Rena:

Hello, and welcome to the arena. I’m Rena Lewis, founder and chief strategy advisor at Signature Intentions and host of the arena podcast. And today’s episode. I am super excited to have this mic guest,  a champion warrior of communications, Chris Berger, as a professional communicator for more than 20  years, Chris has extensive experience leading high performing and impactful communications teams  across multiple industries. He is currently the head of enterprise communications at atrium health, the  largest integrated nonprofit health system in the Southeast where he and his team connects the hearts  and minds of more than 70,000 teammates through strategic and informal formative media relations  brand and internal communications. Prior to atrium, Chris held various senior level communications  roles at Walmart where he led large scale change and communications initiatives for an audience of it’s  more than 2 million employees. His experience also includes communications management roles in the  government banking and financial services industries, a graduate of oral Roberts university in Tulsa,  Oklahoma. 

Rena:

Chris is also leveraging his entrepreneurial spirit belief in giving back and love of coffee as a founder of  sugar Creek coffee roasters that supports multiple nonprofit organizations. Personally, I met Chris  through his talented wife, Shauna, a communications leader herself, and one of my very favorite people.  And I can certainly say that he is passionate about spending as much time as possible with her. And  there are two beautiful daughters and he’s also a gifted photographer. Just love his photos. But what  we’re going to talk more about today is his passion for aligning communications with business strategy,  values, brand and culture. And as a chief communications officer at a leading healthcare organization,  I’m looking forward to chatting with him about his relevant communication strategies and tactics during  this pandemic. So without further ado, hello, Chris, and welcome to the arena. 

Chris:

Well, thanks so much for having me. It’s always a joy to join and and be able to share a little bit more  about, you know, what I’m seeing in the industry and meet with professionals like yourself. 

Rena:

Well, thank you. And I’m delighted to have you, so let’s get started with learning a bit more about your  story. Is there anything that you would like to add to my intro regarding your career journey? 

Chris:

Well, I always liked to just, you know, talk a little bit about how I actually got into communications. Most  people would be interested that I don’t actually have a communications degree. My degree was in  health, exercise, science and health, physical education and recreation. I thought I was going to be a  coach and I graduated college, but really got involved in, in business, but quickly throughout college.  And it really was through my wife. But you mentioned before who introduced me to this idea of  communications being a, an industry. I was never exposed to anybody before that that had done this  and, and that this was a career possibility and I grew up in Holland and my first language was actually  Dutch. So I came to the United States later on, my dad was in the air force. And and it was, it was, you  know, exposed to lots of different cultures. So communicating, well, it came natural to me and  storytelling. So that was just a fun, fun thing that, you know, transitioned from graphic design and  marketing to to being able to do communications. So I always think that’s an interesting part of my  career development.

Rena:

Yeah, it’s very interesting. Well, I guess much like a customer journeys career journeys are not always  linear paths. And when someone is as curious and open-minded, as you are, the things that you discover  along the way can lead you on slightly different roads, if you’re courageous enough to take them. And  you obviously were so kudos to you. So besides Shauna, who, or what has most inspired you during your  career? 

Chris:

Well, I have to say at the beginning of my career I had a lot of people who inspired me, but I’d say at the  beginning of my career, you know, I might’ve been inspired by someone who might not have, you know,  really said the right things to me at the time, but it truly impacted me. I remember I remember coming  out of college, having my resume, having done a lot of graphic design, a lot of different things and and  sat down with a mentor slash you know, someone who was heavily involved in business and  communications and different. And he looked at my resume and I sat across the desk from him and I  was sitting in his office and really trying to get some career advice. And he point blank said, you will  never do anything with your career in, in, in communications with your degree, or look what you’ve  done until you go back to college and get a degree in communications and then come back and try to do  something. And that were under my saddle a little bit too, to really force me to say, I’m going to show  this person wrong. I’m actually, I’m going to do this and I’m going to do it well. And and, and that  inspired me probably more than anything to be able to just say, I absolutely will make a career without  having to go back to college. Cause I think I have something to offer here. 

Rena:

I love that you did not accept that as your truth. Okay. Similarly to that, I, I, whenever I’m asked, I always  say, it’s like, exactly, like you said, it’s like, watch me then just go learn it, go do it and go be it. Yeah. 

Chris:

Yeah. I w well, the thing that struck me was everybody that I interacted with was doing things sort of by  book, you know? And I think those are the things that a lot of times those messages don’t resonate  necessarily because they need creative ways of thinking about things that you didn’t necessarily do by  the book. And that’s what really kind of actually gave me my foothold in the industry. It was, I was  coming at things a different angle and adding different thought process to it, of like the everyday  person, as opposed to someone who’d been classically trained in a certain area. And that’s what I felt  like I was my niche for a long time. 

Rena:

So what’s been the best advice you’ve received either personally or professionally. 

