Welcome back to the Communications Business Advisor Podcast! It’s 2025, and with a new year comes the chance to adopt a new mindset - because mindset can change everything.

Today, Tara McDonagh challenges communications leaders to rethink the way they prioritize their time and energy in their organizations. If you’ve ever struggled with justifying your workload, advocating for resources, or redefining your leadership role, this episode is for you.

Why “Because I Get Paid Too Much” Matters: Tara challenges the misconception that strategic leaders recognizing their value is arrogance, reframing it as essential business thinking. By aligning task complexity with expertise, leaders enhance their presence while safeguarding company resources.

The “Must Do” Exercise for Work and Life: Tara presents a simple yet powerful exercise to categorize responsibilities into “Must Do” (tasks only you can handle) and “Someone Must Do” (tasks that can be delegated). By adopting a mindset of strategic delegation, leaders can create space for high-value work while achieving better personal balance.

Building the Case (and Mindset) for Resources: Tara highlights the importance of mindset, urging communications leaders to recognize their value as a foundation for advocating for resources. She shares how building a business case for resources doesn’t start with writing or research but rather mindset - even if people think they have that part covered. It likely still needs some work before an impact can be made.

Want support in navigating this journey? Swing by www.taramcdonagh.com.

And be sure to sign up for Level Up: Be Extra emails for even more exclusive insights.

Raise the Tide™ is proud to sponsor this episode, empowering women in communications to amplify their careers, connect across industries, and redefine leadership on their terms. For more, visit www.raisethetide.net.

Welcome to the final episode in 2024 of the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with your host, Tara McDonagh. In this episode, Tara addresses a specific challenge faced by communications leaders looking to elevate their strategic role in corporate environments.

In this episode, we explore…

No: the professional communicators’ word of 2024 was “no.” And it raised some eyebrows and also some shouts of enthusiasm. In this episode we talk about all things saying no. From how to navigate getting to ‘no’ with co-workers, executives and even within your own team. Boundaries - not just setting them, but keeping them - is critical for sanity and impact.

Partner: Tara emphasizes the shift from being seen as a service department to becoming true partners with business areas, working together to achieve shared business goals. This word is less of a lightning rod, but just as critical as we proceed to elevate our function. That’s why ‘partner’ is the word of 2025.

To explore more insights from Tara McDonagh Communications and sign up for our newsletter, visit Level Up: Be Extra.

Want some help so you’re no longer alone in navigating all of this? Swing by www.taramcdonagh.com

Shoutout to our sponsor, Raise the Tide™, for helping women in communications working in a corporate environment reach new career heights.

Welcome to Episode 18 of the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast, your go-to for advancing in corporate communications as a strategic business advisor. Today, we’re diving into that all-too-familiar feeling—wondering if you're losing your mind from handling off-the-wall requests, lazy requests, and “I don’t want to admit I don’t know how to do this” requests.

We often question these requests because they’re shared with such confidence by the requestor that we begin to wonder, ‘Am I supposed to do this? Is this a thing my peers do in other organizations?’

So let me tell you if you haven’t heard it before: You’re (probably) not crazy.

In this episode, we address

Navigating Random Requests: Ever feel like you're stuck fielding requests about tasks that have nothing to do with Comms.? Like making a bathroom sign or fixing a voicemail system? Let's clear the air about what we’re really here to do and listen to some advice about how to handle the inbound random stuff without losing your mind.

The Lazy Request Dilemma: Sometimes we get stuck with 'lazy requests'—the stuff anyone could handle but somehow lands on our plate. Think about those PowerPoints intended for an audience of 12 or email edits for a departmental email. You don’t have to do these - yes, even when the request comes from someone more senior.

The “I Haven’t made a Business Decision” (but won’t say that out loud) Requests: We get pulled in to communicate something and quickly realize when asking some basic questions that a business decision hasn’t been made. We can’t communicate without knowing WHAT we’re communicating. While frustrating, this is an area where we make the most significant impact and can elevate ourselves as critical business advisors. Listen in for more.

Want some help so you’re no longer alone in navigating all of this? Swing by www.taramcdonagh.com

And be sure to sign up for my Level Up: Be Extra emails for even more exclusive insights.

Shoutout to our sponsor, Raise the Tide™, for helping women in communications working in a corporate environment reach new career heights.