Communications strategy is planning and hard work

Last May, I embarked on a Personal Trainer course at University of Lausanne – UNIL.

As an endorphin addict, my initial goal was to improve my own training and share my passion for movement with others.

Taught by a PhD in neurophysiology and biomechanics, the course has expanded my knowledge and prompted me to reflect on my core motivations and life goals.

As part of the coursework, I began training three volunteers—friends and colleagues—three times a week.

This led me to a small park near Palais Wilson, where I train a former OHCHR colleague. The scene feels straight out of Rocky—a mix of UN officials, locals, and people from all walks of life, all using the free equipment: battle ropes, medicine balls, weights, and more.

This experience has reinforced a universal truth: progress—in fitness, communication, or any discipline—comes from planned, consistent, and pertinent effort.

Communications hashtag#strategy is no different.

Most organizations understand the need for a plan, but few stick to it consistently. You can see this when carefully crafted messaging gives way to industry jargon, or when a well-planned content calendar is abandoned for every new event.

CEOs and senior leaders often sacrifice sleep and rack up air miles, crossing time zones and leaving a heavy carbon footprint, believing that every conference or roundtable offers potential value.

Meanwhile, their teams scramble to keep up—producing speeches, researching key messages, and putting presentations together on the fly—at the expense of quality and strategic impact.

Would someone like Kilian Jornet—the world-class trailer and ski mountaineer—train ad hoc like this to achieve his goals (which, by the way, this year included summiting 82 of Europe’s 4,000-meter peaks in only 19 days)?

Absolutely not. His training is structured, with clearly defined durations, frequency, recovery, and milestones.

Here’s what Kilian’s year-round, seven-days-a-week training plan looks like:

⛷ Ski (November-May)
– Pre-season: 20-30 hours a week, with volume training (3-4 hours a.m. and 1-2 hours in p.m.).
– Season: 20-25 races, incl. the World Cup, the World Championships, the European and Spanish Championships.
– Training: 15-30 hours (intensity training and training recovery)
– Total ascent/descent: 300,000m/year in ski mountaineering
– Total hours: 500

🏃‍♂️ Trail Running (May-October)
– 20-35 hours/week volume or high volume training, with a couple of outings a day of 2-7 hours.
– 80% running; 20% cycling.
– Total ascent/descent: 250,000m
– Total hours: 500

Why should organizations with ambitious communications goals approach their strategy with any less precision or discipline?

If you need help creating and sticking to a strategic hashtag#communications plan, feel free to reach out. Let’s build something sustainable and impactful together.