Our top 10 tips for "being strategic"

T2B's February Comm Convo recap

March 05, 2025

Hi!

Last week, we welcomed special guests Sue Hager, Abbas Kazimi, and Fiona Olivier for our February Comm Convo.

In this honest and off-the-record conversation, we took a deep dive into what it truly means to be strategic in the world of biopharma communications. 

Together, we attempted to define some of the hallmarks of a strategic communicator. Here are our top 10 takeaways to take your role beyond the purely tactical elements of communicating:

1. Build business acumen. Develop deep knowledge of your products, stakeholders, and industry dynamics beyond traditional communications skills.

2. Connect business dots. Link stakeholder needs to organizational goals using your unique cross-functional perspective.

3. Move beyond order-taking. Challenge the perception that communications merely executes by offering strategic counsel and constructive pushback.

4. Foster executive intuition. Develop relationships with leadership where you can anticipate needs and "finish their sentences."

5. Leverage negotiation skills. Recognize your role as a constant negotiator across departments and stakeholders, a critical yet often untaught competency.

6. Create team alignment. Use your connecting skills to build consensus beyond messaging across departments.

7. Demonstrate business impact. Tie all communications activities directly to corporate objectives rather than listing tactical outputs.

8. Document invisible value. Track "what you helped not happen" by quantifying averted issues and, to the extent possible, poor decisions.

9. Become a culture guardian. Serve as the eyes and ears of leadership, spotting emerging issues before they reach the executive level.

10. Embrace AI as amplification. Remember that technology won't replace strategic thinking, but professionals who harness AI will outperform those who don't.

What strikes me about these takeaways is how they mirror the evolution many of us experience in our own careers – starting with developing expertise and gradually expanding our sphere of influence until we're shaping organizational culture.

I'm drawn to how these principles reflect the duality of our work: we're simultaneously strategic advisors and practical implementers, cultural stewards and business drivers, relationship builders, and technology adopters.

In our community conversations, I've noticed how the most respected communications leaders embody this multidimensional approach; they understand the business deeply, push back thoughtfully, and demonstrate value concretely.

📣 March Comm Convo Announced: The Confidence Conversation

Confidence: we either have too much or too little of it. Is there really a “right amount?”

With a tie-in to Women’s History Month, join us on Tuesday, March 18th @ 1 p.m. ET, and we’ll work it out together.

Led by Biotech CEO Sisterhood Co-Founder Sheila Gujrathi, M.D., The Black Sherpa Founder Nyambe “Yam” Sumbwanyambe, and ​SVP, Strategy & Corporate Affairs Tori Fort, this session will take a deep dive into all things confidence: how we express it, how others perceive it, and how these dynamics influence our effectiveness as leaders in our profession.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Lynnea

P.S: The T2B community is growing so fast that we’ve outgrown the capabilities of our current email marketing platform. 😅

We’re in the process of switching everything over, but we don’t want you to miss anything (we’ve got some info coming up about some GREAT T2B events). So what would really help us out is if you could open our emails next week, click on any links, and send us a reply.

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