Strategic Communication That Actually Works With THE Bradley Harris

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Welcome to the Uncommon Communicator Podcast.
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I'm your host, Dance Gable, and this is where we bring enlightenment to the topic of communication.
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Are you ready to take ownership of your conversations?
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Are you looking to possess the skills to navigate and facilitate conversations to a mutual understanding?
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Then grab your growth mindset and let's go.
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Welcome to the Uncommon Communicator Podcast.
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It is my special, special.
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I'm just so excited here to have Bradley Harris with me.
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Bradley, I want to welcome you.
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Uh Bradley provides trusted advisory support for organizations and leaders navigating complex stakeholder environments, public visibility, leadership pressure, and strategic decision making.
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I know this is all true because I stole it from your website.
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Welcome to the show.
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Thank you, James.
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It's good to be with you.
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Yeah, this is going to be fun.
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Like I think you really work in an area that is unique as best as I can tell.
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And in working in that uh that type of unique, and we're going to dive a little bit into that.
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You know, you work at high-level governmental level.
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You you know a lot of people in the government.
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That's a different level of communication uh for sure.
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But what made you get into this work where you get to work with other people's uh messy problems?
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You know, it's fascinating, James.
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I always love this question.
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I have a very um diverse and untraditional career path.
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Um I set out on my journey about 13 years ago.
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I I worked throughout different roles.
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And when I started, um, I my first job I was appointed to to serve as executive assistant and an advisor to a head of state.
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And it was in that role that I saw firsthand, and I give her, I don't give her as much credit as I should, but our communications director, she was dynamic, and she was really, you know, more than just a communications director.
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She was what she instilled in me is as you and I talked earlier, you know, being that sponge in the room.
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And, you know, people ask me all the time, well, you know, you call yourself a strategic advisor.
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You've worked at the highest level of government with these really, you know, high-level, high-profile folks.
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You know, how did you get that experience?
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And really, it is that being the sponge.
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And I say that, you know, you have two ears and one mouth.
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That's very important.
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So it means you should listen twice as much as you're speaking.
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And I think that's really that advice too has uh, you know, caused me to be a lot more diligent in my learning in in a high pressure environment, you know, and I've worked in a lot of those high pressure environments where, you know, you're you're in the middle of a crisis and you're trying to execute uh, you know, a plan, or you know, you're in the middle of a legislative session and you're trying to make a decision on a policy that impacts millions of people.
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You know, so making those decisions and weighing all of those decisions out.
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But I really give credit to my very first role in government and serving as that sort of you know executive assistant, being part of that um senior staff, if you will.
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Um, but my communications director was dynamic and I loved watching her and I loved her attention to detail and how she thought through every perspective of communications.
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It wasn't just, you know, in one lane or one tactic.
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It was multiple tactics firing at different times.
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And really, you know, we'll talk more about this as we go throughout the podcast, but really what that means to the organization and what that means to, you know, the the figurehead in the the office, or be it the president or the CEO of the company or whatever, and just the value of communications and how important investing in people in that space uh really is.
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Yeah.
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And that's you mentioned a couple of things.
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One, the idea of being a sponge, I think, is really crucial in uh in communicating.
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You know, if you can actually listen more than you talk, it's an amazing way to communicate better, which is not often the perception as well.
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But you mentioned something else too.
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When you talked about that relationship with your communications director, this is something we talk about in our organization.
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Uh, it's kind of there's this learning square where you go for L1 to L two, you know, you're learner one, you're a learner two, and this it's this kind of this process of, you know, I do, you watch, and then you do I watch.
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And for you to be able to see that from somebody who's performing at a high level, uh, I would love to hear some of those things when you talk about hearing that from all aspects.
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Like, how did you how did you absorb those kind of um that kind of learning?
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Was it just literally being a sponge or like the like how how were how was that handed over to you?
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You know, it's it's funny.
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I I wasn't directly involved in those communications, media relations, PR, um, you know, campaigns and projects at that level.
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It was in my next role, which I am super grateful for, it was the perfect stepping stone where I went over and worked in economic development.
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And I was able to, in that role, specifically manage, I was a project manager, managed marketing and communications related projects for the Department of Commerce at the time and the Cabinet Secretary of Commerce and Economic Development Initiatives in the state.
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And that was really positioning and messaging where I got experience there, positioning and messaging our state to the world to say, this is why you should bring jobs to the state that I'm working in.
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This is why you should, you know, expand operations if you have existing operations here.
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So for me, and you know, you know this too, working in communications and and working in public relations, you know, in PR we call ourselves practitioners because we practice.
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And so I can only be a better PR practitioner by practicing.
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And what does that mean?
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I need a crisis.
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I mean, I have a good friend of mine who I call on the phone every morning.
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We talk, and she's she's in the PR field, and you know, it's like, I hate to say this, but I have to because it's just something we've talked about before.
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I'd be driving in my old job I worked in um you know for a publicly traded company in a utility space, and I'd be driving and I'm like, you know, man, it's so boring.
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Like everything's just status quo.
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And you know, she says, You need a crisis, you need a crisis to manage.
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Like you need, and then like a few weeks later, something would pop off, and I'm like, oh gosh, that feels so good.
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Just to get in there and you know, fix it and message and position and do all the things that I love to do and um really good at it and and really making sure you think through all angles.
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And I think that's something I want us to to dive into a little bit more because people think, you know, communications and PR, and and it's not the same, but I kind of put it together in this, in this perspective, for this perspective.
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You know, you have to think through your different audiences, and you have to think through, you know, one message cannot be for everybody.
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You know, one message you should think through is for constituents or customers, and then one message is for investors, one message is for internal audiences, your employees, your board members, one message is for external stakeholders, which we can talk more about why your stakeholders are important in communication.
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So I think really having that um, you know, customized message.
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It's not just one message when you're communicating, um, you know, externally or internally.
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There are multiple audiences and you need to adjust that messaging accordingly to, you know, the appropriate audience.
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But, you know, I I just to kind of close up that question, I I just, you know, I observed really for me, it was the no stone left unturned.
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There was no piece of, you know, she was so and and instilled that in me from such a young part of my career that really stuck with me and has never left me, in, you know, making sure every single, you know, boom, boom, boom, the details of the press conference, the talking points, the news clips, and the current events in the area that we're traveling for the press conference, like just really thinking three to four steps ahead of everybody else.
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And that's really something that I've leaned into of it's and and it's just in you.
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You know, I you people say, How do you learn that?
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It's really just in you.
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Uh that ability to think three or four steps ahead of everybody else.
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And that's that's the role, that's strategy, right?
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That's my job.
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That's what I do is think three to four steps ahead and say, that's great, client, but have you thought about X, Y, Z, A, B, C, D, E?
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And they're like, right, whoa, we do need to be prepared for that.
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So I think having that that really innate um esoteric ability to, you know, think through things at such a micro level that you know, you really have to think so many steps ahead.
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Um, is, you know, again, I think it's an art.
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I think it's it's just something that um you kind of have to practice and you you kind of have to know and and think through the different perspectives um so far in advance.
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And sometimes it never happens.
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You know, sometimes you plan.
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I do tabletop exercises for companies.
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Um, you know, I worked in a a regulated for a regulated utility for a while, and we would have water contamination issues come up that would affect, you know, hundreds of thousands of people.
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Um, and we had to have tabletop exercises.
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You know, what happens if you know a truck carrying X chemical crashes into the source water where we're providing 300,000 people water?
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Not good, but we had to have those.
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Did it ever happen?
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Knock on wood, thank, you know, thank God nothing ever happened, but you have to be prepared.
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And I think that's the other thing within um, you know, my work is really making sure that we have those, you know, crisis communication plans and the preparedness plans and emergency preparedness, you know, and working through, you know, how do we prepare ourselves internally, but also prepare that messaging um externally if there is something to come about.
