Keep reading to discover the hidden secret to proving the ROI of your communications
I've run DDC Masterclasses across LA, London, Chicago, New York, and DC.
Different industries. Different team sizes. Different levels of seniority.
But one pattern shows up every single time.
When I ask the room to write down the business metric their CEO is losing sleep over — most people can write something down.
They know roughly what leadership cares about. Enrollment. Retention. Revenue growth. Market share.
They're not completely in the dark.
But when I ask the follow-up question — "Is that the deliberate starting point of your communications strategy?" — the room goes quiet.
Not because they don't care. Because nobody ever framed it that way.
This is the difference I've been trying to describe for years.
There are communicators who work incredibly hard. Who produce genuinely great content. Who hit their KPIs and still walk into budget meetings with their stomach in knots.
And then there are communicators who fly above the clouds.
Who get called into rooms they weren't invited to. Who get asked "what do you think?" instead of "can you pull that report?" Who earn — and keep — a seat at the table.
The difference isn't talent. It isn't budget. It isn't even the tools they use.
It's that the second group has a North Star. And they've made it the focal point of everything.
I first saw this up close watching Genevieve Brammall work. Head of PR at News Corp Australia. One of the sharpest communicators I've been around. Before she touched a strategy, a campaign, a single piece of content — she started with the business outcome. Not "what should we create?" but "what number needs to move, and who needs to believe something different for that to happen?"
Everything else followed from that question.
Here's what I've learned since then.
Most communicators are trying to find the impact in their activity.
They do the work. Then they look back and try to connect it to something that matters.
The communicators who earn their seat do it the other way around.
They start with the outcome. Then they design activity that inherently creates impact.
Same effort. Completely different result. Because one approach starts with a compass, and the other starts with a to-do list.
Your North Star is the business metric your C-suite is already accountable for.
Not a comms metric. Not share of voice or impressions or coverage volume. The number that lives on a spreadsheet in the CEO's office. The one they get asked about by analysts, or boards, or their own boss.
You don't need to invent it. You just need to find it — and make it the starting point, not an afterthought.
One question gets you there:
What is my CEO walking into the building thinking about on a Monday morning?
That's your North Star. Everything else is navigation.
This is Week 1 of a four-part series on the DDC Compass — the framework I use in every workshop to help communicators stop defending their work and start driving outcomes. Next week: External Stakeholders — the people whose beliefs need to change for the number to move.
Want to go deeper?
In January I ran a 90-minute live session on this exact topic. Watch the recording, complete the assessment, and earn your first DDC credential — a badge you can add to your LinkedIn profile and a skill you can put to work immediately.
Genevieve will be on stage showing exactly how she engineers her credibility and connects her work to business outcomes. We're also putting on a special intimate session where you can sit with her directly, ask your questions, and explore how her approach could work for you. This is not a panel. It's a working session with one of the best in the business.
Use code MSDDRCL for $100 off