Chris:

I think really it ties back to what I was just sharing a little bit it’s, it’s about avoiding fear of failure, you  know, the self doubt. And when you think about like, just the lack of confidence that a lot of people  have they miss the opportunities that are smacking them right in the face. And I think a lot of times we  take no for an answer or we limit ourselves and, and then you’re not able to you’re, you’re really kind of,  you’re, you’re more afraid of the failure that you might that might come down the road then actually  just jumping in with both feet. And sometimes you might have to fake it till you make it. But, but a lot of  times I feel like people have the skills, they have the abilities. It’s not even having to fake it to make it.  They’re just a little bit afraid of actually jumping in. And because of that, there may be wondering the  rest of their careers. What if I had done this? And, and my motto has always been, I don’t want to live by  what else I want to live by, what did I do? What did I put my by? And sometimes you will fail. I mean,  truly like there, there are moments that you will fail, but you’ll learn the most from those failures than  you would have by not doing anything at all. 

Rena:

Absolutely. Totally, totally agree. I think you’re spot on with that. As Nelson Mandela said, make your  choices, reflect your hopes, not your fears. And I love that. What is atrium health purpose, or mission  and your role and responsibilities and helping them achieve it. And I’m particularly curious about how  you structured your enterprise communications organization accordingly. 

Chris:

Yeah. So I’m glad you asked about that. It’s, it’s a real privilege to work at an purpose driven mission  driven organization, like atrium health like you mentioned at the top, you know, we have 70,000  teammates, so we’re spread all throughout the Southeast, we’re in the Carolinas and Georgia, Alabama.  And it’s really, you know, as we look at all that, how do you bring all of that together? And our mission is  pretty simple and it’s easy to remember it’s to improve health elevate hope and advance healing for all.  And the huge emphasis on that is the, for all part. So we always talk about how the care that you receive  at atrium health, whether you’re the CEO of a fortune one company, or you’re, you know, homeless at  the time, the care you received should be no different. And that’s something really that we talk about so  much in in all of our communication and really grounds us and everything is that for all parts. 

Chris:

So I mean, some of the examples of, of really how this played out just recently obviously we’re going  through a pandemic that’s, you know, been here for almost two years now. And one of the things that  we’re really we’re, we’re talking about at the beginning we’re you know, how do we make sure that we  don’t fall into the same trap, that many, many cities across the country, or when there was disparities  and testing and all of those types of things that were taking place when the pandemic first hit. And and  you know, w the thing that I think became apparent was we had already laid the foundation. We had  done things in our community there where before the pandemic hit, we had relationships throughout  the entire community. And those were things that we were able to lean on almost immediately. And  within a couple of weeks, we stood up mobile units were inside underserved communities doing testing  and eliminated any tout any, any disparities that were in place at that point. And it’s a story that we love  to talk about, because it is shows the example of us living out, you know, our mission on a day-to-day  basis. And that’s just one of the examples. 

Rena:

And how about your team, how your team is structured? 

Chris:

Yeah, so I, I have to before I say that I have to just give huge kudos because everything that I talk about  and many of the things that, you know, a lot of times I get to represent and beyond amazing podcasts  like this and talk about, you know, the, the amazing work that’s being done, but it doesn’t happen  without an amazing team. And I have, I feel like one of the best teams I’ve ever worked with in my entire  career, and it is it has been an absolute pleasure to just watch them get out of their way and and really  just guide along the way. But our, my team is really comprised of it is an inner internal communications  team. It is a media relations and crisis communications team executive comms. We also have a brand  journalism and social media team, a reputation management team that helps with kind of awards and  recognitions and things like that. As we look at local and regional and national reputation. And then we  also have a clinical communications team, and this team really is embedded like an agency into each one  of our service lines. So we’re harvesting stories, and we’re trying to find things to really share. So that’s  how my team is set up.

Rena:

Well, you do indeed have a great communications leadership team having met some of them specifically  Melanie, Ashley, and jelly. They walk the talk and are wonderful ambassadors of the AGM health brand.  So kudos to you for, for, for building and nurturing such a, such a great group of people. And I love what you said earlier about, you know, what you were doing to serving underserved communities during the  pandemic and such a great Testament to the fact that you, you know, you were ahead of the curve and  building that strong trust bank before you needed to to tap into it. So so I love that. So what are some of  the other ways that you all are leaning into your mission and purpose during the pandemic? 

Chris:

I think one of the things I think it’s important to point is we at atrium health have a very strong  storytelling culture in place. And one of the things that my team helps them facilitates that has been so  impactful is we have a a really, it’s a ritual that we start every meeting with and it’s called a connect to  purpose. And this was started by our president and CEO gene woods when he came here and it’s just a  really impactful thing that we do that basically centers us and it grounds us of why we exist and why we  do what we do at atrium health. And these are patient stories, perhaps, you know, of things that the  clinical communications team has found. These are, these are, you know, stories about how we’re  innovating across our industry. These are things that just really, really showcase why we’re doing what  we’re doing. 