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And you know, oftentimes in communications and you know, crisis management PR, you never know the call you're gonna get.
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I mean, if you knew the calls that I got at 2:30 in the morning sometimes from clients, and I'm like, well, this wasn't on my bingo card in my life ever, but let me go handle it.
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Let me go call, you know, uh the this this elected official and and this head of this law enforcement agency and you know, this entity, you know, you you just never expect those calls.
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And that's why it's so important um, you know, to be prepared and to have those, you know, plans in advance and and be having those.
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You know, I love the tabletop exercises.
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I think if you're a a company or an organization, you know, even if you're not in that um, you know, regulated space or that environmental space with your company, I still think having those, even the tabletops where you talk through, you know, it's an incident command team.
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You know, I'm the head, I'm the public information officer.
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Maybe you're the chief logistics officer and you're making sure that the supply chain is in check if there's an incident.
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I think having those, you know, pop-up incident command teams uh, you know, within your agency or organization company, and having those tabletop where you just talk it out, like this is what we're gonna do if something happens.
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This is who I'm gonna call, this is what they're gonna do.
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Um, I think is so important for companies and organizations to be prepared when it comes to communicating.
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Yeah, and that I really having that preparation that devil's advocate, that kind of thing.
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We did this recently in my organization, kind of played through a scenario, and then at the end of the day, it we never even touched on it.
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We weren't even close.
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But it felt good to kind of know that we were seeing it from both perspectives.
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You said a couple of things I want to atop uh jump in on.
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Uh and just comment.
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Like you talked about reps.
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If you know you've got to put the reps in to really get that practice, and so I love hearing that.
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That's a very common, I think, communication thing.
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People think, oh, you know, you're a good communicator or whatever it is.
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It just comes from reps, you know, until you do it, right?
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And then know your audience.
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That's just a very I think it it seems simple, like in it because I'm in the communication world and uh in Toastmasters and knowing your audience, we talk about it all the time, but it's not all that common.
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Like really knowing your audience to your point is that the internal, the external stakeholders, you have to define it differently, different message.
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And I do have some questions in regards to that.
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But the one thing that really stuck out for me is the the part about like you need a problem.
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Like who who tells who has friends that tell you that, right?
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But I will say that for me, uh so I'm a director of operations for general contractor.
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And when until we ran into some problems with my project managers and my field teams, I didn't know how they were gonna respond.
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I didn't know what they needed coaching on.
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I didn't know how they solved problems and things that we needed to work on.
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So I would never ever wish problems because we always have plenty.
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Like they will, to your point, one's gonna come, right?
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And that's where we have them.
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But until you actually see it, then you can see how people respond to it.
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And then you can know that, all right, they've experienced it now.
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This is how we'll go through this.
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When it happens again, they're gonna build that muscle.
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So, really putting in you you almost do need problems.
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Like my my general superintendent, he just created this sign that uh we're gonna promote, we're gonna get rich doing it.
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I'm gonna, this is the first time anybody's heard it here, but it's you know, what do we do as a general contractor?
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We create flow, solve problems, and he's added be curious.
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And if we can have those three things really, I love that.
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I say that all the time.
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I'm curious.
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I'm genuinely, I just say, and I love that you say that.
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I say that all the time.
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I'm like, I'm curious why we do this.
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I'm curious why this is this way.
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I'm curious how this works.
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I love that.
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Curiosity, I love it.
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And the one thing that is uh, and we're we we talk a lot, we're my company is very EQ forward.
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We're very much in in in that world, which is what makes them such a great company, but to be truly curious as well, too, because there there can be questions that are not based in curiosity, and we often will call each other out on it.
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Like, that doesn't sound curious.
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Like, what were you thinking is not a curious question, right?
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So, but yes, thing curious is is a superpower for sure.
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Just to close the loop on know your audience, though, and I think that's so important, and I I always cite this, and I get so many phone calls from people about potential projects, and you know, many of them don't come to fruition, but it's always good for me to hear what other people have going on or what they think their problems are.
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That's the thing that I'm finding.
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People think they have a certain problem and they have a totally different problem.
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Like I get more calls about I don't do marketing.
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I'm not a marketing advertising guy.
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Can I do it?
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Sure.
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Am I the guy you should call?
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Absolutely not.
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But I'll, you know, like I will say, you should call her, you should call him, you should call them, whatever.
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I get calls like that all the time.
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We need marketing help.
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We need advertising help.
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We're bleeding employees.
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We can't keep people on our sales team, our business development team.
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And then when I ask for that meeting, I'm like, well, I'd like to sit in on your, you know, senior staff or executive team meeting and just listen.
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You know, I just want to learn.
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And I always say this you listen, learn, engage.
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That's what I do for all new clients.
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I want to listen, I want to learn, I want to engage.
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I'll never send you an invoice until I've listened, I've learned, and I've engaged.
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And that's just at a base level because when you get into those, you know, people think they need this, it's oftentimes, and I say this, you have to build from the inside.
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And what I mean by that is you have to have, to your point, within your industry, you have to have those workflows.
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You have to know how you're operating, you have to know how you're communicating internally before you can turn that externally.
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So if your culture is sideways and you're not communicating effectively internally with your own audience, which is your employees, and your employees should by far be your biggest advocate for your organization, your company.
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If they're not, that's a huge problem.
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And I had just recently I had someone call me on a job and I was like, your employees think this place is a terrible place to work.
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So you're not you got to work on that.
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You got to communicate to them, you know, be it you set up some kind of an incentive program, be it you set up some kind of an employee engagement effort, some kind of talent development effort.
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And that's a whole other conversation.
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But I, you know, I think that, you know, oftentimes you have to really take that moment.
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That's what I always say to people, let me listen, let me learn, and then we will engage and figure out where it is that you need to go.
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Because I don't want to do a disservice by doing something that you definitely don't need to do, or do you a disservice by doing something that you don't need when you really need to be doing something else and paying attention to this over here before you're even getting there.
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Like you're on chapter seven, and I'm just reading the foreword in the book, right?
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Like we got to back up and work on this before we can get there.
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What a great point of uh talking about that kind of misalignment with um those communications and how actually backing up misalignment of an organization not really knowing what what their people think, you know, and that's that I I I've seen it, and and for you to walk into that, that's got to be like you can't even start until you get that alignment, which does jump into the question, like you've talked about internal and external communications a couple of times here.
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And I want to talk a little bit about that because uh even in your website, you talk about how they become uh misaligned.
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And I'd like to understand a little bit more, like you so, and you kind of touched on a little bit, right?
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First off, internally, are you a good company?
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But how how are internal and external communications like how do you find those misalignments and and how do you uh what do you do about that?
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It's oftentimes, you know, internal communications is so important.
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And I'm not like, you know, I worked, like I said, in corporate communications.
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So I was in for years, I worked in both internal and external communications and you know, stakeholder engagement, government affairs.
00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:13.599
So basically, my job was communicating with every single audience, and that was all of them employees, regulators, government officials, customers, investors, shareholders.
00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:21.440
I mean, it like so I had to manage, you know, sort of the communication and thinking through all of those different audiences.
00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:25.200
And so I think we drop the ball oftentimes on internal communications.
00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:26.640
And can I tell you something, James?
00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:28.960
Internal comms is so easy.
00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:31.119
People don't understand how easy it is.
00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:35.440
It's it's easy to me, and again, it comes second nature.
00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:41.359
A lot of things I, you know, again, I just have my mom always says, Bradley, your brain works very differently than most other people.
00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:42.079
And I know that.
00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:42.960
Thank you, mom.
00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:44.480
Um you're always right.
00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:46.000
But I'm gonna stop you there.
