We at the MSC program would like to convey our concern for you and your loved ones during this uncertain time. As we are all impacted by the spread of COVID-19, we hope that you are safe, healthy, and taking the necessary precautions to help prevent the spread of this virus. We recognize that many of our best laid plans have been altered by the rapidly changing circumstances.

At the same time, we are reminded that the pillars of the MSC education (Managing Complexity, Collaborative Leadership, and Elegant Communication) are even more central to our new reality. We remain committed to teaching professionals how to develop communication skills that will help them navigate even the most roiling of waters. It is with that in mind that we fully expect to enroll an excellent cohort for the 2020-21 school year.

As you continue to consider your plans for graduate education (and we recognize that your priorities may be very different right now), we have taken some short-term steps to ease the process of investigating and applying to the MSC Program:

• We are waiving all application fees at this time. Logistically, when your application is ready for submission, go to the Review section and click “Finalize and Pay” to submit your application. Upon clicking this button, your application fee will be automatically waived and your application will be submitted.

• We will be conducting all admission interviews through video conference for the remainder of the admission cycle. The interview remains a critical part of our admission process, but we’ve had excellent experiences doing international interviews virtually, and feel confident that we can get the same connection with applicants using our online tools. 

• We are also extending the deadline for admitted students to place their admission deposit. At this point, we are extending the date until July 1, 2020, to give all students the opportunity to make the best possible decision about attending graduate school.
  
  
• Application deadlines are remaining the same. Our next application deadline is April, 13th and our final application deadline is June 15th for classes beginning in September.

If you have any questions about MSC or the admission process, please contact me directly at (224) 406-1855 or by e-mail at toby@northwestern.edu. We look forward to hearing from you. Please take care of yourself and others.

Jeanne Sparrow MSC – communications consultant, specializing in media and presentation training

Every single day during this COVID-19 pandemic, there’s another press conference to watch… often with dread. Not just because of the dramatic statistics, dire predictions and the concern and fear they cause, but also for the missed opportunities to reach people, deliver the information needed to be safe, or comfort a nation in shock. Those are the times I look at the screen and either roll my eyes or feel the anger rise in my chest… then click off altogether or move on to something else.

The argument could easily be made that these daily pressers only increase the chances that a leader or expert will make a mistake and create a public relations disaster for themselves and the organizations they represent – or even worse, put people in mortal danger – and some certainly have in my opinion. But that daily grind with such high stakes also presents them with a rare opportunity to create a good practice of communicating well in ways that make the most powerful impact.

Standing behind that podium day in and day out is a fresh chance every day to learn what works and what doesn’t – a learning curve which, in our current state of affairs, could make a crucial difference in saving more lives. Some leaders and experts are truly succeeding at that and that’s what I choose to focus on, mainly because that’s what I (and my sanity) need right now, but also so we can learn from their examples and repeat their good habits, in any setting where we want to be effective.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot are at the top of my list of politicians who are getting it right. And one expert I’d like to see more often is Dr. Emily Landon, lead epidemiologist at University of Chicago Medicine. Her appearance at the joint press conference announcing the shelter-in-place order for the State of Illinois was refreshing and exactly what I needed to see at that moment in time.

What they’re all doing well in their own unique ways help them successfully cut through the cacophony of voices screaming for our attention right now. And we can emulate their approach to make our own voices heard when presented with the opportunity to use them.

Each of them shows us who they are in the way they carry themselves and speak to us. Governor Cuomo is straightforward and assured with a warm sense of humor and humanity… Mayor Lightfoot is no-nonsense and direct with her concern for Chicago’s safety… and Dr. Landon comes across as caring and passionate about saving lives. Their fearless revelation of their authenticity and emotion show us who they are, what they’re feeling and how they approach this crisis, which opens the door for us to connect with them as individuals – creating a bond that also opens a route to trusting not only them, but what they’re saying.

They all know how to put their messages into context so we understand why what they’re telling us is important and relevant to us and our particular situations, increasing the chances we’ll do what they’re asking and act on the information we hear. Governor Cuomo is particularly good at using stories to give context – his Sunday dinner memories from this recent press conference drives home his concern for his state’s well-being and gives an example of how to do something he thinks is key in achieving that. (scroll to around the 20:00 mark). Both Mayor Lightfoot and Dr. Landon reference their own families in their remarks, painting indelible pictures in our minds of our own families and the scenarios we could face.

Perhaps most importantly, all three seem to understand and are focused on what the people they’re speaking to need to hear and how they need to hear it… not just on what they showed up to say. All communication is a two-way street – it’s never just about the speaker, delivering a message, saying their piece. It’s always about making sure that message lands the right way in the ears of those who would receive it. And right now, that part is particularly challenging because the messages being delivered are often not what anyone wants to hear. Mayor Lightfoot does an extraordinary job of conquering that challenge when discussing the prospect of closing Chicago’s lakefront path and parks to enforce social distancing.

