When Turmoil Becomes the Job Description
By Taazima Kala
There was a question sitting quietly beneath the 2026 Maggie Nally Memorial Lecture: what happens when turmoil is no longer an occasional event for communicators to manage, but the environment in which we lead?
It is a slightly uncomfortable thought. Most of us entered this profession prepared for demanding days, difficult headlines and the occasional crisis call before breakfast. Few imagined that “permacrisis” might become a perfectly reasonable description of the working week.
That was the landscape explored by our speaker, Dr. Rochelle L. Ford, CEO of the Page Society, at this year’s lecture on Communication Leadership Through Turmoil. Colleagues joined us from across the world, reflecting the reach of CIPR International and the many cultural, political and economic contexts in which our members practice.
The lecture was held in memory of Margaret “Maggie” Nally, who became the first woman to serve as CIPR President in 1976. Maggie co-founded the Institute’s Greater London Group, served on the CIPR International Group and received the Sir Stephen Tallents Medal in 1987. Her legacy speaks to professional courage, service and the responsibility to keep advancing our profession. It also prompts an interesting question for each generation: what does advancing the profession require from us now?
For Dr. Ford, the answer begins with courageous leadership.
Communicators today are interpreting geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, polarisation, misinformation, technological disruption and increasingly complex stakeholder expectations. The instinct in this environment can be to move faster, publish more and keep refreshing the news alerts as though the next refresh might miraculously simplify matters.
Dr. Ford’s challenge to us was more profound. Leadership through turmoil is shaped by the quality of our judgement, the courage of our counsel and the integrity with which we help organisations act.
One thought has stayed with me: to speak your truth, you have to show your truth.
It sounds straightforward, until we consider how much organisational energy is still invested in finding the perfect words for actions that remain difficult to explain. Reputation is formed primarily through what an organisation does. Communication gives those actions meaning, context and accountability. A beautifully crafted message can travel far. So can an organisational contradiction.
This brings us to corporate character. Every organisation needs clarity about who it is, what it believes and how those beliefs appear in its choices. Values should live active, productive lives inside an organisation, shaping what happens when the answer is complicated, the stakes are high and several stakeholders want entirely different things. Perhaps the real test of purpose is whether it remains useful once the presentation slides have been closed and the difficult decision has arrived.
Communicators have a vital role here. We help leadership define that character, align the organisation around it and express it consistently through people and action. As Dr. Ford reminded us, an organisation’s true character is ultimately expressed by its people. The internal experience is therefore central to the external reputation. The home base speaks, whether or not it has been given approved key messages.
Listening brought another useful provocation. Organisations have become impressively accomplished at asking people for their views. We have stakeholder forums, surveys, town halls, pulse checks and consultations. The more revealing question is what happens after everyone has been thanked for their valuable contribution.
Listening acquires meaning when we close the loop. What did we hear? What changed because of it? Where a recommendation could not be adopted, have we explained the reasoning? People deserve to know where their contribution went. Otherwise, listening can begin to feel like sending a thoughtful message into a particularly well-branded void.
The lecture also invited communicators to manage for tomorrow. Our role increasingly includes counsel on geopolitical risk, artificial intelligence, regulation, stakeholder sentiment, organisational resilience and reputation. This places our contribution well upstream of the press release. The most valuable communications question may arise before a decision is made: how will this affect the people whose confidence we will later need?
Moving upstream requires more than requesting a seat at the table. It asks us to understand what is already being discussed there. We need relationships across finance, technology, human resources, legal, operations and marketing. We need to understand the organisation’s business model, recognise risk and speak the language of its industry. Influence grows when colleagues experience communication as a source of insight, judgement and commercially aware counsel.
Perhaps we should spend a little less time asking who invited communication into the room and a little more time building the relationships that make our presence there entirely natural.There is also a collective dimension to courageous leadership. Misinformation, disinformation and the responsible use of AI extend across borders and institutions. They require collaboration between communicators, researchers, policymakers, technology specialists and professional bodies.
This is where the international public relations community becomes especially powerful. Our contexts may differ, but the consequences of misinformation, declining confidence and technological disruption travel readily across borders. A connected global profession allows us to compare experiences, challenge assumptions and develop stronger responses together. In an interconnected world, professional solidarity is more than collegiality. It is part of our collective capacity to lead.
Communities such as CIPR International allow us to learn across markets and share both effective practice and what Dr. Ford memorably called our “immense failures”. Success offers examples. Failure, shared generously and examined honestly, often offers the better education.
One of the most reassuring insights was also the most human. Courageous leaders remain calm, patient and good-humoured. Composure creates space for perspective. Patience allows judgement to catch up with urgency. Good humour helps people carry pressure together. In a profession frequently powered by deadlines, notifications and caffeine, these are strategic disciplines as much as personality traits.
The lecture left me reflecting on whether courage in communication is always dramatic. Often, it may look quieter: asking the question everyone is carefully avoiding, listening to an uncomfortable perspective, advising patience when the room wants speed, or reminding leadership that stakeholders will experience the decision long before they read the statement.
Maggie Nally’s legacy shows us that leadership moves a profession forward while creating space for others to follow. In today’s environment, our task reaches far beyond managing messages. It is to help shape the judgement, actions and character behind them.If turmoil has become part of the job description, courageous leadership must become part of how we answer it.
Our sincere thanks to Dr. Rochelle L. Ford for sharing her wisdom, experience and candour so generously, and for leaving us with ideas that will continue to challenge our thinking and, hopefully, shape the counsel we give.
You catch watch a recording of the lecture here.
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