00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:47.119
Like that that is truth.
00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:48.880
I mean, that's a statement you're saying.
00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:52.640
I want to know more about why you think it's easy, uh and how we can get there.
00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:53.279
It's easy.
00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:54.880
Is it easy just for Bradley?
00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:56.559
Or why is what no?
00:18:56.720 --> 00:18:57.519
I think no.
00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:10.480
There's so many, and I say this all the time, and people probably get worn out with my Bradleyisms, but there's so many areas of opportunity and low-lying fruit when you think internal communications.
00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:18.240
It's as simple as, you know, like I remember one of our back to my communications director, my very first person who really inspired me here.
00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:27.440
Um, you know, like providing talking points on things that are happening outside of the business or things that are happening outside the company.
00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:43.839
And you're putting it on a little index card and printing it for every employee to keep at their desk or in their vehicles, or, you know, so that when they're hit with questions about it, they know instead of being like, I don't know, talk to the communications team or I don't know, talk to the president.
00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:44.880
It's his initiative.
00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:53.359
No, every employee should be equipped with messaging on what's going on in the company, because again, I'm gonna go back to it.
00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:58.240
Your employees, your team members should by far be your biggest advocates.
00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:09.119
If they're not out here telling people this is a great organization, referring people for jobs, volunteering for community events to represent the company, that's a problem.
00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:13.200
So I say those types of, and and you'd be surprised.
00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:20.240
I used to run talent development and and talent engagement for this large publicly traded company for years.
00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:31.680
You'd be surprised by how impactful it is to give people an opportunity to volunteer in the community and take off work time to do that on behalf of the company.
00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:45.440
You'd be surprised how much, I'm sorry, but throwing out a cookout or catering lunch or doing some kind of rapport-building activity quarterly, you'd be surprised how much that moves the needle on your culture.
00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:55.039
And then when you influence your people and you get your culture to a place where people are willing to speak positively about the company and not just draw a paycheck and cash it and move on.
00:20:55.200 --> 00:21:02.640
So I say that as there's so many low-lying fruit opportunities for companies to be doing internal comms.
00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:04.000
And it doesn't have to be hard.
00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:06.720
It can be an all-employee email.
00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:22.640
It can be a, you know, you know, we can call James's whatever, you know, we can brand up whatever it is from the corner of the president's office or, you know, the uncommon communication corner or what it doesn't just, it doesn't have to be hard.
00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:27.279
It's just you're putting out, and I always challenge the I challenge everybody that I work with.
00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:32.960
You have to have your stakeholders and your employees are one a set of your stakeholders.
00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:37.599
You have to have all your stakeholders aligned and singing from the same hymnal.
00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:40.880
And you got to be communicating with them on a regular basis.
00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:47.839
And they've got to be because it's like the rule of sales, and I say this it's the rule of sales, five to seven touch points.
00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:57.680
It's the same thing with it's not just selling, it's building trust, it's building credibility, it's building or gaining influence or getting someone to be influenced.
00:21:57.759 --> 00:21:59.759
But so you got to think through that of.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:13.200
You know, that that rule of sales for five to seven touch points is not just selling, it's building trust, it's building credibility, it's you know, making that you know influential person be influenced by whatever it is.
00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:14.640
So you got to think through that too.
00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:18.720
And I think people oftentimes don't think through that and their stakeholder engagement.
00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:20.880
Yeah, it's it's understanding that too.
00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:26.960
Like I know from our president, from our owners, our CEO, uh, they don't even do five to seven, it's seven times.
00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:34.319
Like if we haven't said it seven times or communicated it seven times, we can't expect people to pick it up in one and two, three team, you know, times.
00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:40.720
And and I think that's that's like just a true fact of not just sales, but communication as well.
00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:44.880
Yeah, that is uh And it doesn't have to be overcomplicated.
00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:46.960
You know, I'm a I I work in threes.
00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:48.000
I'm a big three guy.
00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:49.759
You know, what are the big three priorities?
00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:52.160
What are the three talking points for this initiative?
00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:56.640
And really, it's like when I worked in crisis communications, that's what it was.
00:22:56.720 --> 00:23:10.640
It was tell me what exactly it is that happened, tell me if there are any details that impact me as a customer or stakeholder constituent, and tell me when there will be the next update on the issue.
00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:11.440
Period.
00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:12.319
The three.
00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:22.000
I don't need a novel, I don't need all the background, I don't need to know how many emergency management, you know, uh, or mayors or whoever have been involved or called in.
00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:22.640
I don't care.
00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:27.119
I just want to know that specific three lines of information.
00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:33.359
I need to know what are your top three priorities, what are your top three goals, what are your big three messages, you know.
00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:36.319
So I think thinking through that, and think about it.
00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:37.279
It's the same thing.
00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:42.880
You don't want seven goals or seven different major emphasis projects.
00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:43.759
Three.
00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:45.920
Maybe not three might be too many for you.
00:23:46.079 --> 00:23:51.920
So I think thinking through that, and you know, even if it is a quarterly, you know, these um I always give this advice.
00:23:52.079 --> 00:24:01.119
A lot of these um newsletter, the really you can make them really pretty and they're templated newsletters that you can send internally or to your stakeholders.
00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:04.960
A lot of them are free, up to a certain number of folks that you're sending them to.
00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:06.079
So think about that.
00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:10.640
Put three big messages or three categories in there that you're doing quarterly.
00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:20.240
You don't have to do it monthly, you can do it quarterly, and that at least gives them the buy-in of like, I'm getting that message from James or from the corner of James's office or whatever every quarter.
00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:22.480
And I'm used to that information being received.
00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:24.000
And it's useful information.
00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:26.880
You know, it's something that that I should be able to take away.
00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:36.480
And if I'm at a networking event or at a conference and somebody says, Well, I heard XYZ company, dot that actually, I just got an email last month from them.
00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:38.160
Let me pull it up and I'll see.
00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:46.640
Oh, yeah, they are gonna be, you know, doing construction on XYZ facility or they are gonna be doing a ribbon cutting on whatever.
00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:50.160
So I just think sometimes it's out of sight, out of mind, and we don't think it's important.
00:24:50.240 --> 00:24:53.759
And I I know firsthand how important it is to communicate those messages.
00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.079
And I love that you point out that it's free.
00:24:56.319 --> 00:24:59.839
My my general entertainment just came to me and like we're going through a lot of change.
00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:03.039
We're changing some uh software, we're going through a software change.
00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:09.359
You know, we're we're just now at the beginning part of that, but we're also just growing as a company and we're learning all these lessons with different jobs.
00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:11.920
And he so he says, What do you think about a newsletter?
00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:14.960
You mean you know, this other person will participate in it?
00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:18.799
I'm like, it's a great idea because all it takes is our effort, right?
00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:33.359
Time, but that communication is then at least going to get that um that information out there on a regular basis, and then it'll be a vehicle for us, which I'm big on systems, vehicles communicating the the eventual changes that we're gonna work through.
00:25:33.519 --> 00:25:38.400
And I love that you talk about the rule of three as well, because uh I live in that world as well, too.
00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:42.240
And if you send me to the grocery store for for three things, I'll get them.
00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:47.440
You send for four, I won't get any of those three, and I'm gonna come home with a box of cookies.
00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:49.200
I mean, I just I have no idea.
00:25:49.759 --> 00:26:00.720
If you're like me, yeah, if you go to the store for one thing and you come back with the one thing that you didn't go for, but you have three other yeah, no, that's but the rule of three is is a great, I think, communication tip.
00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:10.400
And the big the biggest part I love about that is, and this is what I want to kind of dive into next, is it really helps you to be clear to get, I mean you nailed it on the eight points.