What these three practitioners show us is that if we can find ways to connect with each other as the truest, best versions of ourselves, revealing that and sharing information through stories that stick with our audience and do it in a way that honors each other’s needs, we will be successful at communicating whatever we want to… whether it’s as globally critical as saving lives in a pandemic or as intensely personal as sharing love and care for someone else.

In these unusual and unprecedented times, nothing we’re doing looks quite the same as it did before. And it likely won’t ever go back to how it was. Let’s work to make sure it’s better going forward.

——

Jeanne Sparrow (’91, MS ’15) is a member of MSC faculty and is a speaker, consultant and 3-time Emmy-winning television and radio personality. Jeanne helps people and organizations find more success by fine tuning the way they tell their stories, express themselves and communicate their value. She believes that words and how we deliver them have power that can change lives – and even the world – when used with intention and purpose. Connect with Jeanne at www.fearlessauthenticity.com and on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter.

As the youngest of six, Chris Block ’18 appreciates the fact that his parents were able to provide financial assistance to all of their children to get them through college. With three electrical engineers, a math teacher, and a physics teacher as siblings, Block felt a little out of place since he didn’t share those passions.

“If my parents were going to put me through school, I wanted to at least major in something that sounded good—like business. I loved creative writing, but I was too afraid to go into it,” he says.

After earning his undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, one of his brothers introduced him to a California business owner who had a job opening in technology sales. He took advantage of the opportunity and eventually grew into a field sales position there.

Labeled early on as a “talker,” Block loves interacting with people. This ability lent itself well to sales, making it easy for him to strike up conversations with strangers.

One day, after listening to a speech by Tom Mendoza, CEO of NetApp, Block felt something click. “Tom got up and said, ‘The reason I’m CEO is because I was the best speaker. I competed with many people, including the technical folks who built the product we sell, but they gave the job to me because I can communicate.’ That resonated with me because that’s what I did, too. I was looking at a guy who was a talker just like me. I realized I did have a skill. I was constantly studying things that people—and my career—told me to,” he says. “But, then, it hit me. Take control. Study something you’re passionate about.”

As he started investigating ways to captivate and energize an audience, he stumbled across Northwestern’s MS in Communication program. “I thought I wanted to be a better speaker,” he explains. “But this program talked about leadership, the science behind relationships, finding your gifts—and I realized I needed all of that, too.”

He applied and was accepted into the Custom Leadership Program, which allowed him to continue working and attend part time on Saturdays. Although his initial goal was to improve his speaking skills, he says he gained much more.

“Northwestern stripped me down to the basics,” explains Block. “I entered with a consumer mindset—wanting and expecting to become a better speaker. Instead, I began a self-awareness journey. What are my gifts? What am I passionate about? What does the world need, and how do I move toward finding the intersection of the two?”

Instead of focusing solely on speaking, his goals transformed: He wanted to become better at his job, open doors to new opportunities and leadership positions, and potentially start his own company to help people identify—and capitalize on—their natural gifts.

As an enterprise account manager for Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Block often found himself leading a diverse group. In this role, he needed to be able to motivate and encourage others to work together so he could address the needs of his customers.

“The Leading Collaboration course taught by Leslie DeChurch changed my leadership approach completely,” says Block. “When you lead people, she talked about the importance of finding out how they perceive their own identity. Let others live their identity. In other words, find out what they like to do and allow them to do it.”

The more he learned, the more confident he became that this approach might work at HPE. He had already tried divvying up work equally among staff members, as well as an “accountability” approach that held employees responsible for their defined roles. But nothing motivated employees and kept them happy in the ways he imagined. So he tried the approach he learned in class.

“Someone on my team likes speaking,” says Block. “I let him do more customer presentations, and now he is excited. Someone else likes to do meeting follow-ups, so I let him do that. I literally walked around and found out what people like to do. And let them do it.” The result: By working together, the team achieved 224% of its goal, selling $24 million.

“I’ve searched for fulfillment on my journey,” says Block. “I chased achievement, titles, and compensation. Going back to school and finding out there’s a home for me at Northwestern—education was the last place I thought I’d find peace of mind and fulfillment. But it was there. Communication has the power to unify and connect. Whether it involves your marriage, career, or something else, communication fixes all.”

It’s not often that children take time to examine advertising and marketing messages—but that’s exactly what Rebecca Selby ’18 did as a young girl. “I cut out magazine ads to look closer at the images and words they used,” she explains. “I’d turn magazine pages to the side to see if I could tell which company the ad represented without looking at the logo. That was my idea of a good time.”

