Engagement around an embattled leader

Spare a thought for internal communicators working at FIFA right now.

It must have been intense, to say the least, during the frenetic period when the FIFA President’s plan to involve private investors in FIFA competitions was leaked and collapsed. Particularly when many senior officials in the organisation, let alone the rest of the employee base, knew little or nothing about it.

Trying to keep everyone informed and aligned as a war of words between senior executives and member organisations was played out across the global media landscape must have been, ahem, “challenging”.

However, even that may pale in comparison to the task of re-uniting the organisation now the plan has fallen apart. Especially when the individual concerned is determined to cling to power.

When a leader overplays their hand, they often have little time left in the role. Planning how to re-engage a fractured organisation around a new figurehead, and a fresh vision of the future, offers an opportunity to leave previous baggage behind.

With an embattled President determined to stay on, that task becomes far more complex.

I would love to be a fly on the wall as the team there plans how to re-build the connection between their leader and his people. The individual concerned does not strike me as someone ready to embrace culpability. Yet belief and trust in him must be at an all-time low. Why would anyone believe in his statements on vision and strategy, and their role in it, if he does not acknowledge his failings? Why would they demonstrate full commitment if the purpose they think they are serving could be undermined by another secret plan?

It will be fascinating to see how the situation evolves in the coming weeks…

Managers under the microscope

I’m catching up on a few recent internal communication reports and I see that people managers are in the spotlight once again, with little sign of a solution to support them. 

PR Daily ‘s report on six internal communication trends cites manager comms as the top priority. The recent IC Index 2026 highlights the importance of informed and engaged managers, but says that many managers aren’t helping their people make sense of things. Gallagher’s IC State of Sector 2026 identifies managers as the ‘missing channel’, with 87% of respondents highlighting manager capability as a risk.

These could be themes from reports a decade or more ago. Numerous studies have highlighted the problem, yet a solution seems strangely out of reach.

Why?

There will be different factors in different places. However, at the heart of it, I’ve always thought, is that the scale (or at least anticipated scale) of the problem inhibits action. The fear that trying to make progress would soak up too much time, effort and resources. The view that faster and more demonstrable results can be achieved in other areas (maybe with a shiny new tool or platform…).

So we never quite move on, and the issue continues to fester.

Yet, there are interventions that can make a tangible difference in strengthening the communication culture, capabilities and – crucially – confidence of managers across an organisation.

Such actions must form part of a broad programme, which will require close collaboration with the likes of L&D. As communicators, we won’t (and can’t) own every element. However, we can be the instigators of clear and consistent focus on an issue that has remained unresolved for too long.

 

Say No to AI CEO

Some worrying news from Meta, where the ubiquitous Mark Zuckerberg is apparently planning an AI CEO that will pop on screens and give feedback to colleagues across the company.

I do realise this is not the first of its kind and that avatars have previously been harnessed by leaders for a range of communication tasks. For example, I remember a major bank here in the UK used avatars in an onboarding programme some years ago, with virtual leaders popping up to guide new colleagues through the company. So, there are clearly some very interesting ‘use cases’.

I don’t think giving feedback is one of them.

Now, we only have the headlines at present, and the plan may well be more targeted and/or nuanced than the reporting makes it appear. Yet, in any scenario, feedback is sensitive, and can be taken personally. An ‘AI CEO’ sems unlikely to be the best messenger, and if the feedback avoids being personal, it risks being too generic, even corny.

More to the point, one of the major ‘buzzwords’ in internal comms in recent years has been “authenticity”, with a focus on making a genuine connection between leaders and their people. That brings benefits to all sides, and I would argue really strengthens the connection in a way an avatar never can. In fact, I fear the opposite might become true.  

We’ll have to see how this evolves, and only those inside Meta can truly say how this innovation will address an issue they have discovered or an opportunity they have spotted. On the face of it, though, it feels like a step back in employee engagement rather than an exciting development.