00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:20.880
I just did a training yesterday or yeah, Thursday on a training for uh on conditions of satisfaction, creating them with ourselves and with our clients.
00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:28.720
And there it's it really was the eight steps in there, but I was able to break those eight steps into three clear uh funnels to remember that.
00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:32.240
So if you could start with those three funnels, then you're on on your way.
00:26:32.319 --> 00:26:36.400
If you want to go into details, there were some eight steps, and I knew that eight would be too many.
00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:37.200
I don't like eight.
00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:43.599
And so finding that rule of three is really, really important, uh, especially if I'm doing any type of public speaking or a keynote.
00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:52.960
Like I have three points, I might give myself four, uh, but my four is usually a wrap-up, but it's that's really such a great way to remember things, I think for everybody as well, right?
00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:56.400
Would you say like it's not just a Bradley James thing?
00:26:56.559 --> 00:27:01.599
People aren't gonna aren't gonna remember your 18 uh points of success.
00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:03.519
And I'm gonna be really honest with you.
00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:11.440
If anybody hears this and I can give advice, post-COVID, please cut your remarks back, please cut your speeches back.
00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:14.960
Nobody, I I I hate to say it, but nothing grinds me more.
00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:25.920
That's why when you said that in the beginning of like I went on your website and I'm gonna read a little bit of your bio, I was like, please do not like literally just say that I am here and we're gonna talk about this and let's jump into it.
00:27:26.079 --> 00:27:31.920
I cannot stand, like, you know, in 1997, I won blah blah blah blah blah.
00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:41.119
Like, please, people, like it's 2026, we all had to suffer through COVID, and I really think that did something too collectively to all of our attention spans.
00:27:41.279 --> 00:28:00.160
And I say that as like, you know, before you get up and give this great big droning on speech, or or you know, throw all these messages at people and really think about, you know, I I almost everything, every time I do something like uh ask to do a keynote, or I first of all make sure it's very engaging.
00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:02.400
I want engagement from the audience.
00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:04.400
I immediately start calling people out.
00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:18.079
I immediately, I am that I was raised by a teacher principal, so I immediately start with the hand raising, I immediately start with the everyone stand, everyone sit, you know, because I want people to be engaged, but also I don't want to drone on.
00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:24.240
So I'm like, I try to keep it like very TED talky, even in my like, what are the big three points?
00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:26.400
And I want, you know, again, I told you this.
00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:27.279
What was one of my goals?
00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:28.799
I'm coming on and talking with you.
00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:38.799
If I can reach one person through this podcast and I say one thing that impacts them and they can change one thing within their organization or their business, I've satisfied what my goal was, period.
00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:44.400
So I think, you know, really please, if anybody's given speeches, please keep all of us in mind.
00:28:44.559 --> 00:28:50.160
Like we just don't, you know, and the bios, it's like I come on, folks.
00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:53.039
Like if it's printed, I can read it.
00:28:53.119 --> 00:28:58.400
Like, I don't need you to read it too, you know, like it's just especially post-COVID.
00:28:58.559 --> 00:29:05.119
I think COVID definitely did something to our attention spans a little bit, and we're just like, you know, we just don't have the energy for all that, you know.
00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:09.839
Well, we don't, and uh, and and I and I don't know that everybody necessarily has the skill to be able to do that.
00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:15.119
Like, I I've heard some fantastic speakers that could talk about potatoes and they're gonna be great, right?
00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:16.480
It's all in that presentation.
00:29:16.559 --> 00:29:19.039
But you know, I think TED Talk, you mentioned TED Talk.
00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:24.160
I think they kind of figured out too that 18 to 20 minute time frame is is the best you're gonna get.
00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:27.599
We're at the end of this, uh I'll kind of give you a little hint in there.
00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:32.720
The one of the questions I'm gonna ask is like, you know, what is something one, you know, what is one thing people can walk away with?
00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:52.559
Because what and I do that at the end of all my podcasts, because it doesn't matter if we're 40 minutes or an hour, like if we could leave somebody with one thing that they're gonna leave with, and uh then you have left them with one more thing than they typically are gonna leave with, because we're just you know, we're used to just getting getting that feel of entertainment unless something really changes.
00:29:52.720 --> 00:30:06.319
Like recently I had done um there they did a little bit of snippet in a post, and it was uh another um another individual I'm connected with on LinkedIn, and it made them stop in their tracks while they were doing their uh jogging, and then he responded back, created a post.
00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:14.799
But for me, it was so impactful for me to know that a couple of words that I said kind of changed how he does his wording and his coaching business.
00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:24.240
Like one person, that that that's all I need to know uh is that wow, that that made an impact, and that that's the type of fulfillment that that I truly want.
00:30:24.319 --> 00:30:32.880
And I'm sure that you know, especially when you you get opportunities in bigger organizations to to be able to catch that one person, right?
00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:42.240
Like you're you're not there necessarily trying to change thousands of minds, but you have so many more opportunities to to just change, you know, one one person.
00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:48.160
And we're all and I and I think this is just as we think about that, you know, we're all in this together.
00:30:48.400 --> 00:30:56.880
I I think you and I and anybody listening, and I'm sure they could give us advice, you know, we're all just kind of walking each other home here.
00:30:57.039 --> 00:31:02.640
Like I think the more that we can share and collaborate, and you know, nothing I do is a secret.
00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:09.680
None of my, you know, my the my sciences and arts and skills and all that, none of that's a secret.
00:31:09.839 --> 00:31:18.880
I am happy to tell you exactly how I executed on whatever award-winning campaign I ran or whatever crisis I managed, how I did it step by step.
00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:23.759
I will give that all to anyone that asks me because I think that's so important.
00:31:23.920 --> 00:31:28.799
And I love that you say that you try to leave people with something because it is, you know, we're all just in this together.
00:31:28.880 --> 00:31:33.759
And so we we should all be collaborating and information sharing and you know, shared best practices.
00:31:33.920 --> 00:31:36.960
You know, how can we how can we do these things better in the future?
00:31:37.039 --> 00:31:40.480
And so I think I just that really resonates with me when you said that.
00:31:40.799 --> 00:31:41.920
Yeah, I'm glad to hear that.
00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:45.039
Well, so I want to dive, there's one more thing I really want to dive into.
00:31:45.279 --> 00:31:48.079
And uh I am gonna go back to your website.
00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:52.319
Um, organizations lose trust and momentum when messaging is unclear.
00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:54.720
100% agree with that statement, right?
00:31:54.960 --> 00:31:56.079
Trust, huge.
00:31:56.240 --> 00:32:03.200
But then you bring in momentum as well, which I think it, and and I know you've got a lot to say in in regards to that, because they are tied.
00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:07.920
Um when messaging is unclear, inconsistent, or disconnected.
00:32:08.079 --> 00:32:14.000
And that's something that I'm interested in in knowing a little bit about uh as well, too, from the people that you're trying to reach, disconnected.
00:32:14.160 --> 00:32:19.359
So my first question is like, what are some ways that you've helped teams bring clarity?
00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:22.240
And I think this kind of ties into almost your rule of three.
00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:26.799
Like you you have to go into rooms, I would assume, and here's the idea, right?
00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:27.759
It's whoa.
00:32:27.920 --> 00:32:29.599
And we want we want to tell this.
00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:33.519
Like, how do you help drive for clarity in your facilitation?
00:32:33.839 --> 00:32:40.880
Well, I'm a huge, my client intake is very different than anybody else's, as I'm sure everybody else's is very different.
00:32:41.119 --> 00:32:50.480
And so for me, I like to start at the very beginning and I like to know, you know, and I look at clients and I'll never forget the faces of the clients that I've asked this question to.
