Ever wonder if your team is actually hearing you?
I mean really hearing you—not nodding while they check Slack, not pretending they didn’t just mute you on Zoom. I had this conversation yesterday with a group of CEOs running businesses between $1M and $20M.
And guess what? Every single one of them was surprised by how out of sync their team was.
Not malicious. Not insubordinate. Just… distracted. Misaligned. Busy.
Welcome to the Front of the Bus
Here’s the problem: you’re sitting at the front of the bus, looking out the windshield.
You see what’s coming—every curve, pothole, and brick wall. Your team?
Most of them are staring out the side window. Some are on their phones. A few are halfway down the aisle trying to microwave leftover tacos.
So when you say, “Hey, there’s a bump coming. I’m gonna swerve,” what they hear is:
“Did you guys see the new Slack emoji?”
And then everyone’s shocked when the bus lurches and coffee spills.
The Rule of 11
Here’s a tactic I’ve developed over the years: I call it the Rule of 11. Your team hasn’t heard the message until you’ve said it 11 times, in 11 different ways. Let me say that again:
Not understood. Not internalized. Just heard.
And if you want comprehension?
That’s more like 110—and I’m only half kidding.
How to Say the Same Thing 11 Ways
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
- All-hands meeting
- Department huddle
- One-on-one conversations
- Company-wide email
- Team chat post
- Blog article
- Training video
- Manager re-sharing it in their own words
- Storytelling in a meeting
- Role play
- Signs (digital or physical)
- Friday Forum shoutout
- Casual conversation
Each method chips away at the fog. Each time, a few more people actually hear it.
So What Does This Have to Do with Cybersecurity?
Everything. If you want your team to stop clicking phishing links, stop opening doors for hackers, stop rolling out the red carpet for ransomware—then start talking about it.
And not once. Not in just one training. Not in a policy doc no one reads. Eleven times. Eleven ways. Security awareness isn’t a checkbox. It’s a campaign.
And if you’re not running the campaign from the front of the bus, don’t be surprised when the back gets breached.
Bottom line:
If you’re leading the business, lead the message. Repeat it. Reinforce it. Drive it. Because if your team doesn’t see the bump coming—they won’t brace for impact. And you’ll be left cleaning up the mess from the driver’s seat.
