Reflect & Amplify – Own the Audience Matter Expert Role
(This is the last part of a five-part Reflect & Amplify series of posts about how IC pros can Pivot With Purpose into 2021.)
So far in this series, you’ve reflected on the employee story and viewpoint, noticed how much your internal audiences have changed and noticed the inside experts who have helped you move forward. In the last post, you reflected on what you’ve learned about your audiences and how to share that knowledge.
Now, it’s time to think about what you do as an IC pro and how to answer an important question.
You’ve been there. At the dinner table or in the grocery store aisle, an innocent enough question stumps you.
“So, what exactly do you do?”
It’s not that you can’t answer. And it’s easy to say “It’s complicated” because it is exactly that. I completely understand this about you. The real answer can seem almost fantastical.
You create awesome. You spark engagement. You help make sure people are heard. You create momentum. You foster understanding, create clarity and deliver sense-making at the moment it is most needed. This is the reality and potential of your work as an IC pro wrapped up into some very short sentences.
You do these things in a thousand different ways, big and small, throughout the day, week, month and year. That’s the nature of the job as an IC pro. The little bit of everything you do adds up to massive impact.
Reflect: Think About How You’ve Created Momentum and Understanding in 2020
That little bit of everything can also make it hard to articulate your strengths to folks on the outside. But let me be clear, you bring an incredibly unique skillset and scope of influence to the organization you serve. You know this. 2020 certainly allowed you to use many muscles.
Beyond your innate ability to match up words to ideas and actions, your agility and flexibility help shape shared internal audience understanding in very special ways.
I often think of IC pros as both the gap filler and the glue in organizations.
What do I mean? You’re a gap filler, quickly filling in expertise and problem-solving when there aren’t ready partners to help. You can do this faster than many disciplines. You help make things whole.
You’re the glue – making projects, teams and initiatives sticky, allowing work and process to move forward in a more cohesive way. Simply put, you know how to bring ideas and people together to create shared understanding. You give things inherent strength.
Question: Where have you filled gaps and made things sticky in 2020?
Where did you fill a knowledge gap when ready expertise wasn’t available?
What problems were you able to solve, whether inside or outside your department?
When did you bring project teams, leaders and experts together to create shared understanding?
When did you provide clarity of purpose or understanding in the face of complexity through your ability to wrangle words and meaning?
When did you translate the unspoken into words and guidance that made the work lives of employees easier?
Within your answers to these questions notice your unique strengths as an IC pro – strengths that you’ve applied to help employee audiences learn, grow and adapt as a result.
You’ve helped teams get on the same page, act with shared purpose and move forward to a shared vision of what success looks like. These talents helped the organization overcome inertia and create early momentum.
You’ve done this in big and small ways throughout 2020. Now it’s time to use these strengths to pivot into 2021
Amplify These Strengths to Power Audience Success
There’s an emerging gap you can fill in the organization you serve – using your unique skillset and talents. You can own the role of Audience Matter Expert.
Managing change and transforming the organization require a shared understanding of the internal audiences that power the organization. Change often fails when the gap between where an internal audience stands and where an audience needs to be isn’t uniformly understood.
These gaps in understanding employee audiences erode the effectiveness of intentional transformations and slow down healing from unintentional change. Your ability to create shared understanding is powerful.
You can close this gap. This is how you can lead. You have the unique skillset and capability to do this.
You can help all leaders, project managers and other change makers get on the same page when it comes to understanding what audiences need.
Many subject matter experts have some knowledge of the internal audiences you serve. Your unique skillset and talents make you a natural and obvious leader here.
You can make this shared understanding more sticky. You can gather, codify and promote new shared understanding – turning early momentum into sustained success.
You likely already own the channels and communication pathways that meet audiences where they are at. Now let’s make sure change makers understand that exact point where a message meets your audience. This is where awareness starts, dialogue is sparked and where transformation happens.
If you haven’t already noticed, I’m pretty passionate about the power of IC to make a difference. It’s how I’m wired and what drives me to do better. I’m thinking you’re wired in a similar way.
Explaining exactly what you do to folks outside the company and your industry may not ever be easy. But to the leaders, project managers and other changemakers who build the business, I’d like to suggest some new language for you to use.
Trying saying this out loud, if not to yourself:
“I am my organization’s Audience Matter Expert. While many leaders may own accountability for the employee or business, I completely own the moment that employees and stakeholders become an audience. This is my sweet spot.
My job is to help leaders understand how best to communicate and leverage that exact moment. It’s much more than when a message lands in front of an employee.
This is the moment when companies spark dialogue and needed conversation. This is where inspiration is acknowledged and change starts. This is where understanding starts to seep in and employees find the clarity and information they need to be successful.”
You’ve shown up with strength in 2020, filling needed gaps and making things sticky when things seemed to be falling apart or getting scattered. You can strengthen healing and help your organization recover and create new strength.
Now, let’s make 2021 your time to amplify your impact. Own the role of being your organization’s Audience Matter Expert and own the moment fantastic is sparked.
Whether seeking an innovative path forward, eyeing new opportunity or rekindling your passion and belief in the power of IC, 2021 is your year.
Let’s make it amazing together.