Who’s Driving Your Communications Strategy?

An organization without a communications strategy is just spinning its wheels. When there is a solid strategy in place, who should be driving?

A communications strategy is more than a marketing or HR deliverable. It's an organizational engine that aligns employees to business objectives, strengthens culture through trust and transparency, and keeps everyone moving in the same direction. 

But if all the responsibility is left to the communications team, the strategy is destined to stall.


Why Ownership Matters

Even when a comms team is a trusted partner to the business, it cannot take on sole ownership of the communications strategy. The strategy can only be effective when it is embraced, modeled, and reinforced across the entire organization. It cannot live in a single department. It has to live in the culture. 

To fully bring a communications strategy to life, everyone must understand and fulfill their role in it.

Communications designs the framework.

Leadership instills belief.

Employees transform words into action.

The Role of Communications

As the architect of the strategy, the communications function designs the framework and shapes the narrative. It ensures the right messages reach the right audiences at the right time. But the role of communications doesn’t end with delivery.

The strategy design must be usable. That means creating messages with clarity and structure so everyone, from executives to front-line employees, can speak about the business with confidence and consistency.

The Role of Leadership

Leaders are the champions of any effective strategy. Their words and actions determine whether communication is seen as authentic or performative. Employees look to leaders for consistency between what’s said and what’s done, and they immediately notice when the alignment breaks down. 

When leaders model the communications strategy, they give employees permission to do the same. Visibility and transparency from leadership signals that communications aren’t just words. They’re direction.

The Role of Employees

A communications strategy lives or dies by how it’s adopted across the organization. Employees are the amplifiers of the strategy. When they understand and believe in it, they carry it into every interaction with colleagues, clients, and partners. 

Culture isn’t created through memos and flyers. It’s reinforced through conversation. When employees are empowered to embody the strategy, it moves from words on a page into meaningful action. 

Conclusion: The Triangle of Ownership

A communications strategy can’t live in a silo. Its success depends on shared ownership that strikes a balance between the people who build it, champion it, and bring it to life. Each role forms part of a triangle that collapses when any side is removed. When all three work in alignment, strategy moves beyond messaging and becomes part of how the organization operates every day.