00:32:50.559 --> 00:33:07.119
And they're, I can't even really articulate the shock or the the puzzled look on their face when I say to them, just like I'm saying to you, after have you know, hearing about the success of the business or the organization and hearing about how great, you know, this, that, and the other, and whatever.
00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:09.519
And I'm, you know, again, I'm a long game guy, right?
00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:10.319
We talked about that.
00:33:10.400 --> 00:33:12.000
You know, I'm I love the long game.
00:33:12.079 --> 00:33:13.119
What's the end game?
00:33:13.279 --> 00:33:17.200
And I just look at them and I say, what are you gonna do with all this?
00:33:18.160 --> 00:33:19.839
What where do you want to go?
00:33:20.079 --> 00:33:23.279
You know, do you want to sell this practice or sell this business?
00:33:23.440 --> 00:33:25.440
Do you want to grow it and be the biggest?
00:33:25.599 --> 00:33:28.240
Do you want to be, I will help you get anywhere you want to go.
00:33:28.400 --> 00:33:32.720
If you want to be the number one company doing X, Y, Z, I'll get you there.
00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:36.880
If you want to sell off in the biggest ex that you've ever had, I'll help you get there too.
00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:39.599
Like you just got to tell me because I'll get you there, right?
00:33:39.839 --> 00:33:50.559
I think for me though, and in answering that question, I always start in the intake with, you know, the difference, and and a lot of people don't know this, and this is very, very granular.
00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:55.200
And it takes, it's it seems so elementary, but it is so vital to everything.
00:33:55.359 --> 00:33:58.799
Like, what is your vision and what is your mission?
00:33:59.519 --> 00:34:01.680
Your mission is what you're doing every single day.
00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:09.920
So, what are we doing every single day as a company or an organization to fulfill the vision, which is where we're going?
00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:11.840
That's the North Star, right?
00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:13.840
And I start there.
00:34:14.159 --> 00:34:20.239
And then when we talk about, you know, making sure that the messaging is aligned, what is the message?
00:34:20.320 --> 00:34:22.079
And what is our position in the market?
00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:23.920
What is our position in the state?
00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:27.360
You know, I worked recently and I'm super proud of this work.
00:34:27.519 --> 00:34:28.639
I love this organization.
00:34:28.800 --> 00:34:40.320
I have a wonderful um group that I work with um in West Virginia, and they were a small regional uh nonprofit doing very impactful work.
00:34:40.639 --> 00:34:50.480
And they, when we engaged together and started working together, they were in the process of taking the organization from the regional setting to a statewide setting.
00:34:50.719 --> 00:34:51.039
Okay.
00:34:51.440 --> 00:34:52.320
So they called me.
00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:53.199
How do we do that?
00:34:53.360 --> 00:34:54.079
What do we need to do?
00:34:54.239 --> 00:34:58.800
You tell us everything we need to be doing to build that momentum to grow.
00:34:59.039 --> 00:35:01.440
Well, we got to start with messaging and positioning.
00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:04.159
So, what is the key three messages?
00:35:04.320 --> 00:35:08.079
Or, you know, what what is our position in the market?
00:35:08.719 --> 00:35:10.639
Or you gotta think about that.
00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:21.119
And so I think what once you've developed your position in the market, or your position in the state or the country or the world or whatever, you then develop the messaging, right?
00:35:21.280 --> 00:35:24.559
So, what what are the messages that we're putting out internally?
00:35:24.719 --> 00:35:26.000
What is the messaging framework?
00:35:26.159 --> 00:35:32.239
I just did a huge messaging framework summit with a client a couple months ago, and we have not veered from those messages.
00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:48.159
Every media interview, every external conversation, every internal print, you know, piece that we've done, those key messages, and we've positioned them as the largest X company in this region because they are.
00:35:48.320 --> 00:35:51.199
And they are, and again, I talk about this.
00:35:51.920 --> 00:35:55.280
Tell the story, you know, like you're in Colorado.
00:35:55.360 --> 00:35:56.239
I'm in West Virginia.
00:35:56.400 --> 00:36:05.119
I worked for another client, and we were trying to draw people here to for an outdoor recreational, you know, it was a USA cycling um event.
00:36:05.360 --> 00:36:08.800
We're trying to draw in partners and bring big brands into West Virginia.
00:36:08.960 --> 00:36:09.760
Do you know what we said?
00:36:09.920 --> 00:36:13.119
It was so funny when we were doing the messaging and positioning session.
00:36:13.360 --> 00:36:16.320
We said West Virginia is America's new outdoor playground.
00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:22.960
I didn't get a call from the governor of Colorado telling me that that wasn't the truth.
00:36:23.280 --> 00:36:24.480
Nobody came and told me.
00:36:24.639 --> 00:36:25.760
So I owned it.
00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:27.760
We owned our position in the country.
00:36:27.920 --> 00:36:31.119
We owned those messages that we put out, and you run with them.
00:36:31.199 --> 00:36:32.320
We got momentum on it.
00:36:32.400 --> 00:36:33.840
We got we drew people in here.
00:36:34.000 --> 00:36:42.000
So I say that as like once you figured out what you want your position to be, develop those key messages and run with it.
00:36:42.239 --> 00:36:44.719
Do all the tactics that you need to be doing.
00:36:44.880 --> 00:37:01.840
So when I say the tactics, you know, making sure that you're putting out some press releases and communicating with the media on updates that are pertinent to the organization, making sure you're posting that information out to your audiences on social media, putting that newsletter together for your stakeholders.
00:37:02.159 --> 00:37:22.880
Whoever the head of your organization is, should be doing, you know, time, time relevant and um event, you know, um specific, you know, op-eds and thought leadership pieces, and putting out articles and doing interviews about certain, you know, observances and weeks and days and events.
00:37:23.119 --> 00:37:24.960
So all of that matters.
00:37:25.039 --> 00:37:28.480
And so I think that's how it's a lot of work.
00:37:28.639 --> 00:37:30.800
What I just said is a lot of work.
00:37:30.880 --> 00:37:32.400
And you know what it is even further?
00:37:32.559 --> 00:37:42.960
It's a lot of digging deep, especially like I told you in the beginning of the the question, the faces of my clients when I've said, This is amazing.
00:37:43.280 --> 00:37:48.400
You've been so successful, and you're making all this money or you're making this huge impact.
00:37:48.960 --> 00:37:50.239
What do you want to do with all this?
00:37:50.480 --> 00:37:54.960
And their faces are like, I don't know.
00:37:55.199 --> 00:37:56.960
I have no idea where I want to go.
00:37:57.119 --> 00:37:59.280
I'm like, that's what we got to figure out, right?
00:37:59.599 --> 00:38:04.320
And then that's where you know we start developing, you know, what is it and where is it that we want to go?
00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:06.639
And it goes back to that what is your vision?
00:38:06.800 --> 00:38:07.519
What is your mission?
00:38:07.599 --> 00:38:13.280
Because we got to figure out what your vision is, because then you got to do your mission, and that's every single day.
00:38:13.440 --> 00:38:16.960
What are we doing every single day to get to our vision?
00:38:17.199 --> 00:38:20.320
So that must be so much fun for you to be able to.
00:38:20.719 --> 00:38:21.119
So fun.
00:38:21.360 --> 00:38:22.000
I love it.
00:38:22.159 --> 00:38:22.880
I love it.
00:38:23.119 --> 00:38:23.440
Yeah.
00:38:23.920 --> 00:38:29.760
Because you're really helping people discover what they already sort of know, but can't put it into words.
00:38:29.920 --> 00:38:33.119
You know, we uh with my company, we've got great uh core values.
00:38:33.199 --> 00:38:35.679
In fact, I bring them up at every one of our meetings that we have.
00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:37.280
We talk about a different core value.
00:38:37.360 --> 00:38:39.280
We're developing within the organization.
