#WeLeadComms: Padraig McKeon

He may be on the cusp of the fifth decade of his career, but Dublin-based Padraig McKeon’s sense of purpose for communication and his appetite to learn is as keen today as it was when he came into the sector in the mid-1980s.

The sweet spot in his work for McKeon is in working with senior leaders to plan for the strategic use of communication to complete core strategy or to manage through uncertainty, whether in times of change, challenge or crisis.

At the recent Strategic-IABC EMENA Communication Leadership Summit in Brussels he summed up his perspective on the opportunities ahead for communicators.  “Organisations historically have been controlled by finance because it sustains organisations. Increasingly however information will become  of parallel value and the capacity to know and understand how information flows and the effects that it has when it comes in contact with different stakeholders – for better or worse – will be a major requirement in management and leadership across all sectors”

His broad career experience has shaped a philosophy for communication that goes beyond messaging.  He doesn’t see communication just as something that supports organisations. Instead he sees it as a core competence that enables organisations function more easily, make better decisions and have better connections with all of those around then that matter.

“Communication is like oil in a machine. Every organisation exists in a context that is framed by its objectives with a range of proximate parties who play a role in its ultimate success. Communication is a facilitator and enabler of relationships with those parts. In its simplest sense, it is a two way process that ensures an organisation is suitable aligned with everything going on around it”

Alongside his advisory work – he spent 27 years in agency PR before striking out as a specialist senior advisor 13 years ago, McKeon dedicates significant time to building the future strength of communications through teaching and mentoring, helping shape emerging communicators while championing higher standards for the role communication should play in organisations.

He has consistently advocated for communication leaders to take on the responsibility of not just being advisers at the edge of decision-making, but as trusted contributors at the centre of it.

“I don’t have any doubt that there isn’t an organisation in the world that can’t be improved with better communication. It’s not enough though to sit in judgement and just advise. Within organisations, and alongside their leadership and management, communicators have to be core contributors, shaping decisions and how they are made.”

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