This isn’t about pointing to a boogeyman. We’re not in that business.
This is about sound communications counsel that you can just as easily ignore as you can heed.
Here it is simply: If you’re in a leadership position and your area of professional responsibility is mentioned in Project 2025, it’s time to prepare for how you’re going to communicate. That’s because for the past four weeks, I have been immersed in client projects prompted by the federal governments cuts, threats and other actions that have affected multiple sectors, all of which are going as promised in Project 2025.
It’s no secret. It’s all online. You can read it here.
Now is the time to decide what you’re going to communicate to your audiences about what’s happening or how you’re preparing for what could happen. Yes, it can be dangerous to speculate. And you have to properly manage audience expectations. But there’s also an imperative to communicate and it’s best coming directly from your organization to your audiences. It’s crucial to let your audiences, inside and outside of your organization, know that you’re tuned in and understand what’s on their minds, with your collective heads not in the sand or anywhere else other than where they need to be.
At the same time, now is the time to at least think about what your organization will be like without federal funding, without certain government services or maybe with one of your key programs (call it “DEI” or anything else) either rendered illegal either literally or in a de facto sense.
While there’s sensitivity left over from 2024, this isn’t about politics anymore. It’s about reality. And none of us have ever lived until this type of specter of sweeping government involvement. So it’s best to follow some shared fundamentals of adversity and change communications. That includes getting in front of audiences to provide any facts and any type of leadership, which is what audiences crave in times of actual or perceived adversity.
We’re a month into this now. We have a clear idea of what’s coming. It’s time to communicate. Get some help if you need it.