00:38:39.519 --> 00:38:42.559
Our mission is really clear and where we want to be in the marketplace.
00:38:42.800 --> 00:38:48.960
And I was looking at some other general contractors just within the region, and I'm like, that sounds like a terrible mission, right?
00:38:49.119 --> 00:38:52.320
It almost sounds like make more money, uh, do good.
00:38:52.480 --> 00:39:04.480
I mean, it was just not bringing clarity to the people and even to their clients to have that and and for you to be able to kind of draw them out to to show them what they have, and they don't know that's just gonna be so much fun for you.
00:39:04.800 --> 00:39:06.800
And I'm a huge community engagement person.
00:39:06.880 --> 00:39:09.599
I'm a firm believer, and that's just who I am.
00:39:09.760 --> 00:39:11.119
I'm very community oriented.
00:39:11.199 --> 00:39:23.760
I've always been very community-oriented, and I found myself in very um uh influential positions within my roles in connecting and tying the organizations and the companies I worked with to the community.
00:39:23.840 --> 00:39:38.079
And I just I think as a company, that's so important because that is another added value, another added communication um, you know, tactic for you that, you know, we are an active member of the communities that we serve.
00:39:38.239 --> 00:39:41.199
Our employees are active volunteers in the communities that we serve.
00:39:41.280 --> 00:39:54.400
And that is so important to me from a company perspective that you are active and being visible because your employees, again, are and should be, they should be, but they are your biggest advocates.
00:39:54.559 --> 00:40:15.519
And so I think having them in one of your branded shirts, out with a branded tent and table, being a face and voice of the organization, I think that is so important and such another low-lying fruit opportunity for you to be communicating your messages and showing, oh, we're more than a construction company or we're more than a law firm.
00:40:15.679 --> 00:40:22.639
We are a valued community partner who's investing in community organizations and being active members of the communities that we serve.
00:40:22.719 --> 00:40:23.280
And I love that.
00:40:23.360 --> 00:40:42.719
So I think anytime you can think about um, you know, tying your organization or your business to the community is so important and can really get you some, not only some good, I hate to say, brownie points with folks, but it also, you know, it's just being a good citizen and being, you know, a valued member of the community that you're operating in.
00:40:43.039 --> 00:40:43.760
Yeah, I would agree.
00:40:43.840 --> 00:40:44.960
I mean, brownie points, sure.
00:40:45.039 --> 00:40:46.639
I I think those are those are important.
00:40:46.719 --> 00:40:52.480
I think being a valued part of the community, but I think the other uh factor I want to add in there is the retention value.
00:40:52.639 --> 00:41:02.719
Like when you have employees that are doing that, to your point, like going back to they believe in the organization, you're doing it for the organization, the the company's paying for your time to go do these things.
00:41:02.800 --> 00:41:05.599
Uh, and sometimes you're doing them not getting paid, right?
00:41:05.679 --> 00:41:08.000
Because you believe in the community.
00:41:08.159 --> 00:41:11.440
It really goes a long way in retention of that employee as well.
00:41:11.519 --> 00:41:13.840
Too, there's so much value in that.
00:41:14.239 --> 00:41:17.760
So before we wrap up, what else is burning in the mind of Bradley Harris?
00:41:17.840 --> 00:41:19.280
What else should we talk about?
00:41:20.079 --> 00:41:22.239
How much longer do you have, James?
00:41:22.639 --> 00:41:24.960
I've got unlimited tape, but we typically hear about it.
00:41:25.360 --> 00:41:45.199
I was gonna say, um, no, I I think just kind of burning, and and I always, when I get an opportunity to say this, you know, I think um I know, I trust me, I used to work in and was asked by, you know, my finance team to cut my budget by 20% because of a hard time.
00:41:45.360 --> 00:41:51.760
And, you know, my budgets were cut for community giving and for, you know, stakeholder engagement activity and all those types of things.
00:41:51.840 --> 00:42:10.639
So I first hand, and as now I run and own my own practice, I understand um internally what that's like personally to cut budgets and be, you know, fiscal, but I say that as understanding the true value of communications and you have to invest in it.
00:42:10.719 --> 00:42:16.559
And and you I'm not saying you have to hire a communications director or find a full-time position.
00:42:16.719 --> 00:42:19.840
You know, maybe I challenge, I challenge everyone.
00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:21.280
This is my what's burning.
00:42:21.440 --> 00:42:27.039
I challenge everyone in any nonprofit, you know, corporation, small business.
00:42:27.119 --> 00:42:36.079
I challenge you to look within and find a way, even if you can contract with somebody for as little as$500 a month, that's nothing.
00:42:36.239 --> 00:42:53.599
And you would be shocked how much, you know, that light touch or that light engagement of communication support or public relations efforts can really impact, truly change your bottom line, your your your your profits and your revenues too.
00:42:53.840 --> 00:43:02.480
But more importantly, you know, if you have if you do have a certain goal and you want to be positioned to message a certain way, or you have there's a reason everybody, there's a strategy behind everything.
00:43:02.559 --> 00:43:16.960
And I'm one of these people, I say I'm part of the maybe even half percent, but I'll say one percent of people that when I watch the news and I see something, I'm like, first of all, I want to meet the person who orchestrated all of that because they're brilliant.
00:43:17.280 --> 00:43:20.159
Secondly, what's gonna happen?
00:43:20.239 --> 00:43:26.320
I and and here I am immediately trying to like put all the pieces together and be like, okay, what's what's gonna happen here?
00:43:26.400 --> 00:43:31.039
I know there's some ulterior motive and some subliminal messaging here that we're not.
00:43:31.199 --> 00:43:31.760
I know this.
00:43:31.840 --> 00:43:37.039
Now, the other 99 or 99 and a half percent of people who are consuming it have no idea, right?
00:43:37.360 --> 00:43:40.400
But that's the beauty of you know, the being strategic.
00:43:40.559 --> 00:43:57.440
And and again, I think that's I'm working with another company right now on something that they need to garner support from a certain agency and a certain group of people, and they're working that right now through a series of tactics that we put together that are very strategic and very intentional.
00:43:57.679 --> 00:44:06.480
So I say that I think the burning My final burning thought is, you know, really lean into your communication efforts and what is it?
00:44:06.559 --> 00:44:08.000
And I know it seems simple.
00:44:08.159 --> 00:44:13.760
You might think you're doing if you're doing social media and post on social media, that's that doesn't count.
00:44:13.920 --> 00:44:14.639
That's not it.
00:44:14.800 --> 00:44:17.360
I know that everybody says, Well, we post on social media.
00:44:17.519 --> 00:44:18.639
Nope, nope, nope, nope.
00:44:18.800 --> 00:44:21.920
I'm talking a full audit internally, externally.
00:44:22.159 --> 00:44:25.760
You know, and if you can afford it, I'm telling you the value of communications.
00:44:25.840 --> 00:44:38.960
I read an article just recently about the value of communications, and I actually read statistically that there are a growing number of PR and communication executives who are becoming CEOs of companies now.
00:44:39.199 --> 00:44:45.599
And the reason for that is they have that brain that can think through so many different angles.
00:44:45.760 --> 00:44:50.239
And you're constantly playing devil's advocate, you're constantly listening and absorbing.
00:44:50.320 --> 00:44:54.239
And that was why, you know, oftentimes in the boardroom, I'm the last person people are looking to.
00:44:54.559 --> 00:44:55.199
Because why?
00:44:55.360 --> 00:45:01.599
I've sat there and I've heard from the president, I've sat there and heard from finance, I've sat there and heard from legal, I've sat there and heard from operations.
00:45:01.840 --> 00:45:03.360
Well, Bradley, what are you thinking now?
00:45:03.519 --> 00:45:08.559
I'm like, well, X, Y, Z, this, that, the other.
