individual, using emotional literacy to make sure that a fundamental sense of belonging and purpose is maintained. To be truly effective, Change Communications happens at a leadership level because it is about creating an environment where change can be introduced as a holistically positive force 6 . More than an add- on, Change Communications is a nuanced and integral part of significant progression and growth. This last point is crucial, because the ability to deal well with change is one of the few absolute necessities of the modern world. In the words of John F Kennedy, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.” “This is what we have always done…” Human nature makes us inclined to do things the way we have done them before, even if subconsciously we know they are not quite right. So, regular communication can fall short in affecting change successfully because it does not properly take into account the integral need for positive discourse between the real people involved. An audience needs to be attentive to understand and believe in the value of what they are hearing, so the message needs to be strong and attractive. Nothing should be assumed as obvious. Just as a pupil who fails to explain the basis for their theory will lose marks, so too the CEO who fails to properly explain the benefits of change will
lose their audience. The merits of transformation should be made clear by eloquent and persuasive exposition, which should be the result of careful thought, preparation and rehearsal so that the subtleties of change are fully understood and implemented by the rest of the organisation. When leaders limit their focus to the logistics of change they neglect to properly consider its impact on the people who will be affected most. If communication is seen merely as a behaviour to get the job done rather than a process, it often becomes one way and top down 7 , lacks purposeful feedback and is in danger of becoming more of an edict. This practice has been dissected in some detail by Jennifer Frahm and Kerry Brown, most recently in 2011, when one of their conclusions was that communications often fail because they are monologic rather than dialogic 8 ideas further explored by Simoes and Esposito in 2013 9 . One- way communication from a superior, however it is dressed up, is ultimately an instruction and will not engender the receptivity 10 necessary to win allies or develop understanding. A related pitfall is a lack of communication. Most change processes take time; some large-scale re- structuring of multi-nationals may even take years, during which the temptation for leaders is to assume that if there is nothing to say, nothing need be said. In a small business where people are very hands on, this just might be the case but, even where the owner speaks
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