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Behind the Bob - through times of change
Episode 96th September 2023 • Behind the Bob • Carrie-Ann Wade
00:00:00 00:12:12

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In this episode of Behind the Bob, Diary of a Comms Director, Carrie-Ann Wade shares her thoughts and reflections on what you might want to consider during times of change and uncertainty.

01:31 - your role as a leader in your organisation

05:00 - intuition and empathy

05:33 - your role with your communications team

08:55 - impacts on you as an individual

10:11 - your support network

In challenging times, comms directors take on numerous roles, often providing support, advice and counsel to other leaders. In this episode, Carrie-Ann encourages you to ensure you have a strong support network in place to help you when you need it. Change impacts you too!

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You can find out more about Carrie-Ann and Cat's Pajamas Communications at www.cats-pajamas.co.uk

Transcripts

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Carrie-Ann Wade: Welcome to Behind the Bob Diary of a Comms

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Director with me, Carrie-Ann Wade.

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This podcast is all about developing communications leaders of the

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future and supporting you to grow and thrive in your comms career.

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You'll hear from me about my experiences and insights, and there might even

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be a special guest or two popping up.

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So I hope you enjoy.

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Welcome to the latest episode of Behind the Bob, Diary of a Comms Director, with,

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yes, you've guessed it, me, Carrie-Ann.

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This is one of those solo episodes, so there's no guest with me today.

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I won't be having a deep and meaningful conversation with another

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amazing communications professional.

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But I will be sharing briefly some of my thoughts and reflections on a

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topic that I think is really important for us working in communications.

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And that topic this week is around change and uncertainty.

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As you will know, we live in uncertain times, and managing change and uncertainty

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is probably one of the only things we can be most certain about in our

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roles as communications directors.

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Whether that's a change in direction or strategy for the organisation we work

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for, or possibly a change in leadership, it can actually take many guises, but

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I'm sure will have similar impacts.

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As a Communications Director, it feels to me like there are a number

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of different roles we need to take when we're leading through change.

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And the first area I wanted to reflect on is what your role as a leader

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in your organisation means for you as a Director of Communications.

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While you are there to represent your function and provide sound, expert

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communications advice, you're also part of that leadership team in your

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organisation, and that can sometimes move you beyond your remit as comms lead.

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If you've listened to the previous episode I've recorded about communications leaders

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making great leaders in general, I think some of that comes into its own here.

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When your organisation is undergoing change, your board

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will look to you to support them in answering some key questions.

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Questions like, what's the likely impact of this change on our key

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internal and external stakeholders, and how do you think this will land?

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What can we do to alleviate some of the concerns and anxieties that may be

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raised through this period of change?

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And how do we bring people on the journey with us to implement the desired outcomes

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from the change that we're proposing?

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Now these questions will of course have different answers based

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on your organisation and the change that is being discussed.

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From a communications point of view we would probably all advise similar

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things and we would ask the board to consider similar questions to help

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us to develop our comms approach.

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And, of course, there will be the usual communications outputs that will be

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discussed in these conversations, such as the provision of frequently asked

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questions, briefings, face to face meetings, the list I know goes on.

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I think we all know as communications leaders how we would support and advise,

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because we are, of course, the experts.

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The bit that I think is useful for us to remind ourselves of in this

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situation is to operate beyond comms.

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We are part of the senior leadership team and as well as holding up the

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mirror to our peers in this space and helping the board to seek clarity on

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those questions, we also have a duty to role model positive leadership

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behaviours and to constructively offer some challenge into this space.

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As a leader, we might need to consider the impacts of the uncertainty and

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change on the other leaders in the organization and try to understand

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how this might play out in terms of their behaviors and contributions in

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the leadership team and discussions.

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There may well be anxieties playing out as people question values

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alignment to a potential new direction of travel, or perhaps worry about

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the impacts of a new boss on their portfolio and their deliverables.

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It might be something that's just bubbling there underneath the surface,

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or it might be playing out really loudly in conversations and discussions.

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This is a crucial time for you to consider your role as a leader alongside

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being the expert strategic communicator as you may need to facilitate and

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advise on a sensible way forward.

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I've often found myself at times of significant change being the person in

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the leadership room that asks what might be perceived to be the stupid questions.

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Not because I think they are stupid, but because sometimes it takes the

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communications leader in the room to take on that role of trying to tease

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out how people are feeling, how things are landing, and if everyone is in the

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right space to be able to take forward the proposed changes in a way that

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will be supportive and engaging for those people in the wider organisation.

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The good communication leaders that I've had the privilege to work with

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have had great intuition and empathy and have the ability to diplomatically

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feedback into their leadership teams their observations of how change

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is being perceived and managed.

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I often feel like it's my role to articulate and share what could be

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perceived as the elephant in the room and suggest that we try to address it.