00:45:08.719 --> 00:45:09.679
That's not gonna work.
00:45:09.760 --> 00:45:11.599
From, you know, this is a risk to the business.
00:45:11.760 --> 00:45:12.800
We could be liable for this.
00:45:12.960 --> 00:45:14.400
So I can't say this, you know.
00:45:14.559 --> 00:45:17.440
So it really is uh, you know, I get it.
00:45:17.599 --> 00:45:23.920
I understand why, you know, more CEOs now are from the comms and PR, you know, field.
00:45:24.079 --> 00:45:30.079
So I challenge you, look within, and I challenge you to listen, learn, and engage.
00:45:30.320 --> 00:45:36.800
Listen first, learn as much as you can, and then appropriately engage to start the work.
00:45:36.960 --> 00:45:40.079
And, you know, that's what I always say with my clients when I start a new job.
00:45:40.239 --> 00:45:41.760
They're like, can you jump in and do this?
00:45:41.920 --> 00:45:43.760
I'm like, no, I will not be doing that.
00:45:43.840 --> 00:45:46.159
I will be, I want to listen to your people.
00:45:46.320 --> 00:45:53.920
I want to listen to your stakeholders, I want to listen to the people that are, you know, be it focused groups, be it, and that's important too.
00:45:54.079 --> 00:45:58.960
If you don't do focus groups and understand what people are saying about you, sometimes that hurts.
00:45:59.119 --> 00:46:10.000
But I always challenge people to keep an updated focus group on hand um and and take the time to listen to people that, you know, are your customers or your stakeholders.
00:46:10.079 --> 00:46:11.039
Um, learn.
00:46:11.280 --> 00:46:12.880
Just learn as much as you can.
00:46:13.039 --> 00:46:13.760
Tell me everything.
00:46:13.920 --> 00:46:18.559
Tell me why we do that, tell me how that happened, tell me who decided we were doing that, and then engage.
00:46:18.639 --> 00:46:29.519
And that's where you go back and engage with recommendations and say, well, you know, I listened to so and so and I learned that you do it this way, but my thought is we could do it this way, we could save money.
00:46:29.679 --> 00:46:35.599
It would be, you know, more efficient as far as you know, operations goes, if and workflows.
00:46:35.679 --> 00:46:45.039
And so again, I think there's just a lot of value in um in really understanding what you're currently doing with your communications internally and externally in your organization.
00:46:45.360 --> 00:46:46.000
Yeah, I love that.
00:46:46.079 --> 00:46:51.599
And to your point, it's it's it's inexpensive, but the the results are like huge, right?
00:46:51.760 --> 00:46:56.639
And I've said before that communication is simple, it's simply the hardest thing that we can do.
00:46:56.800 --> 00:46:59.280
So it's really about learning how to do it.
00:46:59.440 --> 00:47:15.599
And I find it fascinating that that CEOs are are coming from uh and moving to people that communicate, because I found at each different level of um the positions that I've been at and that I've seen in organizations, the higher up you go, the more critical your communication skills are.
00:47:15.760 --> 00:47:24.000
You know, you don't you can't have the technical guy who knows how to connect the wires in the, I guess there's no wires in the fancy computer chip, less than how much knowledge I get on that.
00:47:24.159 --> 00:47:27.840
Um, but that that guy is gonna know how to do that thing, right?
00:47:27.920 --> 00:47:31.599
But he's not gonna know how to communicate what that thing can do to change the world.
00:47:31.840 --> 00:47:37.519
And so having the right messaging in there uh and and getting the right person to do it, it may not be that person.
00:47:37.679 --> 00:48:00.480
So I love that that organizations would be moving that direction because that is really the thing that uh hampers the most is lack of communication, but really lack of planning to what I mean by you is like it's planning, is spend some money on it and you know take some time, a newsletter, simple things uh like that are uh gonna be uh chain, you know, change makers for the organization.
00:48:00.719 --> 00:48:05.280
So before I move to my last two questions, how can the world get a hold of Bradley Harris?
00:48:05.360 --> 00:48:06.800
What's the best way to get hold of you?
00:48:07.119 --> 00:48:08.239
I love LinkedIn.
00:48:08.400 --> 00:48:09.840
I know a lot of people don't like LinkedIn.
00:48:09.920 --> 00:48:16.320
I love LinkedIn, so find me on LinkedIn or um be glad to engage on my website, thebradlyharris.com.
00:48:16.639 --> 00:48:20.320
Um, and I yeah, I I don't know why people are so down on LinkedIn.
00:48:20.480 --> 00:48:21.199
I love LinkedIn.
00:48:21.360 --> 00:48:22.880
It's like I'm always on there.
00:48:22.960 --> 00:48:24.559
I check it on the weekends, man.
00:48:24.639 --> 00:48:25.599
Like I'm doing stuff.
00:48:25.920 --> 00:48:27.280
So anyway, I love LinkedIn.
00:48:27.360 --> 00:48:34.320
And I would, and again, I I think um, you know, it's just it's it's a good opportunity.
00:48:34.400 --> 00:48:36.239
I never I go back to the focus groups.
00:48:36.320 --> 00:48:37.760
I keep thinking about that now.
00:48:38.079 --> 00:48:55.280
You really do need to know what people outside of your supporters or outside of your vendors, or you really do need so I I I will make a another plug for if you've not done some kind of formal or even informal focus grouping.
00:48:55.440 --> 00:49:05.679
Um, in recent months, years, I like to do them every two or three years if I'm working within an organization to know what people are thinking and saying about you.
00:49:05.840 --> 00:49:06.559
It's so important.
00:49:06.639 --> 00:49:12.079
And sometimes that's it, it hurts, but it's so important because then that allows you to adjust your messaging.
00:49:12.239 --> 00:49:19.760
That allows you to adjust the things that, you know, like, oh, you know, James's company is owned by a foreign entity.
00:49:19.920 --> 00:49:21.280
Maybe somebody says that.
00:49:21.599 --> 00:49:25.199
Well, you keep hearing that, you you've eventually got to address that.
00:49:25.360 --> 00:49:29.599
If you want people to not say it, you got to come out and say, we are not foreign owned.
00:49:29.679 --> 00:49:34.639
We are owned by, you know, someone from Colorado or from someone from California or whatever it is.
00:49:34.800 --> 00:49:37.440
So I think you've got to know what people are saying about you.
00:49:37.599 --> 00:49:38.800
And I know it hurts.
00:49:39.039 --> 00:49:45.199
The truth hurts, but I'm gonna make it sorry, I'm advocating for focus groups again.
00:49:45.920 --> 00:49:46.480
Keep going.
00:49:46.639 --> 00:49:49.519
No, and that's I I really I I'm a big fan of LinkedIn too.
00:49:49.599 --> 00:49:49.920
I don't know.
00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:53.199
Uh I I've heard some people, some people down on it, some not.
00:49:53.280 --> 00:49:59.039
I will say this like I have seen so much AI generated content that I don't look at or listen to.
00:49:59.199 --> 00:50:06.159
I'm almost thinking, I just I don't want to be the person, but what deep in within me, I want to just put AI and just like comment every time.
00:50:06.239 --> 00:50:08.880
It's like it's like I know, it's like I got my eye on you.
00:50:08.960 --> 00:50:15.679
Because from a communication perspective, I hear and I see the repeated like themes that are going through different AI generated ones.
00:50:15.760 --> 00:50:20.480
And and I think the content is really starting to struggle a little bit because of AI generated.
00:50:20.559 --> 00:50:22.320
I what are what do I gravitate to?
00:50:22.480 --> 00:50:25.119
Like real pictures, real stories, uh, real things.
