Distinctive Dispatch #30: Putting comms at the heart of leadership
How communication supports leadership; celebrating award success; working well with your PR agency; our hopes for the budget, and housebuilding; why campaigns must inspire, not scare.
Better comms for people, places and work
As we charge towards the end of 2025, there’s plenty to consider and celebrate. Beyond the millions of gloomy words posted about the upcoming budget, we’re working with clients on significant projects campaigns before 2026 arrives.
It’s important to find time to think alongside this work: it’s where growth happens. This edition provides space for us to think and share thoughts. Thanks to everyone who takes time to read it. Hope it’s useful.
Share your thoughts in the comments or get in touch if you’d like to discuss anything about the points raised.
Communication, adaptability, and prioritising personal growth
I’m just over halfway through a leadership and resilience bootcamp at UWE Bristol. It’s designed for creative professionals and covers business management areas alongside core leadership skills. It presents an exciting opportunity to help me build on my role at Distinctive.
It’s a big time commitment – a day a week out of the office throughout October and November. But I find it hugely rewarding.
I’m bringing strands from various topics covered - leadership, networking, business development and commerciality – back into my work. There are holistic learnings that I also think apply to us all.
It all comes down to communication
Well, I would say that, wouldn’t I?! But I’m not talking about a strategic PR campaign or engaging content here. I’m referring to how our communication style sits at the crux of all elements of our working lives.
Good leadership needs clear, empathetic communication to get the desired results. Whether you want to inspire creativity, call people to action, drive things forward, or enable growth, your communication approach influences the outcome.
I always thought leadership style was part of our personality. But it’s clear that your default style may not necessarily be the best for the job at hand. And at times you can and should change it. Understanding how you lead, and adjusting things, gets better results. This is less about you, and more about those in front of you.
Whether you’re directive, facilitative, a pace-setter or a coach, all these styles can work in the right moment. Considering what you need to achieve from a meeting or conversation should shape how you lead.
Ask yourself: ‘What sort of person do I want to be in this conversation or situation?’ Making this conscious decision ahead of time seems like additional work. But if it makes for better results, you’re better off in the long term.
This applies to everyone, regardless of seniority. You might lead a meeting or a conversation, or a large team or business. The same principles apply: understand who you’re talking to, and adapt you style and tone to suit.
Learn to prioritise learning
We’re all busy people. We live in a fast-paced world. Taking 20% of my working week out for two months seemed daunting.
Even with a hugely supportive and skilled team around me, it’s a big commitment in time and mental resource. But finding the space works.
We’ve had lots discussions about this, with clients, colleagues and at events with other business leaders. People often say they don’t have time to commit: they’re too busy doing to think.
But there’s huge value in making regular time for learning and self-reflection, and protecting it. You can be responsive and deliver outstanding work while still focusing on personal and professional growth.
We’re lucky at Distinctive to have a generous amount of time and budget for L&D and focused personal objectives. But it’s up to us to make good use of the commitment. For those in a similar position, who know the learning time is there but haven’t made it a priority – make it one.
Work and life changes quickly. We need to find time and space to consider and shape the future, and not let it shape us. If you can, I guarantee you won’t regret it.
With three more weeks to go at UWE and a longer-term personal development plan to progress, I look forward to learning much more.
Photo in header is by KOBU Agency on Unsplash.
Celebrating award success
The role of comms in supporting the built environment is not widely understood, if it’s noticed at all.
So, we were thrilled to see our name shoot up as a highly commended ‘consultancy of the year’ at Insider Media’s recent South West Property Awards.
In entering this category, we aimed to set out how our work makes a positive difference by supporting good places, attracting investment and enabling growth and were pleased to see that recognised.
We’re delighted too for our clients Beard, named construction firm of the year, and for Reef + Partners and Gloucester City Council, whose project The Forum picked up the place-making project of the year award. Congratulations to everyone who made the shortlist. Congratulations to everyone who made the shortlist.
Keep promoting and celebrating your success.
Things we’ve seen
Gloucester’s name goes up in lights – again: Following its award success, The Forum in Gloucester is a platform for promoting what’s happening in the city and attracting investment and jobs.
The £107m development’s new media screen is live and sharing information about big events happening in the city.
Credit to Andy Barr – he of Good and Bad PR fame - for producing the content, with many other colleagues supporting.
