“The Art of Communication is the Language of Leadership” – James Humes
When Tony Elumelu steps onto a stage or Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala offers a statement on trade policies, markets listen. When GTBank’s Segun Agbaje provides quarterly guidance or Dangote Group issues clarifications about expansion plans, share prices respond. The connection between executive communications and business outcomes isn’t merely theoretical—it’s measurable, immediate, and increasingly critical in today’s hyper-connected marketplace.
For many executives who have become the face of their organisations, whose faces come to mind when their organisations are mentioned, it is indispensable that much attention is paid to their interactions with both traditional and digital media. For them, there are no mere slip-ups (common to man). Inactions or a single ill-considered remark has the potential to harm the company’s reputation and even influence perceptions across the entire industry.
Case in point: 2022-2023, when fintech giant Flutterwave faced allegations of financial impropriety and workplace misconduct by a former senior employee. The news breaking met with initial silence from Flutterwave, followed by technical denials without addressing the core concerns, and limited responses where critical communications was delegated to middle-level executives. With the news trending as more former employees shared their stories of harassment and financial investigations due to administrative errors, Flutterwave became more reactive than proactive with the media. This reaction in turn generated negative international media coverage, rousing Investor concerns and subsequently affecting funding rounds.
While the brand’s approach to implementing corporate governance reforms and gradually rebuilding media relationships through more transparent communication may have restored faith in the brand, much damage had been done. In similar situations, established crisis protocols and continued investor communications delivered through proactive C-suite media training are often the best approach to manage investor confidence.
For the savvy C-suite executive, it is not enough to have strong media relations; rather, understanding the impact of your words and learning to shape media perception through proactive media training is indispensable to boosting your brand reputation and managing stakeholders’ confidence, way ahead of crisis situations.
Ready to take your interaction with the external public to the next phase while solidifying your brand credibility to the public? Send us a mail at info@mosroncommunications.com to be a part of our C-suite Media Training.