In Strategic Leadership and Communication Management, Gregory and Willis – both professors at the University of Huddersfield – present a framework to help communication professionals articulate and demonstrate their contribution to the development of value in an organization, as well as a list of essential skills necessary for acquiring a leadership position.
The authors are renowned communication consultants and academics. Anne Gregory has developed numerous researches and specialist consultancy programs for different companies in the public and private sectors, and is an advisor to the UK government, where she runs a talent program aimed at improving the skills of top-level communicators. Paul Willis directs the Centre for Corporate Communication at the University of Huddersfield.
This Spanish edition is an expanded version of the book that Gregory and Willis published in 2013 titled ‘Strategic Public Relations Leadership’. The main novelty, apart from the extension of the bibliographic references, where texts written since 2013 can be found, are the results of the Global Capability Framework (GCF). In fact, in the book, the official Spanish version of the GCF which was originally published in English in 2018 is included.
When speaking about the direction of communication in an organization, the authors suggest concepts such as the importance of perceptions, the legitimacy gap that can be produced by the distance between declared values and the lived experience of stakeholders, organizational narrative, the importance of caring for relationships with different stakeholders or the strategic perspective that communication must always have are at the base of the authors’ discourse.
The book is divided into three parts: the strategic contribution of communication (Chapters 2–5), the concerns of communication managers (Chapters 6–9) and the functions of the communication manager (Chapters 10–15).
The first chapters have an introductory character. The authors begin by asking whether there is an inherent prism in communication from which to view the organization, and then a statement of intent is made: the book will attempt to explain what communication brings to the organization and what tasks and competencies the communication manager should develop.
At the base of the whole approach of the text is the theory that leadership is an interactive phenomenon that occurs between people when there is a negotiated search for common goals. It offers a list of the similarities the authors find between communication and leadership, noting that, because of its consultative role, the area of communication requires a close relationship with the CEO and a ‘realistic, solution-oriented mindset to address the concerns of managers’ (p. 69).
The core of the book, in the authors’ own words, is chapter 5, the last of part one. It proposes a new communication model for organizations called ‘4 × 4’ since it describes four levels and four attributes that characterize excellent management. The four levels they point out are: the social, the corporate, the value chain, and the functional. As for the attributes, the following are listed: excellent understanding of the corporate brand; leadership; communication as a central organizational competence; and excellence in planning, management and evaluation of communication. These levels and attributes together can increase trust, strengthen legitimacy and defend reputation.
The second part of the book addresses the concerns of communication managers. A chapter is devoted to contextual intelligence, that is, the ability to understand the context in which one operates in order to identify audience expectations, detect threats and opportunities, and generate ideas and connections that improve relations with target audiences. Chapter 7 reflects on the values of the organization and the importance of having those values identified. Each value is a meeting point between the organization and society in general that provides a guide for decision-making and forms the basis for creating relationships of trust. The following chapter discusses the importance of ethics which, according to Gregory and Willis, should be an essential element for the existence and functioning of the organization.
Chapter 9 lists the different roles that communication can play in the organization and, at the end of the chapter, includes the most extensive and identifiable novelty of this edition with respect to the first version of this book in English, that is to say, the results of the Global Capability Framework. The GCF seeks to create a common basis for understanding and developing the capabilities of communication professionals worldwide. It consists of three groups of capabilities: those specific to communication, those that demonstrate a contribution to the organization and those relevant to all professionals. The GPF has been adopted by the Global Alliance of Public Relations and Communication Management, which is a worldwide confederation of PR and communication management associations and institutions.
Finally, the third part of the book develops the functions of the communication manager. Chapter 10 talks about the role of the ‘strategist’ and identifies strategic planning as an essential capacity for leadership in communicators. Chapter 11 develops the role of the ‘change agent’, pointing out that an essential characteristic to fulfill this role is reflexivity and critical capacity, since the responsibility of people who lead communication is to ensure that the organization is communicatively competent and to defend its strategic intangibles. The role of the ‘technical expert’ is developed in chapter 12, highlighting that this expertise contributes to improving the credibility of the communication function in the organization. Chapter 13 discusses the role of the ‘educator and internal ambassador’, whose function is mainly internal and consists of creating a communicative culture within the organization. Chapter 14 focuses on the role of the consultant and strategic advisor.
The last chapter of the book tries to justify why the ‘4 × 4’ model, proposed by the authors, is a model applicable to the present, but also to the past and future. The main reason is its flexibility, since the levels of strategy and responsibility of organizations continue to exist regardless of the specific context in which they operate. In conclusion, they ask themselves what characteristic would most aptly define the communication manager and they propose ‘contextual intelligence’ (p. 320). According to the authors, this is an indispensable condition for communication, which fulfils the function of an organizational compass, given that organizations today operate in a rapidly changing context, with more active audiences and often unpredictable political and regulatory environments.
This is a book that could well be used as a theoretical manual in universities and specialized courses because it combines theory with practical examples from the authors' extensive professional experience. Its main value is to offer verified conclusions from the professional practice of organizational communication. It is written in a synthetic and passionate way, showing how the authors reflect through words their love for the profession.
As the authors indicate in their introduction, this is a useful book not only for those responsible for communication, but also for the managers of organizations, since leadership has much to do with communication.
School of Church Communications, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, Italy
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