According to Peter Drucker, 60% of business problems are the result of poor communication. If we add to this the "pathologies in organizations" described by Javier Fernández Aguado, it is easy to conclude on the usefulness of communication therapies for these illnesses. In a way, companies are like people: they think, they feel, they get excited, they grow, they get sick and, if they are not cured, they die. The bad thing is not usually to have problems -who wouldn't-, but not to solve them.

Such a sui generis check-up in companies requires starting with the Internal Communications which, following the human simile, is like the intimacy of institutions. With Internal Communications organizations invigorate or infect their internal environment, their corporate soul. Neglecting the inside, not pampering the Internal Communications, can lead to an infection that generates new diseases and aggravates others already in progress. In addition, early detection increases therapeutic effectiveness. On the premise that communication starts with listening and requires open-mindedness, some lines of thought and action that I have developed can be useful for treatment: the PePa Principle (people first, then roles), the 80/20 of listening/talking for an effective management of perceptions, the 11 words core topic (say what you do and do what you say), the 3C formula (communication + consistency = trust) and the oxygenating reference letter of rectifying (always make new mistakes).

Paradox: some organizations sacrifice the truth to preserve the good. Thus, they hide or disguise information from their employees with the laudable aim of not discouraging them with facts and data that do not match the official message, show managerial incompetence, exhibit immaturity of management and myopia of sensitivity. This communicative pathology means practicing with facts, denied with words, that the end justifies the means. In the best of cases, silence or denial only works in the very short term deadline.

The leader of the past knew how to speak; the leader of the future bases his eloquence on empathetic listening, which requires a high dose of passion for people and commitment to reality. This attitude has healing effects ipso facto: for the team (motivation for knowing and feeling listened to and, probably, understood), for the organization (detection of problems that would otherwise be ignored and could not be solved) and for the leader (growing and contagious internal prestige).

Some managers ask themselves what to do so that their people do not think they are inconsistent, unfair, incompetent.... To begin with, to stop being so. This is expressed and exemplified in the series The West Wing of the White House. The best communication does not fix the worst reality, although it can modify its perception. This option to manipulate, as old as mankind, is a tempting possibility that is very effective in mediocre, inbred and self-satisfied environments. As is evident to the eye and ear, almost no one recognizes these tumors in their organizations.

In the colloquium after a session in Barcelona I was asked how to inform about an imminent ERE in a business. In entrance, we would not have waited for the final urgency to mark our times because, in communication, as important as the compass is the clock. So is sensitivity. Moreover, unlike the advice of the General Administration of Traffic, here the important thing is not to arrive, but to arrive on time. The seriousness of the delay almost always leaves after-effects and, sometimes, it is progressively or fulminantly lethal. It is a matter of practicing what we can call preventive communication.

Illustrative is the model of the turn signal when driving: its effectiveness lies in activating it well in advance. Why do surprises in organizations have to be negative, why so many flashes with the high beam that dazzle, when a modest wink of the turn signal is so suggestive!

Anticipate the foreseeable and count the countable financial aid to walk in the right managerial communication, while facilitating the transition from KO to OK in crisis situations. In the case of the ERE, if at the time we did not practice preventive communication in time, it is time to call to your people and, looking them in the face, ask for forgiveness. That genuine communicative action does not change the past, but it does change the future.

Just as the mere company of people does not necessarily mitigate loneliness, we can also end up incommunicado due to information saturation. Sending messages, editing newsletters, setting up mailboxes, call meetings and participating in all the social networks can be sterile tools if they do not serve what people want to know, need to know and should know. It is like offering a pharmaceutical service with absolutely every drug for every disease, but lacking the committee of an expert to prescribe just one. Which one? The one I need for my ailment.

If Internal Communications is like the intimacy of organizations, communicating inside beforehand contributes to a more authentic public projection.