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The 4 P’s: How to Help Managers Communicate

April 2, 2018

It’s nearly a cliché when we talk about the importance of culture to business. Mark Fields, former CEO of Ford Motor Co., famously quoted the late management guru Peter Drucker as saying “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

A positive culture — one of openness, authenticity, transparency and trust — requires everyone in an organization to live that way. We have to dedicate ourselves to living in that world, to bringing it to life every day. We can’t look to others to make our desired environment happen.

• If we want openness, we have to be open.
• If we want collaboration, we have to collaborate.
• If we want trust, we have to demonstrate trust.
• If we want transparency, we have to be transparent.

Our behavior conditions that of others. We model the desired behavior, and help managers through our example.

We need a new toolset to create our desired environment, starting with how we communicate. The 4 P’s — purpose, picture, plan and part — structure our communication under any circumstances, whether it is with employees, management, customers or even family.