The recent leadership transition from Jacinta Allan to Ben Carroll in Victoria attracted plenty of political commentary, but there’s another lesson worth paying attention to for media and marketing professionals. It has less to do with politics and more to do with communication lessons.
Leadership transitions are defining moments for any organisation. Whether it’s a government, listed company or family business, stakeholders don’t just judge who has been appointed – they judge how the transition is managed and communicated.
The new leader is under a microscope. They inherit an audience with existing expectations, assumptions and scepticism. Every incoming CEO, politician or executive arrives with a different communication style, personal narrative and set of priorities.
Too often, organisations treat leadership changes as unexpected events requiring crisis management. Whereas the reality is they’re inevitable.
CEOs retire, resign, move on or unforeseen circumstances force the change. The question isn’t whether leadership will change, but whether the organisation is prepared, or how well it has prepared when it does.
That preparation extends far beyond choosing a successor. Every organisation should have a leadership transition communications playbook ready well before it’s needed. What can CEOs and business leaders learn from high-profile political leadership changes?
Succession planning is as much a communications exercise as an operational one. And my short stay in London with its 1000-year-plus history is reminding me that a leadership announcement isn’t the beginning or end of a story – it should simply be the next chapter.
Resilient organisations don’t rely on one obvious successor. They identify and develop multiple leaders who are capable of stepping into the top role if circumstances change. This builds resilience, reassures stakeholders and reduces uncertainty during a transition.
Just as importantly, future leaders should already be trained and prepared, confident communicators. Executive communication and presentation skills, as well as media training and stakeholder engagement, should be developed long before an individual becomes the public face of an organisation.
Today’s leaders are expected to communicate across multiple channels – from media interviews and podcasts to LinkedIn and internal communications. Leaders must be able to build trust through communication. If they don’t, they will fail.
I’ve seen first-hand what happens when leaders aren’t prepared.
One client experienced the sudden death of its much-loved CEO. There was no succession plan in place and no communications strategy. Confusion followed as employees, customers and stakeholders searched for answers. Years later, the organisation is still recovering.
When leadership changes occur, the order of communications also matters. Internal comms rules. Employees, investors and key stakeholders should be the first to know.
From there, communication should flow to suppliers and partners, then key clients, before finally reaching the broader public and audiences through either direct correspondence or through the media. Each audience has different concerns, and each deserves clear, consistent messaging.
The Victorian leadership transition also provides an interesting communications case study. Regardless of the political context, Carroll’s early communication strategy has focused on est…