Chris:

And, and I’ll have to say the patient stories are the most impactful because many times they just move  you to tears. So things that are happening and you know, those things are just, I mean, to see someone  that, you know, got hit by a car and they’re able to walk and run a marathon, you know, a year later I  just think about so many of those types of stories. And right now, obviously pandemic related. It’s so  many people that were on life support that, you know, that now are not are aren’t dead basically, and  they’re, they’re alive because of the care that the team provided. So I think that is really foundational to  some of the things that we’re doing, because again, it leads us back to that health hope and healing for  all that we talk about. 

Rena:

Yes, I love that. And I’m sure that you also take your team in these, and I love the connect to purpose  meetings and starting, starting every meeting with the connect to purpose foundation. And I’m sure  that’s really reinvigorating for your team because you know, they’re humans and we suffer from COVID  fatigue, that’s particularly in communications and the work that we do. So I’m sure that you take the  opportunity to also let them know that what connect the dots for them to let them know that what  they’re doing is making a difference. So I, I absolutely love that. What about other things that you do

Chris:

Well, I think, especially during these remote work times, when a lot of us are kind of like living in this  hybrid work environment, some in office, some in the hospital, some, you know, doing a lot of different  things. I think the the thing that I think has worked out so well is like purposely setting up time to  connect with the teams. I do some things called Coff coffee with Chris. You talked about my passion for  coffee. It was a natural fit for me just to have like a time dedicated for what I call coffee with Chris each  Friday, we had one this morning at nine o’clock and, and it’s for it’s not for my leaders is for everybody  else, basically for their time to just come. And the only rule we have is we don’t talk about work. We talk  about what’s going on in their life, what’s happening.

Chris:

And it is just a great time to connect personally, individually with people on the team that might not  have that normal FaceTime with me as a leader of the organization. And I think that has been very, very  impactful. Another thing that we are able to do or really put into place was a walk and talk. And, and  really, they’re pretty simple, but they’re really impactful, but basically I set up time or my team sets up  time with me when they want to have just meeting at a park meeting just somewhere and just doing a  walk and talk. And sometimes if they’re not even comfortable meeting in person right now during the  pandemic, I go on a walk while they’re on a walk in their neighborhood, but we, we have this  connection. And just talking about what’s going on in their life again and smattered in with work and  what things that they have questions about from leadership all of those types of things. 

Chris:

I personally love the face-to-face connection as much as possible and, and video can only do so much. So  there’s something special about being there with someone in person. So that’s been really, really neat to  be able to do some of those things. But again, all of that kind of centers around having a team that you  trust that has a team oriented culture that’s already in place. There’s one things that we were standing  up from the beginning, and we’ve had to do hiring since, you know, since a pandemic started, but, you  know, having a team that I trust to do their work, it doesn’t have to be butts in seats all the time, but  recognizing that they have a job to do they’re professionals, they’re going to do it. And and just making  sure that everybody’s aligned and doing all the right work, it works perfect. 

Rena:

I love that. That’s great, Chris, really really wonderful. Thank you for sharing that. Are there any trends  or new activities happening today that you think will stick beyond the pandemic? 

Chris:

I think some type of hybrid work environment will certainly be part of the future. I think that what  companies have quickly come to realize is I mentioned butts in seats. You know, some cultures have that  in place, right. Where you need to be in your seat from eight to five. Well, I think a lot of companies are  coming to realize that, Hey, they sent teams home to work for a period of time, and they’re getting the  same efficiency, if not more out of the out of teammates during this time. So definitely the hybrid work  environment and the ability to, I think just in general companies will realize the amount of sub savings  that they’re already having. Like talk about travel, like before, you know, there were a lot of emphasis  on face-to-face meetings across the country, flying all over the country. I think we’ve come to realize  through video that we’ve been able to do a lot of those things.

Chris:

And I think those are the type of things. And in increased you know, use of digital technology, how do  you modernize communications? And, and I think one of the things I was lucky enough to do, you know,  before the pandemic was Institute a teammate app and, and because of that it was only amplified  during the pandemic of being able to communicate with teammates that were under desks that were,  you know, you think about a healthcare setting, many, many, many teammates of our, you know, say  70,000 teammates, 40,000 of them are in the clinical setting. So they’re not in front of a computer  waiting for you to send that email to them, but during their breaks, what are they doing? They’re  consuming information just like you. And I do, you know, if we’re sending in line somewhere, we pull out  our phone and we look at whatever the latest thing is on our social feed. And so we, we put a, a, you  know, a teammate app in place, and that’s how we’re communicating to them with bite-size, you know,  snackable content that teammates can consume really, really easily. And so I think those are the types of  things that will only continue because I don’t, I don’t see for awhile company is going back to full, you  know, again, butts and seats, you know, type of environment. 

Rena:

I agree. How about a media relations, anything that you see sticking in terms of how you’re conducting  your media relations activities? 

Chris:

Yeah, certainly I think, you know, everybody can relate to how media absolutely needed to be in person  before the pandemic and then how quickly they adapted to doing things, the interviews via zoom or  some other type of format similar to that. And I think that that will probably be a continuing trend. I  mean, I know when we were facilitating interviews with, you know, executives before with like the  major CBS or NBC or CNN, you know, we had to go to their studio in order to be in their, you know, their  video crew and all that. But, but during the pandemic, I think they learned very fast that Hey, technology  actually is pretty awesome and you can be in someone’s house and get the same, you know, it’s not as  maybe good quality, but it is, it is workable. And I think what they found was they had easier access  because guess what, people are a little bit more comfortable in their own home than are, they are in a  mood, you know, in a, in a TV set where, you know, they feel a little uncomfortable with a big camera in  their face. 