Born in rural Minnesota, Selby always knew she wanted to major in marketing or advertising—she studied German and dreamed of producing print ads for Daimler-Benz. And she always knew she would someday earn a master’s degree.

Although her vision of marketing German cars never came to fruition, she graduated with a BA in Journalism from the University of St. Thomas and landed a job at a Minneapolis ad agency. “I wanted to be established in my field before getting a master’s degree,” she says.

After the agency, she opened a marketing consulting business, which thrived for 10 years. “I consider that my practical MBA,” she explains. “I worked with lawyers and accountants to keep the business side of the operation on track. I hired contractors, negotiated office leases—all of it. Through that process, I realized my heart wasn’t in administration—I needed to eliminate the noise of owning a business and focus solely on strategic marketing and driving revenue growth for brands. It was time for a degree and a career move.”

So she did both. She took a marketing leadership role with a global technology company, leading brand messaging and corporate identity development. It required extensive international travel, which made it difficult to earn a master’s degree like she planned.

“I’d always been drawn to Northwestern because of the caliber of their graduates,” she says. “I watched it grow in reputation and I admired the renowned professors who taught there. But there was no way I could commit to sitting in a classroom three days each week. When I started looking at programs, online programs were not of interest. They felt too removed.”

As she considered her options, she discovered Northwestern’s Master of Science in Communication and its Hybrid Leadership Program. Realizing that it combined on-campus residencies with online sessions, she crossed her fingers that she could make it work.

“I was hesitant to even ask,” she admits. “Other programs had billed themselves as options for traveling executives, but offered zero collaboration tools for students to join sessions from outside the classroom. I checked twice because it seemed too good to be true.” Because the Master of Science in Communication program schedule is established in advance, Selby was able to plan her business trips around her course calendar so she could be on campus every time she needed to be.

This gave her the best of both words: the opportunity to continue with her international travel while also spending time in a classroom setting. “I made professional connections,” she explains. “These are people I rely on to fill things like open positions and board of director roles. If I need contacts in any industry, I have a network I can turn to. And I cherish the personal relationships I developed—dear friends from across the country who still get together regularly.”

This February, she took on a new role as vice president of marketing for Arctic Wolf Networks, an extremely fast-growing SOC-as-a-Service company.

“In the cybersecurity space, you have to be nimble yet supremely strategic to differentiate your offering and keep pace with evolving threats,” she says. “I work with extremely bright people. With this degree, I’m better equipped to articulate and visualize data for the technical minds in the company and for our partners and customers.”

After earning her Master of Science in Communication, Selby says she’s also noticed that hiring managers are increasingly seeking her out. “There’s a constant flow of people knocking on your door because of the knowledge and experience you bring to the table—thanks to your Northwestern degree.”

Mission and vision statements are indeed different, and understating the difference is key to developing the most effective statements. A mission statement is basically what defines a company’s business, while a vision statement should be all about the future of the company. “Vision statement is the lodestar that you are following to plot your course. The mission statement is the workhorse that you ride to get you to the destination”, Professor Randall Iden, MSC Faculty Director, explains.

When writing a Mission statement, it is important to recognize what the mission statement should tell you about the company. the mission statement is action-oriented and should let us know 3 important things as describes by Professor Iden:

• Who we are.
• What our shared values are.
• what we are trying to accomplish.

Real-world examples

For example, the mission statement of Northwestern University is: “Northwestern is committed to excellent teaching, innovative research and the personal and intellectual growth of its students in a diverse academic community.”

Mission statements are not only limited to the company as a whole but can also be different depending on each department that makes up the company. “Each department in an organization can have a submission statement that emanates from the larger mission statement. By doing this you ensure that the identity is reinforced, as it is very hard to keep the organization together and link everyone without a strong sense of identity”, Professor Iden emphasizes.

For example, the mission statement of the student affairs department at Northwestern University is:

“The mission of the Northwestern University Division of Student Affairs is to educate students, engage the community, and enrich the Northwestern experience.

We pursue our mission by providing learning programs, services, and mentoring to maximize students’ potential; removing barriers to learning; strengthening readiness to learn; and sustaining a safe and healthy Northwestern community.”

Where do companies go wrong in mission and vision statements?

Professor Iden explains that the most common mistake companies can make is using clichés. “Using clichés and boilerplate language, using language that sounds good to put up on a website but never intending to use it as a text that governs behavior and responsibility.”

Finally, we must not forget that an effective mission statement needs to involve everyone in the company, and that includes valuable stakeholders. Professor Iden stresses: “Those organizations that are dedicated to a larger purpose and aware of the interests of key stakeholders are much more likely to be successful and have fulfilled members than those that are unsure of how today’s task relates to something larger.”