Leadership Communication Insights

Bill Gates calls for AI that understands more of the world’s languages. Rich “Trigger” Bontrager asks the next leadership question: Are the people using it truly being heard, understood, and given a voice in what happens next?

Technology may carry your words, but your humanity gives those words meaning. It is your empathy, judgment, character, presence, and willingness to listen that allow people to experience the person behind the message. Artificial intelligence can help prepare the communication. It cannot assume the leader’s responsibility to connect.

Roddenberry’s vision answered those questions with hope. He showed audiences a future in which humanity had not destroyed itself. We had grown. We had learned to cooperate. Curiosity had become more powerful than fear, and exploration had become more important than conquest. That was a remarkable leadership signal to broadcast during the social upheaval and Cold War tensions of the 1960s. Star Trek used a futuristic setting to confront questions involving prejudice, war, et

A Lead Through The Lens™ Briefing John Madden did not merely explain football. He made you feel the collision. Madden was excited, animated, and wonderfully unpredictable. He punctuated plays with words such as “Boom!” He drew lines across the screen with his telestrator, circled players, and revealed the hidden action within the action. His communication style fit the fans in the stands—shouting, cheering, and pointing toward the field. He also understood that millions of p

Two recent commencement speeches provide a fascinating comparison. The leaders addressed different graduating classes, but both spoke about the same highly charged subject: artificial intelligence. One opening generated curiosity and applause. The other produced boos and visible resistance. The difference was not simply the leaders’ positions on AI. It was how each leader invited the audience into the conversation.

After severe storms tore through Northwest Indiana on August 11, thousands of Gary residents remained without power for nearly two weeks. Families lost food, businesses lost income, schools closed, and vulnerable residents struggled to keep medications and medical equipment working. At one point, more than 20,000 customers in Gary were still waiting for electricity to be restored. The communication also failed.

We are not simply listening to the message. We are listening to the whole person. While someone is speaking, we are quietly taking in dozens of small signals that may never reach conscious thought. We notice whether the confidence in the voice is reflected in the eyes. We sense whether the pace feels natural or hurried, whether the smile grows out of genuine warmth or simply arrives on cue, and whether the person appears fully present or mentally occupied with remembering th

Kempczinski described the burger as “so good,” yet his tentative bite, restrained expression, stiff delivery, and repeated use of the word “product” communicated something very different. Viewers did not see someone enjoying a burger. They saw a corporate executive completing a promotional assignment. That may not have been what he felt—but through the lens, perception becomes the message.

In 2025, Cracker Barrel introduced a modernized visual identity that removed the familiar “Old Timer” figure from its logo. The response from loyal customers was immediate and intense. Within days, the company reversed course, publicly declaring, “We said we would listen, and we have.” The original logo remained. Associated Press coverage of the reversal From a design perspective, executives may have viewed the change as modernization. Many customers experienced it as some