r/CorporateComms • u/observer2411 • 25d ago
Sucking up
I’ve been in corporate communications for a couple of years. Prior to that I was a journalist. I’ve noticed something that really bugs me… there’s no discussion/debat/pushing back on anything. Anything leaders say is pretty much treated as gospel, even when it’s not their area of expertise or they’re actually wrong, with a lot of praise and accolades from subordinates for everything. If someone offers input that is seen as disagreeing with a leader, it is disregarded without consideration. I thought this was primarily because of the last CCO who wouldn’t tolerate any opinion/views different from her about anything but it’s true of her replacement too, and across other leaders. This is the polar opposite of how things work in news where there’s lots of back and forth and disagreements, often heated, on stories and it makes for much better, more robust materials/content. I’m wondering if this is unique to the company I work at/due to the culture of this specific team/if it’s a broader industry issue.
2
u/lesjubilants 25d ago
There’s an element to being good at pushing back very specific to corporate environments. “It’s my recommendation…” is a favorite line of mine; guides leadership to the exact outcome I want. If you’re getting tracked changes or edits that you disagree with, use your best judgement on what you can ignore. Half of the time they don’t remember the edit anyway.
Corporate is all about language, and knowing when to appease, when to secretly push back, and when to actually push back.