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Otherwise a leadership team trying to provide assurance through an unsettling

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time will face an even bigger challenge.

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The next area I wanted to briefly explore is your role of course as a Communications

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Director with your own team.

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Those same anxieties and concerns may well be playing out for your team

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members when things feel uncertain or the organisation is undergoing change.

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When your whole team has a role in communicating that change to the wider

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organisation, and perhaps even to external stakeholders, it's even more important to

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be curious and understand their needs in order to be able to do this effectively.

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Ask your team the following questions.

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How are you feeling about the changes?

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What do you need from me to support you at this time?

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And what do you need from the organisation in terms of support?

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We can have these conversations as a wider comms team, or as a smaller sub

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team if you have them in yours, for example in your comms management team.

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And of course, you can have these conversations with individuals,

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remembering that people will want to engage with you in different ways.

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Some of the asks I've heard from my teams on occasions when we've been dealing with

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change are for really practical things to help us do our comms job effectively.

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For example, I've heard people ask for really clear key messaging.

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They've asked who's going to be signing the comms off and who's going to be

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fronting key meetings, for example.

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But many of the asks from team members have been about things like how will this

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change impact what I do going forward?

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What will be different for me?

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What will stay the same?

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And will our team have new priorities and how might that affect my job?

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It's natural for people to be anxious and to have these types of questions.

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Some of the team will see change as an opportunity to do things

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differently, maybe to try new ideas and be more innovative.

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While others will see change as a potential threat to the

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status quo and something that makes them feel uncomfortable.

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It's important to make the space and time to work through this with

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your team, especially given the role of comms in change management.

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It's also important, and I will say there's a caveat for this, and

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probably most of this conversation, that caveat being that I've made

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an assumption you're operating in a culture that's open and transparent

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and where people feel safe to share.

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But as I was saying, it's important that you are honest and upfront.

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If you don't know what the impacts of the change might be for your

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team, or you don't have clarity, then be honest about that.

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And commit to sharing what you can, as and when you're able to do so.

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I mean, these are all principles of good communications, I know.

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I do think there's a misconception, however, that when you work in comms, you

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know everything before anyone else does.

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And sadly, in my own experience, that is not always the case.

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Uh, perhaps I should even say that's not often the case.

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Of course there will be times when we have information, as we are

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part of the leadership team, that we're not at liberty to share.

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And that's okay.

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As long as we're being open and transparent about the things that

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we can share, listening to people's concerns, and finding ways to respond to

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them either individually or as a team.

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And of course, coming from a genuine place to really want to help people work

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through that change and uncertainty.

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Finally, I wanted to reflect on how change and uncertainty

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impacts on you individually.

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It's really easy for communications directors to feel the need to just

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get on with things, but my own experience has taught me it's important

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to create the time and to seek the support you need to process and work

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through those changes for yourself.

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As comms directors, we are often in the privileged position where we are

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trusted advisors to our leadership teams, confidants to other leaders in

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our organisations, sounding boards for people to test out ideas, and sometimes

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even a therapist, as well as, of course, being a professional communicator.

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While this signals that others trust us and we have built strong

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relationships, don't underestimate the toll that absorbing the emotions

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and feelings of others can take on you during times of stress and

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uncertainty in your organization.

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It's really important to carve out the time and space to reflect on

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how you feel about the changes.

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Ask yourself some of those same questions that you would ask others in your team.

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What impacts might the change have for you personally, are there

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opportunities, and equally are there things that you feel concerned about?

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Having a strong support network here is crucial.

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Whether that looks like a handful of trusted peers or colleagues, maybe some

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of your close friends, or perhaps more formal arrangements through a coach or

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a mentor, being able to talk through the impacts of change and how you might

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choose to manage it will really help you.

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At many points throughout my career as a comms leader, I've needed to sense

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check things, test out my thoughts, download some of my own stresses,

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and to create some head space to consider my next steps in working

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through change, both professionally and personally, as the comms lead for

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the organisation, as the leader for my team, and of course for myself.

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Having some hugely trusted people in my network to do that with, as well

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as my coach when I needed to, and my mentors, has genuinely helped me.

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Whether that has been reframing my thinking, checking on values

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alignment, or considering what impact I feel I can have as a leader,

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it's all been hugely beneficial.

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So I'll end this episode by saying, at those points when we face change and

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uncertainty, don't forget that people will be looking to you to provide

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that expert communications advice.

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Don't forget that people will also be looking to you as a leader to role model

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good behaviours and provide assurance and reassurance where you're able to.

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But most importantly, I would say at any time of change or uncertainty,

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don't forget to look after yourself.

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Thank you for listening to this episode of Behind the Bob.

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I'd love for you to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform

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and leave a rating or a review.

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You can also engage with me over on the socials.

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You can find me on Instagram and on Twitter at @catspjs_uk.

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Catch up soon.

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