Culture is how your stomach feels on a Sunday night
For some people, Sunday night brings a sense of purpose or anticipation. For others, it brings a heaviness that is difficult to explain. That feeling is data too.
- Blog post, Communication, Communications professional, internal communications, Leadership, Team performance
From Boomers to Gen Z: Rethinking employee communications
Internal communication has never been harder. For the first time in history, we have up to five generations working side-by-side. At the same time, hybrid work, digital collaboration tools, AI and information overload are fundamentally changing how employees consume information…
- Australian Government, Blog post, Communication, Communications professional, Leadership, Professional development
Building capacity isn’t always about more people
For years, communications teams solved capability problems the same way: hire someone new. New channel? Recruit a specialist.Someone resigns? Replace the role.New project? Add more capacity. But in the current government environment, that approach is becoming harder to justify and,…
Why women can’t lead like men
Controversial heading, right? Good. I wanted to get your attention on International Women’s Day. While I don’t like it and don’t want the world to be like this, this theme has kept recurring over the last few weeks. Women can’t…
Developing the next generation of communicators
One of the quieter questions behind the excitement about AI in communications is this: What happens to early-career professionals when many of the fundamentals they need to learn are now automated? For decades, communications followed an informal apprenticeship model. Early…
- Australian Government, Blog post, Communication, Communications professional, Leadership, Professional development
AI – Comms’ new and very enthusiastic intern
Spoiler alert: Artificial intelligence is here to stay. It is reshaping how every profession works, but for communications teams, the impact feels particularly personal. Not because AI can now do graphic design, rewrite content or develop a media release, but…
Changing the Language of Change
“Change is hard.”“People don’t like change.”“Our workforce is change fatigued.” These phrases are so familiar they often pass without question. They appear in leadership conversations, strategy papers and APS Census debriefs year after year. But what if the way we…
From Doing to Leading: The real shift when you step into SES
We often find ourselves chatting with people in our network about their career journeys – the highs, the lows, and everything in between. As former EL2s, we know firsthand that being a great EL1 doesn’t automatically make you a great…
- Australian Government, Blog post, Business information, Communications professional, Leadership, Professional development
Lessons from Japan: Patiently getting better outcomes
Last week, I travelled to Japan to meet with the Japanese government and stakeholders for a project I am working on. I haven’t worked in Japan before, but I know the business culture is very different from the laid-back and…
- Australian Government, Communication, Communications professional, Leadership, Professional development
Why do we say yes when we want to say no?
– “Can you just put together a factsheet quickly?” *Internal voice: No. Factsheets are a terrible idea. They’re hard to search, often inaccessible, and no one wants to download anything these days.* “Sure.” ————————————– “We just need a quick 5–10…
