"Requests for “distinctive tone of voice” are much the same. They start at the wrong end: the solution, not the problem. They work from the outside in, when branding only works from the inside out."

A leader with a non-traditional background must learn how to communicate with more confidence.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned brand tone much in this newsletter, but that’s because there isn’t much written about it more than anything. Your tone expresses a great deal about your employer brand, so getting that tone right matters. Except it seems like most employer brand tones are either “stiffly professional” or “your wry friend,” as if there’s a singe spectrum between formal and informal. Where’s the introspective tone? Where’s the cheerleader? Or the bureaucrat? Where’s the professorial tone or the underdog? If our brands are complex, why are the tones so simple?