Chris:

I think that’s probably another one that we’ll probably stick around for a while. Yeah. 

Rena:

I totally agree. Technology is amazing these days, especially I’ve seen now some interviews people were  doing you know, via remote it, but it was like they were sitting next to each other and having the, and  having the interview. It was, I, I love it. How about how about in the and I also agree with you all the  other trends that you said, you know, companies are seeing that the sky doesn’t fall when you allow  your workforce to have the flexibility of working from home and, and the, the gain and cost and  operational efficiencies for themselves. So I think that’s right. How about, I’m also hearing a lot about,  you know, increased collaboration, what are you seeing on them?

Chris:

Yeah, I think, I think what it has forced is either ties to be stronger or ties to be destroyed. And I see  actually the collaboration with partners being very much strengthened. So, you know, most  communications teams either you know, have a strong relationship with their HR counterparts or in  other, you know, shadow organization, so to speak across organizations. And I think those relationships,  you know, whether they were strong or weak before, they only have to be strengthened to this. And you  know, this, this time, because I think you’re not getting your work. You think about the amount of  policies and the amount of things that had to be communicated across the enterprise. Those, those  things you have to have strong partnerships. So again, it goes back to what, what foundation did you  have in place before? And and, and hopefully they got stronger. We definitely saw them get stronger  here. And, and it also, it really did prove out some of, you know, the areas where we saw. Okay. Yeah,  there are some shadow groups over here. We need to kind of pull those in a little bit closer because we  need to be on the same page. And that was just made very, very clear. 

Rena:

Yes, absolutely. I think you’re spot on with that. I think, you know, seeing lots of great, tremendous  cross-functional collaboration with HR, with marketing, with business development, patient customer  success, or patient care in your case that are seeing lots of that. And I’m really hoping that that will stick  because it is so important. I’m seeing in terms of having a unified message, rallying everyone around the  PIR, our purpose and our mission, and, and coming out with consistent messaging and experiences that,  you know, people are having with with brands. So I, I feel that is something that will, that will stick  because it’s showing it’s, it’s proving itself to be quite beneficial to organizations and individuals. What  about any negative sort of impacts or, or negative trends that that unfortunately will be, we may be  facing the longterm? 

Chris:

Yeah, I do think, I think there has been there’s been an obliteration, I’ll say of work-life balance that took  place, and I always relate it to as I think through it, what used to be in place was you had your drive  time, you got to work typically you know, somewhere between eight and five, and then you left and you  had that drive time home to come and decompress kind of before you walked into the door. And what I,  what I see now is for the most part, whether you have some hybrid work or you’re still work from home  th those boundaries have been completely obliterated. And I think what, what needs to happen is a  reset of understanding of, and maybe it’s just a an agreement on what is okay, the hours to contact and  even weekends and things like that, because where, before, you know, your Workday would start eight  ish, that would be kind of, you know, maybe seven 30. 

Chris:

It’s not untypical to see meeting show up at seven o’clock now, because they know that I’m at home,  you know and, and my office, you know, so to speak as 50 feet away from my bedroom, you know, and  and I think the same thing at night, and there were times where, you know, I’d be getting calls at nine  o’clock at night, and they weren’t like really urgent things either. It was just kind of a catch-up, you  know, and it was like that would’ve never happened prior to the pandemic. And so I think that while we  are in communications and while a lot of communications, this is the field we chose, right. We’re sort of  like an always on a team. And I, and I, and I think that anybody that’s in communications can relate to  that of like, you are always on most more than like, it’s not, if you’re in accounting, I highly doubt you’re  getting a call later on, you know, about some crisis or emergency that’s being faced very, very rarely  communications.

Chris:

You’re pretty much ready all the time for something to happen that you’re to jump in on. And while that  is true, I think that, that, again, that boundaries needs to be reset of saying, okay, here’s the acceptable  sort of time. And if it doesn’t need to happen in that night or whatever, wait until the next day or after  the weekend, because I think what is being missed and probably is propagating, you know, the stress  and a lot of communicators lives is the fact that those boundaries are gone a little bit. And in, in science  proves that people need recuperation time. They need that time away from work. They need that time  to re kind of juvenate and all of those types of things on the weekends without interruption in every  time there’s an interruption, it destroys that rejuvenation time and brings it back to zero. 

