In a world where someone can walk into a restaurant, shopping mall, or school and open fire on hundreds of innocent people, where jobs disappear overnight, where cancer appears suddenly on a scan, people grasp for order, stability, and control.

They demand the same from communication coming to them––the email, instruction, or announcement should make sense for them personally. Generic messages about change get ignored.

Be Specific and Concrete

Leaders use the following vague statements in many different scenarios––with a multitude of meanings.

I definitely made my share of bad hires in the early days as a business owner: The salesperson who never made a sale. The admin who stole our software for her sideline business. The marketing rep who continually fell asleep at her desk and did her personal errands while out of the office on “company business.”