
Stakeholder confidence.
Corporate purpose.
Few functions influence all of those areas simultaneously. Yet the profession continues to undersell itself.
Part of the challenge is historical. Communications has traditionally emerged from journalism, media relations and public affairs. Those foundations remain hugely important, but they were never designed to produce business leaders. Many communicators have spent years mastering storytelling, stakeholder management and media engagement without ever being taught how business models work, how organisations create value or how leadership teams make decisions.
That is beginning to change. And it needs to. Because the gap between communications excellence and business excellence is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Artificial intelligence is only accelerating that trend.
Much of the tactical work that once differentiated communications professionals is becoming easier, faster and more automated. Content creation can be scaled. Research can be accelerated. Reporting can be streamlined.
The value of communications professionals increasingly lies elsewhere.
Judgement.
Context.
Influence.
Strategic counsel.
Business understanding.
The communicators who thrive over the next decade are unlikely to be those who produce the most content. They will be those who most clearly connect communication with commercial outcomes. It requires communicators to spend more time understanding their organisation's objectives and less time focusing exclusively on communications outputs. It requires curiosity about finance, operations, strategy and organisational performance. Most importantly, it requires communicators to stop waiting for influence to be granted.
Influence is rarely awarded through reporting lines. It is earned through credibility.
The communications profession often talks about claiming a seat at the top table. Perhaps the more important question is whether enough communicators are behaving like they already belong there. Because the leaders who are shaping organisational decisions today are not necessarily the loudest voices in the room. They are the people helping organisations achieve better outcomes. The opportunity for communications has never been greater.
The challenge is that the profession may first need to redefine how it sees itself.
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