This article was first published on BusinessDay.
As 2026 gradually unfolds, one thing is very clear – we are in the era of ‘business unusual’. From geopolitical shifts to economic disruptions, the playbook has changed and the rules that once worked are no longer yielding the same results.
For organisations, whether corporate or non-profit, there is a need to build resilience and adopt strategies to rise above the storms and the uncertainties of the era we find ourselves in. In fact, organisational performance will not only depend on how well an organisation is able to leverage its competitive advantage, but also how quickly it is able to adapt and hedge against the emerging risks that have the potential to disrupt its entire business model.
This is a real need as policy shifts affect supply chain and geopolitical tensions impact the price of raw materials and commodities. With nations leaning towards a protectionism stance and world leaders scrambling to find lasting solutions to the current disruptions, business leaders need to be armed with trusted advisors who can provide the necessary insights and identify key levers to ensure sustained organisational performance and lasting corporate success.
One of the levers that organisations need to pay attention to in 2026 is strategic communications. For far too long, senior leaders across various sectors have adopted an after-thought approach to communications. The communications team is briefed after the key decisions have been made or sometimes, the team is only engaged to make things “look pretty” or “sound better”. This begins to change during a time of crisis where the need for effective communications between multiple stakeholders becomes a make or break factor in preserving an organisation’s reputation.
In 2026, business leaders cannot afford to adopt this after-thought approach to communications. In fact, doing so can potentially lead to an existential threat for even the best performing organisations. This is because in a world where trust is fragile and uncertainty has become the new normal, poor communication can alienate stakeholders and lead to a withdrawal of an organisation’s social license to operate. When this happens, share price, market share and profitability will be negatively impacted.
That is how powerful strategic communications is. Indeed, strategic communications is a critical driver of business performance. It ensures internal cohesion, protects industry positioning, provides a mechanism for monitoring and mitigating key risks and it creates a bridge to feed the organisation with external insights for improved business outcomes.
Forward-thinking leaders should, therefore, begin to think about how to better leverage the power of strategic communications for sustained corporate success. Here are some recommendations on how to achieve this:
1. Clearly identify your organisation’s reputation and communication risks
As you set out to execute your corporate strategy for 2026, it is essential to properly identify the key reputation and communication risk that will impact corporate success. If your strategic goal is to expand into a new market, get listed on the stock exchange or expand your consumer base, these reputation and communication risks have the power to derail your well laid out plans. The risks can emerge from diverse and conflicting stakeholder expectations, fragmented messaging, gaps in internal culture and employee engagement and so on. There needs to be a robust communications strategy that will help to mitigate the potential risks that can disrupt operations and performance.
2. Always have a communications advisor in the room
When key business decisions are being made during board and executive meetings, there needs to be a communications advisor in the room to provide perspective of the brand and reputational implications of the decisions being explored. In a world where consumer and stakeholder behaviour no longer align with rational expectations, corporate messages need to be properly de-risked and organisational spokesperson must be effectively trained to speak on behalf of the organisation to avert potential crises or stakeholder agitation that can have dire consequences.
3. Have a well-resourced and trained communications team
Your communications team has to be properly resourced and trained to effectively serve in their role as the custodian of reputation and trust for the organisation. Provide a budget that is truly reflective of the important role they play and ensure you build a strong team with competent talent that can provide the much needed counsel and direction based on data-driven insights and strategic foresight. If your current communications team lacks the required competence to deliver key business outcomes, consider investing in capacity-building.
To secure investment, maximise growth and ensure long term organisational sustainability in this era of global disruption, organisations and business leaders need to prirotise strategic communications. Reputation needs to be properly guarded, trust has to be preserved and stakeholder relationships should be delicately managed to successfully ride through the waves of disruption. Without strategic communications and the experts who are skilled in this discipline, organisations may find themselves being drowned by the waves.