Watch: Microsoft’s John Cirone discusses the skills the next wave of comms leaders need

Ragan’s Council Career Conversations, a recurring video series from Ragan’s Communications Leadership Council, allows members to share the strategies that made them leaders and the lessons they’ve learned throughout their careers.

John Cirone, senior director of global employee and executive communications at Microsoft, told Ragan that rising comms leaders should focus on connection with their colleagues.

“Connection has always been an important piece of managing any team,” Cirone said. “We ensure that we have clear priorities and chances for collaboration across the team. There’s a fair amount of intentional focus on connection so people feel energized in their jobs.”

Cirone also talked about the competencies new comms leaders need the most.

“As important as it is to know how to make the complex simple, knowing how to navigate enterprise organizations effectively is critical,” he said. “That’s in addition to the core skills of being a good communicator, like writing and pushing out material on multiple channels.”

Check out more of our conversation with Cirone below.

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports and hosting trivia.