There is a lesson in John McCain's failure. It does not explain the election's outcome entirely, of course. Last night's result is owed largely to Mr. Obama's success on any number of fronts. Nonetheless, there is a lesson for communicators, both political and otherwise, to learn from Mr. McCain's fumblings. It is this: if you promise action, whether implicitly or explicitly, you had better provide it.
In late September, I wrote about Mr. McCain's apparent unwillingness to engage in the debate about a solution to our economic and financial crises, despite having taken the remarkable step on Sept. 24 of suspending his campaign to return to Washington and attend to the crises.
In the days that followed, Americans, particularly of Mr. McCain's own party, waited for the exercise of leadership that he had promised implicitly in his return to the nation's capital. They were disappointed. It did not come.
Y
es, economic issues were played out this election on Mr. Obama's half of the field. Yes, Mr. McCain would offer a series of proposals aimed at righting the country's economic ship. But Mr. McCain provided little leadership, if any, when he went to Washington, after shining a bright light on his return and making a strong, implicit promise that leadership would be delivered by it.
In the end, Mr. McCain succeeded through his trip to D.C. only at setting the bar higher for himself and exacerbating the failure that came through his ensuing inactivity. Those few, suspended days at the end of September began the unraveling of whatever chance Mr. McCain had of victory last night.
This is a scenario that could have been prevented and need not be repeated. When a promise or commitment has been made -- and it doesn't matter if it is made explicitly in words or implicitly through actions -- it must be fulfilled.
Publicly-traded companies should set reasonable expectations and then meet or beat them. An organization's brand must be supported by the operational capacity to deliver on its promise. Any company must be ready to follow through on the commitments it makes to employees through internal communications. The list could go on and on.
What commitments has your organization made through its communications? More importantly, are they being fulfilled? Whatever the promise, your organization need not learn the lesson the hard way Mr. McCain did.
In the days that followed, Americans, particularly of Mr. McCain's own party, waited for the exercise of leadership that he had promised implicitly in his return to the nation's capital. They were disappointed. It did not come.
Yes, economic issues were played out this election on Mr. Obama's half of the field. Yes, Mr. McCain would offer a series of proposals aimed at righting the country's economic ship. But Mr. McCain provided little leadership, if any, when he went to Washington, after shining a bright light on his return and making a strong, implicit promise that leadership would be delivered by it. In the end, Mr. McCain succeeded through his trip to D.C. only at setting the bar higher for himself and exacerbating the failure that came through his ensuing inactivity. Those few, suspended days at the end of September began the unraveling of whatever chance Mr. McCain had of victory last night.
This is a scenario that could have been prevented and need not be repeated. When a promise or commitment has been made -- and it doesn't matter if it is made explicitly in words or implicitly through actions -- it must be fulfilled.
Publicly-traded companies should set reasonable expectations and then meet or beat them. An organization's brand must be supported by the operational capacity to deliver on its promise. Any company must be ready to follow through on the commitments it makes to employees through internal communications. The list could go on and on.
What commitments has your organization made through its communications? More importantly, are they being fulfilled? Whatever the promise, your organization need not learn the lesson the hard way Mr. McCain did.
"Publicly-traded companies should set reasonable expectations and then meet or beat them. An organization's brand must be supported by the operational capacity to deliver on its promise."
So on point that this should be pounded into the head of every "C level" manager on a daily basis.
Posted by: Ron Garner | January 13, 2009 at 01:51 PM