Strategic Thinking is More Important Than Wordsmithing with Tina Hawkins, Senior Director of Internal Communications at the NBA

This episode features an interview with Tina Hawkins, Senior Director of Internal Communications at the NBA. Tina partners with business leaders to enhance employee performance through change management with a focus on workplace experience. In this episode, Amanda and Tina discuss aligning values externally and internally, keeping communication casual, and how to hold space for employees and leaders to have critical conversations. ------------------- “Don't over emphasize the writing. Things like the wordsmithing, the grammar, et cetera. That's table stakes. It's the strategic thinking that's the most important. What are we trying to achieve with this message or with this initiative or with what we're doing? What's the best way to reach people? How can we do something that'll have the most impact and influence? [...] And then personally, I try to concentrate on the business and connect with business leaders and understand our goals and where we're trying to go and what you want employees to do, what behavior changes we need from employees.” – Tina Hawkins ------------------- Episode Timestamps: *(01:37): Tina’s background *(03:08): Tina’s role as Senior Director of Internal Communications at the NBA *(05:35): Segment: Getting Tactical *(07:34): How Tina aligned the NBA while revamping the mission statement *(11:21): Segment: Ripped From the Headlines *(12:59): How the NBA helps leaders and employees have critical conversations *(22:47): Things to avoid when holding tough conversations *(28:01): Segment: Asking For a Friend *(31:29): Tina’s advice for keeping communication casual ------------------- Links: Connect with Tina on LinkedIn NBA Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn www.simpplr.com/podcast