By George Bradt,Senior Contributor

Copyright forbes

Yesterday’s sign

This past Saturday morning, I stopped at a sandwich shop in Misquamicut, Rhode Island, looking forward to a simple breakfast to start the day right.

But before I reached the counter, I was confronted with a handwritten sign in the window: “No food. Sorry!!”

Perplexed, I asked the woman behind the register, “No food?” She replied, “Of course we have food,” and promptly pulled down the sign after I pointed out the confusion.

A minor moment, perhaps, but it crystallized a truth of leadership I’ve learned and lived my entire career: everything communicates – whether we intend it or not.

At that sandwich shop, a note meant for one moment or purpose caused unnecessary confusion and signaled the exact opposite of reality. This is a microcosm of what happens every day inside organizations.

Leaders assume their intentions are obvious, their words clear, and their people able to read between the lines. But just as a customer at a restaurant can only act on what’s in front of them, employees respond to the literal and visible messages leaders send out—written, spoken, and implied by action or inaction.

When “Everyone Knew” Becomes “Nobody Understood”

Too often, we’ve all seen leadership teams fall prey to the trap of miscommunication. They broadcast strategic priorities without context, send late-night emails with unintended urgency, or hedge feedback in “feedback sandwiches” so the most important developmental points get lost between layers of praise.

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What was meant to be constructive ends up muddled. What was meant to be motivating becomes demoralizing.

We’ve all heard leaders say, “But we presented that at the all-hands twice!” while their teams privately wonder what, if anything, has changed.

Everything Communicates

It turns out “everything communicates”—not just our public statements, but also our tone, timing, and the signals we send when we’re not paying attention.

We’ve all learned that a leader’s mere presence or absence at an event sends ripples across the organization.

At every level, culture is shaped as much by what is not said as by what is. If the sign in the sandwich shop had been left up all day, the loss in business would have been real. For others, the stakes are often much higher: a misunderstood strategy or a misinterpreted priority can cost millions or derail a turnaround.

Closing the Context Gap

Leadership means living inside one’s own reality—a context rich with background, intent, and nuance. But teams often get only fragments.

This is where the BRAVE leadership framework becomes critical: focusing on Behaviors, Relationships, Attitudes, Values, and Environment to ensure messages are crafted, delivered, checked, and contextualized so that what’s intended is what’s received.

Clarity demands not just repetition, but engagement: two-way communication that bridges the context gap and aligns every player around the mission.

Managing the Message

To avoid sandwich shop moments in the boardroom and beyond, leaders must relentlessly manage not just what they say but how it will be understood. The guidance:

Begin with clear objectives and a core message, tailored to what you want people to do and feel.

Think through that message from your listener’s perspective: What do they need to understand? What will drive them to believe, care, and act?

Deliver the message with deliberate timing, through multiple channels, checking for understanding and adjusting as needed.

Never forget: silence, uncertainty, or mixed signals are themselves powerful communications.

Vulnerability as Trust Builder

If confusion arises, own it. Leaders who admit “I may not have been clear” or “Let’s revisit this together” foster trust, humility, and credibility. Today’s organizations demand leaders who recognize when they’ve left the “no food” sign in the window and have the courage to clarify, engage, and listen.

Get the Signs Right

A breakfast sandwich in Westerly brought to mind what decades in leadership have made clear: every sign, memo, and gesture shapes reality. The challenge for leaders is to see the sign in the window, ask the right questions, and take responsibility for ensuring that what’s communicated matches intent. Everything communicates. The best leaders never forget that—and never leave their people staring at a “No food” sign when there’s food—and opportunity—waiting within.

Click here for a categorized list of my Forbes articles (of which this is #962)

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