We live in a world of instant gratification. Do something fast. Do something once. Expect immediate and lasting results. What a joke.

With that said, this “instant gratification” mindset has crept into organizational communication, and it is killing business performance.

Sure, CEOs and C-suite executives are moving so fast, they rarely have time to catch up on email. They have so many balls in the air, they touch each one for about 5 minutes – each week, each month. I get it. Their world is complicated. Their business is moving faster than ever. They have more and more people pulling at them every day. This is just the reality for every CEO and C-suite executive.

However, we have worked with business leaders at Fortune 100 and high-growth companies across the globe for more than 15 years. And we have discovered one thing separating executives who lead high-performance, focused organizations from others.

When it comes to organizational communication, they don’t buy into instant gratification.

They are intentional about the messages they send and how those messages are communicated up and down the organization. Simply put, they stay the course because they know firsthand the impact intentional and sustained communication has on business performance. More importantly, they know that nothing less will actually deliver lasting results.

No matter how busy or complicated their worlds are, these executives are very focused on delivering sustained messages that matter. Messages that drive clarity, alignment and execution. Messages that pertain to …

  • Brand promise and purpose
  • Vision and mission
  • Culture and employee engagement
  • Organizational change
  • Strategic business priorities
  • Customer experience

When it comes to messages that matter, these executives ensure the story is omnipresent. Not just through their own communication but within the communication that comes from every leader across the organization.

This reminds me of a Fortune 100 client that recently spent millions to bring more than 200 leaders together for a strategy meeting. During the meeting, a new set of strategic priorities were shared. Strategic priorities that had to be activated across the organization for the company to achieve its annual revenue targets. Keep in mind, while there were 200 leaders in the room, the company has tens of thousands of employees across the globe.

Now, those executives who live in the world of instant gratification would leave the kickoff meeting patting themselves on the back. Mission accomplished. The strategy was communicated. The initiatives were clearly laid out. Their job was done.

However, executives with a “stay the course” mentality would acknowledge that their work had just begun. To translate the priorities into meaningful action, an intentional communications plan had to be activated. Not for a few weeks, or even a couple of months, but for a sustained period of time. Enough time for thousands of employees across the organization to convert these high-level concepts and priorities into action and, ultimately, measurable results. Now, these leaders would leave the meeting with a sustained communications game plan. They would stay the course.

CEOs and C-suite executives often forget: Communication that drives results in large organizations is like turning the Titanic. It takes time before the ship starts to turn in the direction you asked it to move.

So, don’t let the instant gratification world we live in distract you from staying the course. Buck the trend. Be an intentional, sustained communicator and you will outperform your competitors every time.