Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Louise Thompson:
Senior communications professionals are rarely short on expertise. I mean, obviously.
After years in our role, we understand how organisations really work. The pressure, the politics, the risk, and the human dynamics behind decision-making. We know how to advise leaders and manage complexity when scrutiny is high and clarity is in short supply. We live in the grey and are brilliant at it.
And yet, many still operate just outside the centre of real influence.
Brought into strategy and planning conversations late. Too late to actually shape them, which is where our value so often lies.
Asked to “sense check” decisions already made. (Well then in that case, you’re not asking me to sense check it are you? You’re asking for validation without any influence over the outcome, hmm…)
Trusted to land the message, but not always to shape the direction. Which again, is asking us to commit to something we can’t fully stand behind.
It’s a really difficult and often incredibly uncomfortable place to be.
And I know it all too well. I lived it as a new Director of Communications and I now see it repeatedly in my coaching work with experienced Heads and Directors of Communications.
It’s a leadership transition (and a challenging one) that often goes unnamed. Although when it’s happening to you, you feel it in a visceral way.
This hit me hard as a new Director of Communications.
Used to being a functional expert with all the answers on Comms, I was suddenly asked to think like an organisational leader and behave like one too. Offering judgement, shaping options, influencing trade-offs, and sometimes challenging thinking at the very top
But many communications leaders are never supported to make that shift.
And because of that, they struggle on in their leadership roles, being functional when being strategic is the real ask. Finding themselves frozen out of the zone of influence, because they don’t know the way in. Assessed on criteria including presence, influence, authority and impact, instead of comms results. But without anyone ever sharing what “good leadership” really looks like and feels like (and how to nurture and develop those skills when you are new to it.)
This was where I found myself in my own comms career. It was like a chasm had opened up between the first 15 years of my career and the future of it. I could see the swirling depths below, but couldn’t get a hold on the foot bridge to get across safely.
And it’s why I so often felt frustrated too. Because I knew I had more to offer. But couldn’t quite get there.
My turning point (and I hope yours too)
I realised that your leadership impact is what determines whether you are heard at executive level, and not your technical knowledge. (Obvious I know, but it wasn’t to me and maybe not to you either?)
This is about trust and impact. Leading to credibility.
In my coaching, I see highly experienced comms leaders who are well liked and relied upon for the day-to-day comms work, but not invited to shape decisions and culture.
Not because they lack insight or expertise, but because they haven’t had the space to examine how they lead beyond the function.
I didn’t have this. I wish I had. A supportive group of peers who “got it.” Who understood what I was working through, and the track I was trying to lay down on my own footbridge from functional to strategic leader.
What I did have was time and space with an excellent leadership coach. Who finally helped me identify this gap in my leadership identity and impact, and work on ways to address it – emotionally, practically and strategically.
And that combination is actually extremely powerful (dare I say transformational)
Time and space to think, discuss, explore and challenge, with peers who understand the realities of the role and with a coach who can hold up the mirror for the group, so they can reflect honestly on what’s working and what isn’t.
That’s the thinking behind the Leadership in Communication Mastermind group coaching programme hosted by Strategic. I’m delighted to be leading this as your coach.
The programme brings together experienced Heads and Directors of Communications for six facilitated, 90-minute sessions over three months. The focus is practical and reflective: leadership identity, executive presence, strategic counsel, and board-level communication – the capabilities that shape influence at the most senior level.
Organisations are operating in sustained uncertainty. Change is the only constant.
Decisions are faster. Stakes are higher. And the consequences of poor judgement are more visible.
In that environment, communications leaders have a critical role to play, not just in how decisions are communicated, but in how they are shaped.
For those ready to step fully into that responsibility, the work is not about doing more.
It’s about leading differently.
I’m here to help you lay your own footbridge to that strategic impact you know you’re worthy of.
If you’re ready to invest in your leadership development in 2026, the group Mastermind programme kicks off soon. More details are here and I’d love to chat with you and explore if it’s for you.
https://strategic.global/Leadership-in-Communication-Group/
louise@louisethompsoncoaching.com
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