Repurposing lessons from The Traitors: If you’re hooked on The Celebrity Traitors, then you may also have watched reveal clips on social media or listened to the spin-off podcast, Uncloaked. This is a great example of repurposing your hero content, as highlighted by Stacey Meadwell on LinkedIn. Releasing multiple pieces of content is a great way to reach different audiences. It’s a lesson in making your content work hard for you!
Things we’ve read
Three weeks till budget day – and now Rachel Reeves is ‘being honest’ about tax – The Guardian: Rachel Reeves is only now hinting at what many of us saw coming before her appointment as Chancellor: the economic picture is bleak and taxes must rise. Marina Hyde’s piece reminds us of the importance of being straight from the outset, even when it’s difficult to do.
The Royals close ranks against Andrew: After years of damage control, King Charles stripped the former Prince Andrew of his royal status – and the huge privileges that came with it. From a PR standpoint, it was clear that the King needed to choose the nuclear option to protect ‘The Firm’ at a wobbly time. But it was moving to see the support for the victims and survivors of abuse included in the official statement, and a reminder of the very real people at the heart of this royal scandal.
Why designers abandoned their dreams of changing the world – FT (free to read): Edwin Heathcote writes on how, in his view, design may have lost its way. It’s difficult to accurately or fairly summarise an entire industry around defining moments. And plenty will disagree and point to counter examples, where great things still happen. But he makes well-argued points about the disconnect between grand intent and the reality staring back at us. Design is not alone in facing this challenge. But is he being entirely fair?
Is social media destroying democracy – or giving it to us good and hard? – Conspicuous Cognition: We hear lots about how social media harms democracy. Academic Dan Williams offers a counter view: social media exposes public opinion more than shapes it. By bypassing elite gatekeepers, it shows the beliefs, biases, and frustrations that always existed. Rather than blaming algorithms for corrupting a well-informed public, he argues that platforms reveal how wide the gap is between elite opinion and everyday views.
Things we’ve heard
The Creator of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse: Not comms related, but simply a powerful and impactful conversation. The creator of The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse Charlie Mackesy opens up about anxiety, loneliness and grief. It’s a beautiful conversation that shows the power of vulnerability, connectedness and storytelling.
Podcast delves into human stories behind new technologies: Deadlines and Detours, hosted by Matthew Barrington-Packer, lifts the curtain on what actually happens when digital innovations go live. In a world where AI feels ubiquitous, it promises to unpack the potential of new tech without the breathless hype. Expect tales of transformation, culture changes, and all-too-human drama.
Things we’ve said
Autumn Budget 2025: What Bristol Creative Industries members want to see for creative businesses: This piece shares pre-budget hopes from Bristol’s leading creative communications businesses. Our thoughts: whatever the headline measures, we badly need a vision for the future of the country, rather than the odd tweak and abstract phrase (‘change’).
We’re producing a post-budget briefing for clients on what the budget could mean for them. Drop us a message if you’d like to receive this.
How to get the best from your PR partner: Finding the right PR partner is a crucial step in ensuring your organisation is understood and trusted. A good relationship with your retained consultants paves the way for smoother collaboration. This piece shares learnings from our experience of working with our clients, who we’re proud to support.
Planning reform loosens the shackles, but we need to get it right: Proposed amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill promise to strip back red tape and speed up development. This is welcome, but Ryan’s piece argues that the push for numbers should not overshadow the need for well-designed places that people can afford to live in and feel part of. The reforms create an opportunity to build smarter, greener homes with proper infrastructure and public space. That relies on collaboration and early engagement with communities. ‘Pace of delivery’ only works if better places happen with it.
Trick or treat? Why fear-based campaigns can spook audiences: Fear can be a potent attention-grabber. But when it comes to effective campaigns, attention doesn’t always translate to persuasion. The most effective campaigns make people feel informed, empowered, and inspired to act. By offering clear, simple actions, using scary stats sparingly, and pairing urgency with agency, comms agencies can thrill – rather than chill – the people they want to reach.
We’re back for our final Dispatch of the year on 5 December. Thanks to everyone who reads and comments on this newsletter. If you have any suggestions on what you’d like to hear from us, please get in touch.
Bots don’t write this newsletter. AI has potential to change the game, and we use it every day. But we don’t need it to write for us.