00:50:25.280 --> 00:50:29.119
You know, I put clips of of some of the great stuff that we're gonna talk about on LinkedIn.
00:50:29.360 --> 00:50:32.480
I I love working within that LinkedIn uh world myself.
00:50:32.639 --> 00:50:38.159
And what's interesting, you're not the only Bradley Harris on LinkedIn, but you are the only the Bradley Harris.
00:50:38.320 --> 00:50:40.000
So I love that that's what your website is.
00:50:40.239 --> 00:50:42.239
And that was very intentional and purposeful.
00:50:42.320 --> 00:50:44.159
So I I have a vision for my brand.
00:50:44.320 --> 00:50:46.320
A lot of people don't know it yet, but I know what it is.
00:50:46.400 --> 00:50:47.679
So thank you for noticing that.
00:50:48.000 --> 00:50:53.920
Of course, you are the Bradley Harris, and I want everybody to know that the Bradley Harris.com uh as well, too.
00:50:54.079 --> 00:50:55.760
So just kind of final two questions.
00:50:55.920 --> 00:51:00.239
You we kind of touched on a little bit, but you know, now we've been talking, you know, 40, 50 minutes.
00:51:00.320 --> 00:51:04.719
Like what is the one thing that you want the listeners to leave with from today's conversation?
00:51:07.039 --> 00:51:08.719
Several key points.
00:51:08.960 --> 00:51:16.880
Um, you know, it's simple, but know your audience, be very cognizant of, you know, and that even goes for speaking.
00:51:17.039 --> 00:51:26.559
You know, you as I as I mentioned earlier, you should have a different message for every audience that you if you have the same message for all of your audiences, you're wrong.
00:51:26.639 --> 00:51:28.000
You're doing it all wrong.
00:51:28.239 --> 00:51:31.199
So adjusting those messages appropriately to your audience.
00:51:31.280 --> 00:51:32.719
And this is another piece of advice.
00:51:32.880 --> 00:51:36.559
You know, a lot of the things I say, I get from other people because they inspire me.
00:51:36.639 --> 00:51:42.559
And um, a good friend of mine worked for a very prominent US senator for a really long time.
00:51:42.719 --> 00:51:58.480
And one of the things that he challenged them that she then passed on and challenged me, and I passed this on to many, many people throughout the years is especially in PR and especially in um, you know, and I say people always are like, What's your title?
00:51:58.800 --> 00:52:00.960
What do you what like, what do you call yourself?
00:52:01.119 --> 00:52:10.880
I'm like, well, it sounds kind of like faky or like people don't understand what a strategic advisor does because it's really just being paid to think, quite frankly.
00:52:11.119 --> 00:52:17.119
Um, but you know, I'm a fixer, I'm a crisis manager, I'm a you know, all these different things.
00:52:17.280 --> 00:52:24.400
But no matter what, in all of that, the advice is to be the dirt, get in every crack and crevice.
00:52:24.639 --> 00:52:38.320
And what I mean by that is, you know, get get learn, it goes back to pile on as much information and learn as much as you can before you formulate a message or before you communicate something externally.
00:52:38.480 --> 00:52:39.039
I love that.
00:52:39.199 --> 00:52:51.599
I just think, and I even think about visualize be the dirt and how I'm gonna be the dirt, and I'm gonna get down in all the cracks and all the crevices, and I want to be impossible to remove because I want to be digging so deep in learning.
00:52:51.840 --> 00:52:54.159
Um, and I and I love that piece of advice.
00:52:54.239 --> 00:53:10.559
So I challenge anyone working in um any kind of PR comms external facing role to always be the dirt um and learn as much, dig in all those cracks and crevices, um, and and get as much as you can before again goes back to my I love this.
00:53:10.880 --> 00:53:12.480
Listen, learn, engage.
00:53:12.719 --> 00:53:16.719
You have to listen first, you have to learn, and then you can engage.
00:53:16.880 --> 00:53:18.079
You can't just jump into it.
00:53:18.159 --> 00:53:19.679
So I love that.
00:53:19.760 --> 00:53:21.280
Listen, learn, engage, be the dirt.
00:53:21.360 --> 00:53:22.000
I've never heard that before.
00:53:22.079 --> 00:53:26.559
So let the audience walk away with that thought for a minute.
00:53:26.800 --> 00:53:29.039
Listen, learn, observe, be the dirt.
00:53:29.119 --> 00:53:34.800
So, final question is what does the world get wrong about Bradley Harris?
00:53:37.599 --> 00:53:38.239
Wow.
00:53:38.639 --> 00:53:44.000
I and now I look like my clients when I ask them what they want to do with their companies that are, yeah.
00:53:44.239 --> 00:53:55.199
Um, you know, I think for me, this is and and I'm so glad you asked that because and I'm really glad that I'm doing this interview with you, and I'm doing a few more interviews like this because I think it's so important.
00:53:55.360 --> 00:54:08.159
Um, you know, one thing I've always struggled with is I've been, and I hate to admit this, but it's true, I've almost been over-trained in media relations and being, you know, I was a spokesperson for a number of years.
00:54:08.239 --> 00:54:13.199
So I was the face of a company and you know, did a lot of government relations work.
00:54:13.280 --> 00:54:17.360
And so that's a lot of like, you know, let me tell you about my initiative.
00:54:17.679 --> 00:54:18.320
Let me tell you now.
00:54:18.639 --> 00:54:24.079
So it's very, I think for me, I come off as this, just being really transparent with you.
00:54:24.239 --> 00:54:27.840
I come off as this very unapproachable, you can't touch me.
00:54:27.920 --> 00:54:29.280
I'm a porcelain doll.
00:54:29.599 --> 00:54:31.679
Like, ooh, is he real type?
00:54:31.840 --> 00:54:33.679
And I'm a very authentic and real person.
00:54:33.840 --> 00:54:38.000
So for me, you know, this interview is very, this is who I am.
00:54:38.159 --> 00:54:48.719
So I think for me, this is me taking off that mask or that hat of being, you know, uh a very robotic spokesperson reading what's on the prompter.
00:54:48.960 --> 00:54:57.840
So for me, that's what I want the world to know is that I am not um this delicate, untouchable, unapproachable robot.
00:54:58.079 --> 00:55:01.840
I am uh a very real, uh, very real down-to-earth.
00:55:02.000 --> 00:55:09.440
My friends are probably gonna watch this and laugh so hard when they watch this and be like, yeah, he's definitely authentic and real because it's yeah, yeah.
00:55:09.519 --> 00:55:10.480
I won't say anything else.
00:55:10.559 --> 00:55:11.199
I'll just, yeah.
00:55:11.280 --> 00:55:17.840
But anyway, I think that's that's something I'd like people to know is that I'm I'm not this robot that just used off these talking points.
00:55:18.079 --> 00:55:21.199
And um, I'm actually having a lot of fun too.
00:55:21.599 --> 00:55:22.880
I absolutely love that.
00:55:22.960 --> 00:55:24.320
I appreciate your authenticity.
00:55:24.480 --> 00:55:26.639
I mean, what a great way to end the podcast.
00:55:26.880 --> 00:55:29.280
And that's all we got for today's episode.
00:55:29.760 --> 00:55:30.320
Goodbye.
00:55:30.480 --> 00:55:31.280
Congratulations.
00:55:31.360 --> 00:55:33.039
You made it all the way to the end.
00:55:33.119 --> 00:55:34.719
You're officially a one percenter.
00:55:35.119 --> 00:55:39.679
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Uncommon Communicator with me, your host, James Cable.
00:55:40.400 --> 00:55:45.039
Make sure you like and share this episode to help spread the message of communication to the world.
00:55:45.280 --> 00:55:50.880
Check out our website, the Uncommon Communicator, for more and connect us the keyboarding.com.