Rena:

Absolutely. And it has such a negative impact on your productivity when you don’t have that  decompress time. And I love the fact that, you know, being intentional about setting those boundaries  as leaders and really communicating that it is okay, and we will set those boundaries because it’s  important to me that you have this time to, you know, balance out, work in, work in life, as much as you  possibly can. Of course, it’s the nature of the beast of the business that we’re in for emergencies or  crises to happen. And that’s part of the arena we play in, but let’s not call a fire if there’s not a fire and  and attend to it. So I love the fact that you’re being really intentional about helping your team setting  boundaries another one of the things I also see you consistently doing, and and, and I appreciate so  much is your efforts at combating you know, misinformation, disaffirm information, misrepresentation  of facts, et cetera, that is communicators, you know, just breaks our professional hearts when we see  that happening. And, you know, we’re trying to combat that. And I feel like, unfortunately that may be a  trend that sticks because, you know, so many people are tying into all the new media and ways of  getting, gaining information, you know, sources that they’re going to, or relying on or trusting in. And  I’m curious to know what you are thinking about or what your strategies are, how do you help people  you know, deal with that. 

Chris:

Yeah, I think especially through the pandemic we have been really trying to stick with, you know,  showcasing the facts, you know, we have we, we obviously share a decent amount of patient stories.  We work with the local media to, you know, showcase, you know, patient stories you know, combating a  lot of the things that are, that, that people have bought into and misinformation that has just  propagated across, you know, whether it’s social media or other forms of media. And for me, it’s really  just been being able to show the facts. And w we started doing a series for example, of our infographics.  One of the things that kept on coming out was that, you know, there’s a lot of people that are suffering  from the effects of the vaccine. Well, that’s just not true. And when you look at like, who is in the  hospital, the hospitals are not filling up with vaccinated individuals. 

Chris:

They’re filling up with unvaccinated individuals and by far and large, and, and if you look at like the latest  stats, it shows 99% of those that are unvaccinated are the ones that are on life support. 1% are the ones  that have been vaccinated and, and probably had some comorbidity that, that, you know, was the  reason behind that. So they didn’t come into the hospital, you know, the, that 1%, because they had  been vaccinated, they came in because they, you know, maybe were a breakthrough case or something  where the, where the vaccine wasn’t quite as effective in their body, but the 99%, you know, and so  showing that very clearly and trying to break through some of the misinformation that’s out there has been really, really clear, you know, important for us. Even with some of the alternative, you know, I’ll  say therapies that have been offered on the internet and things like that ivermectin is one that’s  recently, you know, just really showing fact and fiction of, of what this is and, and in, in what it can do  and the long-term effects of using it in properly.

Chris:

It’s those types of things that we really just try to separate, you know, the emotion from facts like that,  and just present him. Now there are certainly times when we want to present an emotional story to  show you the, the, I mean, the things that our clinical teams are dealing with that is so much unlike  anything we’ve ever dealt with in our lifetime is that there’s people dying every single day from  something that could have been avoidable, if you know, and that’s what our messages with the vaccine,  the vaccine is very, very, very effective at keeping you out of the hospital and keep you from dying.  Yeah. 

Rena:

I can’t tell you the number of stories, personal stories that I witnessed and heard of of people needlessly  dying and wanting to get that vaccine, but unfortunately it’s too late. And it just breaks my, it just breaks  my heart and you do a wonderful job, as I said, of, you know, telling that using infographics to tell the  stories, the fact they fact-based stories, which I absolutely love and think are really powerful. And then  there’s the other part of it. The, the, the other part of it that I’m sure you probably do, you all probably  do some, like you said, like with the mobile, the relationships you had with the mobile units and I’m sh I  don’t know if you do any sort of like influencer, you know, helping tapping into influencers like faith based to tell there, because it’s, there’s also that emotional component too. You can tell people the  facts, but you, they also need that, that emotional component. And then from someone who they know  and trust and can influence and can, and can, you know, pick up the phone, call your doctor, who you  trust, or, you know what I mean? So how has that, 

Chris:

Yeah, I think, I mean, even at the beginning, you know, we, we started when we had this hope of a  vaccine and then the vaccine was available. There were a lot of, you know, groups of still were  untrusting because of past atrocities and things that were taking place. And I think off the top of my  head one of the, one of the people that we, we, we, we heavily had available to us who offered to come  and help was dot Scroggins, who, who was one of the first to integrate one of the schools here in  Charlotte. And, and she raised her hand and said, can I, can I be part of this? Can I help? Can I share the  message because as a black community, we need to be understand, you know, what is happening here?  And and she was, she was one of the first actually to get one of the vaccines and it was just a powerful, 

Rena:

Yeah, she is a phenomenal woman. I have great respect for great respect for data and the work she  does. I’m part of the advisory board member of a women’s intercultural exchange, which is also a very  actively involved with that organization as well. And she is, has a history of first, as you said that’s  wonderful to hear. I didn’t know that, how about the events around social and racial injustices how that  affected atrium’s D and I related activities or imperatives, would you like to talk about that a little bit?  Yeah. 

