As people whose business it is to communicate with impact and flair, we all have our favorite metaphors that we draw on repeatedly. Knitting, I must say, has never been one of mine. That said, I’ve found myself thinking that it’s the best way of describing one of the most important leadership functions that we as communicators perform within our organizations. We often play a very active role in integrating disparate parts of an organization, or bringing together partners and stakeholders. It’s our role to synthesize content and ideas, package the value that our organizations offer, and make sense of what otherwise might be an incomprehensible smattering of projects, initiatives and results achieved across our business.
You’ll see this knitting-together phenomenon in the crafting of annual report messaging; in distilling key themes for presentation at an employee engagement event; or in creating audience-centric web content that pulls together material from across your organization in a way that speaks best to your key constituents and stakeholders.
I’ve found that such leadership in bringing people and positions together is one of the communications functions that internal clients value the most. And that’s vital to remember, given that the majority of your time might be spent in churning out products such as press releases, fact sheets and brochures.
So keep in mind what really makes a big impact in terms of adding strategic value to our organization. Knitting may not be splashy or high-visibility—but those tiny links that forge relationships and creative synergies are critical to realizing corporate goals. So prize your ‘Knitter in Chief’ role as part of the unique assets that you as a communicator can contribute to your organization.