The Message Landed, Just Not the Way You Intended.

The previous newsletter focused on MESSAGE — the fourth Power Move, and the one that most leaders underestimate. The insight I keep coming back to:

Communicating change is not the same as announcing it. 

Announcing delivers information. Communicating creates understanding. And understanding is what determines whether people move with you.

Today I want to share a story about what that distinction looks like when it actually matters.

When Everyone Got the News at the Same Time

A leader I once worked with had done the hard work of rethinking how her department served its internal customers. The strategic shift was real — a genuine change in focus and approach, not just a rebranding. She was ready to share it.

On the day of the announcement, she communicated the new direction to her staff and her internal customers simultaneously. Same message, same moment, sent to everyone at once.

It felt efficient. It felt fair. No one would hear it secondhand.

What she didn’t anticipate was what that simultaneity cost her.

Her staff had no time to digest what the shift actually meant for them — for how they did their work, what they’d be asked to do differently, what they’d be asked to stop doing. They walked into interactions with internal customers that same day not quite sure what to say or how to show up differently. So they defaulted to what they knew.

And the internal customers, receiving the announcement with no visible change in how the department operated, drew the obvious conclusion: this was a new coat of paint on the same house. They’d seen strategic pivots before. They’d believe it when they saw it.

The message had been sent. But it hadn’t landed — because the people who needed to carry it hadn’t yet been prepared to carry it.

Your Turn

Think about a change you’re currently communicating — or preparing to communicate.

• Have the people responsible for delivering the change had a chance to internalize it before they’re asked to demonstrate it?
• What signal are your internal stakeholders actually receiving — the one you intended, or the one your actions (or non-actions) are sending?
• What would it look like to sequence your communication so that your team arrives prepared, not surprised?

The Communicating Change Toolkit is designed to help you work through exactly these questions — starting with your stakeholders and building outward from there. You can access it on my website.

The Four Power Moves Series

This post describes the fourth part of the Four Power Moves — a practical framework for preparing to lead organizational change:

• MAP — Build a Context Map to understand what’s driving the need for change and the environment in which you’re operating. (Read that edition here.)
• MOBILIZE — Develop a Stakeholder Assessment to learn who will be affected, where you’ll find support, and where you’ll encounter resistance. (Read that edition here.)
• MOVE — Use what you’ve learned to clarify the direction of change and begin shaping your path forward. (Read that edition here.)
• MESSAGE — Communicate the change in ways that bring people with you. (Read that edition here.)

These four moves form a natural sequence. You understand your context, assess your stakeholders, prepare your approach, and then communicate your intentions. Each move builds on the one before.