Chris:

You know, when, when all of, you know, the pandemic, we always talk about the pandemic it wasn’t just  one pandemic, right? It was proved to be two pandemics that collided. And it was really as we were  talking about all these things and seeing them on our front door, you know, and, and it was really, again,  a really fascinating example of how we leaned on our forearm mission, because we looked at that. And  again, we were able to pull our teammates together and talk about our, for all mission. We very much,  again, talk about that, lean on it. And it was just a really powerful time when we saw you know,  movements across the entire system, where there were, there were times when a movement that was  called white coats for black lives, where the, these doctors in, in, by the hundreds were coming outside  and taking a knee in support of their black brothers and sisters, you know, that were around them to, to  support them and say, I see you, I know what’s happening. 

Chris:

And we’re here for you. Let’s talk. And not just that, but we had courageous conversations. That’s what  we stood up here to talk about these things. There were lots of it. They weren’t easy conversations, but  they had to be had. And and, and I think several of the things like our, our CEO gene was that I  mentioned before he’s black, and he is so passionate about topics around this. And I learned so much  through him and the things that he was facing personally in his career and things that, that he  experienced early on in his career. And so it’s really honestly helped inform and really feed into so many  things that we’ve done in our social impact strategy. And as we’ve kind of laying this out in the future,  and you’ll see, you know, it’s, it’s very common. Like Jean is part of a homeless initiative you know, in, in  Charlotte and really making sure that people have the foundation of a roof over their head. 

Chris:

Cause it’s really hard for them to be healthy clearly if they don’t even have a roof over their head or  have food that they can that they, that can be provided to them. So when I was talking about the mobile  units, one of the things I’ll share is you know, because of how we had our strategy around that, it wasn’t  just about come to the mobile units and get your get your, you know, COVID test while they were there.  They were also asking them in the underserved communities. What, what else is happening in your  house? Do you have food? Oh, you don’t have food. Okay. Let us hook you up with one of the partner  organizations like loaves and fishes, you know, that we’re able to provide food for the family. Did they  have you know, if they were positive, tested, positive, they have a place to stay. And so we had stood  up, you know, a COVID hotel, basically for people to stay where they had a free place to stay in and have  food there and a roof over their head. So it was a, it was a complete I think with, with everything that  we learned was that again, it has to, we had to rely on our mission, but I think what we saw through our  teammates was really a growth during that time of really leaning, even heavier to our mission 

Rena:

Very well said is the opportunity for brands to really lean in to their mission. If you have one that is  genuine, authentic, and true, and that people can people feel that they are a part of all, people feel that  yes, it’s, like you said, the, for all part of your mission means for all disabilities. You know, whatever it is.  I think as communicators, we have an opportunity and the responsibility to help our organizations,  number one, embrace diversity in all forms. And secondly, take a systematic approach to equity and  third recognize the value of inclusion based on what you, based on examples that you just said that you  shared. And I think, you know, when we see all of this happening, when DNI is a true business  imperative, it’s part it’s embedded in our mission and in our strategies and in our actions and is done  with intention and accountability can certainly lead to measurably, advancing or leading into that  mission and advancing the business goals while collectively fulfilling our larger purpose that you talked about. So I think that’s beautiful and, and and well and well done, Chris, thank you for sharing that.  What other tried and true strategies have you counted on to help executives and colleagues understand  the value of communications? 

Chris:

I think the biggest thing that I always look at it, you know, I try to think like an executive in the sense of if  I were sitting in the presidency, CEO’s spot, if I was one of his direct reports what would I want to see?  And many times it has to do with measurement and data. And if they’re looking at spreadsheets and lots  of those types of things of looking at how the business so to speak is doing relating communications in  the same form or fashion. So every month I try to present a dashboard and there’s a deep dive, but  there’s also just an easy to understand one page dashboard that basically gives a very clear picture of,  of, of what is happening that month and what communication is contributing to to, to the business. And  I show, you know, obviously some of the very common metrics like share a voice, you know, what is our  blog posts? 

Chris:

You know, what is our website, traffic looking like all of those types of things that would be, you know,  in a normal business communication you know, dashboard. But I also try to, you know, relate it back to  our strategy of how are we really leaning in on a strategy. And if we’re having metrics of looking at how many teammates we’re reaching and, and if there are different buckets, I, we really tried to measure  those things as well of how we’re reaching across the entire enterprise to communicate, say our  strategic plan or, or whatever is happening at that given time. So I think those are the types of things  that I always try to lean on is really leveraging data and measurement to showcase the impact that  communication has having, because we’re, we’re typically a cost center, right? We’re not one that most  people would say, Hey, you make money, but you can be. 

Chris:

And I think that’s the interesting thing that like on our, on our blog, we try to showcase whatever, you  know, common treatments or, or, or new things first that are happening across the business that like  across the service line, we just had one in our, in our cancer care and our in our heart care our  cardiovascular area, we had some first in mankind type of activity that was happening there. And it’s, it’s  those types of things that when people read them, they’d be, oh, I’m, I might be interested in that and  that can drive some business. So again, it’s, it’s really data and it’s measurement, 

Rena:

And yes, we must believe data is our friend and metrics. Our friend, I love the a one page desk board  sort of executive summary that you use. I think that’s really smart that can be, you know, disseminated  throughout the organization. I love the aligning with strategy aligning, you know, making sure our  communication strategy aligns with the overarching, you know, business imperatives or business  strategies is important for us to, to use whatever metrics the organization uses for, to determine  success. So what have been some of the key lessons that you’ve earned and learned along the way? 

