I recently received a call from the vice president of sales at a publicly traded, multi-billion-dollar corporation headquartered in Houston. He was calling on behalf of the CEO requesting advice on their current public relations strategy and business development efforts.

Before the discovery call, I was given a quick rundown: Contracts were slipping, customers were pulling back and the company’s reputation was beginning to erode. It didn’t take long before I knew exactly what was going on. This wasn’t a surface-level messaging issue. It was a full-blown culture crisis and what they needed wasn’t a press release. It was an inside-out strategy.

What I mean by inside-out is simple but critical: Before you spend a dime trying to shape public perception, you must look in the mirror. You must lead with credibility, clarity and cohesion internally, before you expect your customers, vendors, investors or the market to trust what you say externally.

The company had the scale. They had revenue in the billions. They had contracts and clients across the country, but they also had a demoralized workforce, high turnover, no talent brand, no structured business development strategy and no consistent messaging across their divisions. From the top, the CEO believed better PR would fix it. But the truth? Their internal culture was broken, and leadership hadn’t been trained or positioned to own their influence in the moments that mattered.

That’s the part most leaders skip.

In my work, I’ve seen this mistake too many times. Companies want visibility, but they don’t invest in executive presence. They want influence, but their C-suite is operating on autopilot. Titles aren’t enough. In today’s climate, CEOs, presidents and senior executives must be poised, intentional and strategic communicators. Your people and your stakeholders can feel when you’re not anchored in that authority.

That’s why executive presence coaching is no longer optional. It’s a critical lever in driving trust, cohesion and buy-in from the inside out. The workforce is watching. Clients are watching. Investors are watching. If your leadership team can’t communicate with clarity, conviction and confidence, the rest of the organization doesn’t stand a chance.

This company didn’t need a campaign. They needed a full reputation recovery initiative. They needed an internal messaging reset. They needed a modern business development playbook tailored for their clients and they needed leaders at every level who could show up, own the room and drive culture with intention.

According to Gallup, companies with highly engaged teams experience 21 percent higher profitability and 17 percent higher productivity. Deloitte’s research also shows that organizations with strong leadership alignment and internal communication grow revenue four times faster than their peers.

Harvard Business Review echoes similar findings that when culture is intentional and leadership is equipped, it shows up in the bottom line.

As I often say, “Advertising is paying someone to say you’re good while quality public relations is doing the work so people say it for free.” To do that work, you need more than strategy. You need internal trust, cultural alignment and leadership that’s not just appointed but equipped.

I challenge every CEO, every executive team, every business owner who’s feeling stuck or stalled to stop asking, “How do we get more attention?” and instead ask, “What’s happening inside our organization that’s causing us to lose traction in the first place?”

Have you examined your culture? Are you investing in leadership development? Do your employees speak highly of your organization when no one’s watching? Do you have a business development strategy built on relationships, referrals and real value or are you winging it?

If the answer is no, don’t be surprised when the marketing doesn’t work. No brand can outperform a broken culture and no leader can command trust without doing the inner work.

This multi-billion-dollar company didn’t need a brochure. They needed leadership clarity. They needed strategic advisory. They needed presence at the top and we started from the inside out.

(Harris is the founder and principal strategist of Bradley Harris Strategic Advisory)