WATCH: Leadership lessons for Q4 and beyond

As year-end planning ramps up and the holidays approach, communicators must once again strike an artful balance: finishing the year strong while looking ahead with a future-focused mindset.

While this theme will take center stage during Ragan’s upcoming Communications Week and its flagship Future of Communications Conference, Ragan Training continues to roll out new on-demand lessons designed to help communicators at every level build strategic leadership skills.

Whether you’re an aspiring leader or a seasoned executive, these courses offer practical guidance on demonstrating business acumen and leading with influence.

Below are a few highlights from our newest leadership lessons on Ragan Training.

Leading teams effectively starts with understanding what motivates them

Great leaders know that lasting motivation comes from meaning, not just money. Communicators who tap into intrinsic motivators like autonomy, mastery, and purpose can drive stronger engagement and collaboration within their teams, among senior leaders, and across departments.

In this clip from Ragan Training’s module, “Leading Teams: Motivation, Collaboration and Performance,” I explore how understanding the psychology of engagement helps you inspire teams to perform their best.

The full module dives into how to motivate beyond incentives, foster collaboration and shared ownership, and drive high performance. You’ll learn to build a culture rooted in meaning, belonging, and continuous growth.

Align your comms budget with enterprise strategy to earn trust.

Understanding what motivates your team helps you earn their trust—and your executives are no different. The difference lies in the approach: to gain leadership buy-in, you must show that every dollar spent on messaging, campaigns, and content supports business goals.

In this clip from “The Business of Communications: Finance, ROI and Strategic Influence,” Acenda Integrated Health CMO Mari Considine explains how to connect communications investments to organizational priorities and measurable outcomes.

Her full module expands on aligning budgets with enterprise strategy, forecasting effectively, and telling a compelling financial story that ties back to business objectives. You’ll learn how to reframe communications as a strategic investment—not a cost center—and strengthen your credibility across the organization.

Reframe leadership messages to build executive influence.

Considine’s approach to strategic budgeting builds credibility, but the same mindset applies to any message you share with senior leaders.

In this clip from “Executive Influence: Presence in Practice,” I address common challenges of communicating upstream and share practical ways to show up with authority, clarity, and strategic value in conversations with executives.

The full lesson explores how to demonstrate executive influence across the organization—with leaders, peers, and direct reports alike. You’ll gain tools to elevate your credibility, build trust, and become a go-to strategic advisor.

Learn the business of PR—and speak the language of decision-makers.

To influence business strategy, PR pros must speak the language of the business. Understanding financial and operational fundamentals helps communicators align strategies with organizational outcomes and communicate their impact more effectively.

In this clip from “Understanding the Business of PR and How to Influence It,” Hot Paper Lantern CEO Ed Moed breaks down the essential business and financial concepts every PR pro should know to earn credibility and drive stronger partnerships with decision-makers.

Moed’s full three-part course covers building trust with senior leaders, aligning PR strategy to business goals, and understanding the business behind running an integrated agency. You’ll walk away ready to connect PR outcomes to real business results and strengthen your influence across clients, leaders, and partners.

Subscribing to Ragan Training grants you access these on-demand modules, series, and resources—plus quick lessons and full recordings from Ragan Conferences, including last month’s Internal Communications Conference at Microsoft HQ in Seattle. Join today!