Chris:

Well, I think, you know, if I, if I think back on my days of you know, Walmart really as the largest, you  know it is the fortune one company in the world. They, you know, what their job was really was  connecting people from you know, like we had two, 2 million plus people that were that, that were across the world and how do you bring everybody together? And so it was just, you know, again, around  a strong mission or vision, you know, if you think about Walmart they always use the phrase, you know,  which is save people money so that they can live better. And you felt like you were working for a  nonprofit in a weird way, even though they were the world’s company, number one and the fortune list,  you felt a lot of times you were working for a nonprofit because they did such a great job of sharing how  that mission you know, impacted everyday life. So how, you know, they were saving people money so  that they could live a better life. And I always, I learned a lot from that was just really how to continue to  make, make everyone feel aligned to to a common mission. And, and I think that was really, really key. 

Rena:

Absolutely. I love the human to human approach. Anything in terms of engagement surveys or where  you doing a lot of that at Walmart as well? 

Chris:

Absolutely. I think anytime, you know, yeah. They love them or hate them. I think engagement surveys  can be a really powerful, you can glean a lot of information off of them. And I think that you know, we  know for a fact that, you know, the higher, the engagement is the more productivity that you’ll have  from someone. So there’s some, a lot of interesting tidbits that you can learn from an engagement  survey that can really help impact your communication strategy throughout the year. I always think it’s  funny cause I always joke that, you know, there’ve been very few companies I’ve worked out throughout  the years that you know, they’re always say, what are the areas that you could use or, or use  improvement on. And communications is always one of those, one of those little areas. And I, and I  always laugh a little bit. 

Chris:

But I think there’s always things to to improve that. And a lot of times we have to distinguish between  and help educate, you know, leaders on the difference in big C and little C communications, you know,  big C is what we do as a communications team. A little seed communications is probably what they’re  asking for more than anything is like, I want to hear from my manager. I want to be able to hear from  them to add context to whatever is happening around me, to be able to do my job better. And that little  C is what we try as a big C organizations is to really inform managers to help them do their job better.  That way there are people on their team feel more connected to the organizations. And I think that’s a  big thing that engagement surveys, what do you love or hate them, those that you can always use them  for? 

Rena:

I think you’re right on in terms of middle managers and employees. I mean, certainly lots of research has  been done that shows the correlation of, you know, the highest trust comes from people who  employees feel from their immediate manager, because they are the ones that are empowered to really  help employees connect the dots or align it, show what, what it is that they do day in and day out and  how that contributes to an over to the teams purpose as well as the overarching organizations purpose.  And so I think that’s a really important team and, and our ability to begin to be able to give middle  managers the tools and the resources to be able to help them do it better because research also shows  that they want to, but sometimes they don’t know how to.

Chris:

That’s right. I think the most, I mean the cascade, it’s just, you know, doesn’t typically work well without  context. So unless you’re really providing context behind each message that you want to cascade  throughout the organization you really have to figure out ways. And that’s why I love the teammate app  is because we try to just, again, smack them all information that anybody can consume. And, and we  don’t have to go to the managers to too, but we reinforce that through other channels and other tools  to make sure that, that, that, that message is being reinforced. 

Rena:

Give it to them, give it to them the way they want it when they want it, how they want it, where they  want it. I agree. I totally agree. As a chief communications officer with a vast array of responsibilities,  what specific skills or traits do you look for in hiring new talent? I’m curious about, 

Chris:

Yeah, that’s a great question. I think that a lot of times you know, it really depends on the level of what  they’re hiring for, for a new out of college, kind of not a ton of experience. You’re just really looking for  the ability for them to to learn and to be complimentary to the team. You’ll want someone who will fit in  with the team culture and and not be detrimental to it obviously, but what we’ll be able to learn. And,  and, and, and really while adding to everything that’s, that’s happening, I think for the higher level you  get, you know, what you want is you want to surround yourself with people who, who don’t think just  like you. I think that many people fall into the trap of hiring people that they feel most comfortable with.  And maybe the reason that you feel most comfortable with them is because they’re just like, and, and,  and I think that the diversity of thought, as well as every other definition of diversity is really, really  important. 

Chris:

But I think that the diversity of thought is so important because they’re able to challenge and to help me  think through things that I would not think through the way that I think they’re all, I don’t need a bunch  of Chris robots walking around. I need people who think differently than me to challenge me on  something to say, that’s, that’s actually not exactly right. What if in obviously done in a respectful way,  but like, I think that is a really, really key part to something that I force myself to kind of look at and,  and, and try to hire someone who is different in that aspect. 

Rena: 

I think that’s what drives innovation. That’s key to driving innovation. When you always do, you always  done, you always get what you already got. So I think that having some new perspectives and new ideas  and new ways of thinking about things can to your point, add so much value to what we do and how we  do what we do going forward. So I appreciate that and totally agree. Now, what are some of your  favorite go-to resources that you use to keep to keep you informed and battle ready? 

Chris:

Yeah, I think for me right now at the level that, you know, I’m at over the years when I started my  career, I found huge value in going to conferences and just cleaning from ideas and things like that. The  more now, you know, that I’m, I hate to say I’m old, but I’m getting older. I think that what I’ve found is  really being in small group sessions of my peers is really, really helpful because they’re dealing with the  same you know, higher level issues that maybe I’m dealing with. And I think for things like I find the the  Reagan communications leadership council extremely beneficial I find things like that that are, are not the typical like conference. Because many times at this age, age and in experience, you’re the one  presenting at the conferences, right. So I think that those things are, are, are really for me beneficial,  but, but also I think fostering and remembering where you were in your career early on and encouraging  the things like PRS IBC, and in all of those type things that you, that helped you be better earlier in your  career. 

Chris:

And then as your career moved on, you know, maybe taking a leadership role within one of those  organizations, those are really, really, really beneficial things because it shows that you have initiative  and you can do things outside of your current role. I, I don’t have my APR, but I encourage my  teammates to get my, the, their APR, because I think that process in itself is pretty amazing. And it  shows the tenacity that you have to have to continue to drive to get that 

Rena:

It really does. It really does. I totally agree. And I appreciate that. And I I love the idea of, you know, peer  group consultations and conversations about the issues, the challenges, the opportunities that we’re  facing to speak to someone who’s also in that same position. They may be in a different industry, but  still going through similar challenges needs and opportunities I think is, is, is really very helpful. I love  Reagan’s PR daily, like you mentioned the Reagan community, they have lots of newsletters but I love  their, their, their their PR daily. What about any NPR essay? Of course, the RSA and they have their PR S  a Y P R a blog. That’s also filled with top full of great data information. What about any books or  anything that that you, that you lean on in terms of 

Chris:

Yeah, I mean, I’m a big fan of Simon Sinek and like, even like what I talked about before, start with why, I  mean, my, I explained all the things that were going through my head at that time start with why it’s  like, yes, that’s exactly right. Yeah. And even his, you know, books like, you know, he obviously had the  find your why, which was really helpful. And then the just practice I find just, he has just the way of like  things that are probably already bouncing through your head, but like the leaders eat last, you know  that’s another great one, you know, talking about leadership and, and that servant leadership mentality.  So those are the types of things I just like, I love and gravitate towards. 

Rena:

Yeah, I love, I’m also a follow, I follow a assignment as well. Love him, love his books. I’m also, I’m now  reading Adam, Grant’s think again, the power of knowing what you don’t know goes back to our earlier  conversation. It’s just with ways to say, you know, rethink what we, we thought about. Lynn’s like  questioning old assumptions and embracing new ideas and perspectives. I highly recommend his book  as well. So now what does a nice segue to lead to my last question for you today? Which is, can you  think of a time when you chose courage over comfort when you risked a failure, but showed up  anyway?

Chris:

Yeah, I mean, I’d have to say the most recent example of that is just really taking this position at atrium  health. I was, you know, I was in a retail position, you know with, with well, not really retail position, but  I worked for retail company obviously at Walmart. And and, and the, the change of moving to healthcare  was quite, you know, daunting. I thought it was exciting, but it could be daunting as well. And it was I could have very much stayed at, in, in a comfortable, very comfortable role at Walmart. My was, my  trajectory was, was in the right place, all of those types of things, but really the, the ability to I felt like  beyond the next forefront of what was happening across the country and healthcare was, was  something that I was like, I can either be comfortable or I can just jump off into a whole new area and  feel like I have an impact there, and that’s what I’ve done. And I’ve really, really, really enjoyed it. And I  don’t regret that decision ever. It was a, it was a great move for me. And and, and, and every, I think  about, you know, just where we are now and what we’ve been able to do at atrium health and and the  team that I have in place, they’re incredible. And they are what keeps me, you know, saying all the time.  And they also, the ones that make me look good, quite honestly, they’re, they’re amazing. 

Rena:

Yeah, they certainly are. And you are as well for having the courage to follow. We talked about earlier,  the following that path or falling that th that road that the, that took some courage to do so kudos to  you for for doing that. Cause it certainly led you to what’s clearly things that you’re really passionate  about and that really, and it really makes a difference. So thank you very much. It is. It is certainly been a  great pleasure chatting with learning from, and being inspired by you. And I want to thank you for the  gift of this experience. 

Chris:

Well, this has been fantastic. And thank you. This is, you know just a great time of sharing and hearing  from you and your thoughts. So I greatly appreciate it. 

Rena:

Oh my pleasure. That’s very kind of you and to our audience. Thank you so much for listening. I hope  you found this episode worthy of your time. If so, please feel free to share it with someone who might  also benefit from our discussion and please comment like, and, or follow us on our signature intention.  Social media channels for alerts on new episodes finally know that you are never alone in the  professional challenges and opportunities we’re facing today because you’re always welcome to join me  and my proven guests warriors like Chris right here in the arena.