Episode 50: Fifty Episodes In, Here's What I Got Wrong

Fifty episodes in, Tara McDonagh is looking back at some of the things she's said on the Communications Business Advisor™ Podcast and admitting that she'd say a few of them differently today.

The mission hasn't changed. Tara still believes Communications and the people in it should be treated as critical business advisors. But after fifty episodes and years of working alongside communications leaders and their teams, her thinking about what that actually looks like has evolved.

In this episode, Tara revisits four ideas she shared from the earliest episodes of the podcast, what she understands differently about those concepts now, and why those shifts matter for communications leaders who want to build greater authority inside their organizations.

In this episode, Tara explores: Why "protect the brand" doesn't go far enough, and how communicators can connect reputation risk directly to revenue, operations, and business goals The important difference between being invited to the decision-making table and being required there Why "editing business decisions" is actually a false summit on the path to becoming a Communications Business Advisor The shift from editing decisions to shaping decisions before they're made Why communications strategy isn't the ultimate outcome, but a vehicle for changing how executives engage with Communications What clients are really seeking when they ask for strategy, structure, resources, or support (hint: It's not the strategy itself).  Protecting the brand became protecting revenue, operations, and the business plan.

Being invited to the table became being required there.

Editing decisions became shaping them.

And delivering a strategy became changing behavior.

The language may have evolved over fifty episodes, but the mission hasn't: elevating Communications and the people in it as critical business advisors.

Resources & Links Communications Team Authority Index:

https://www.taramcdonagh.com/authority-index/

Take the free, 10-question assessment to understand where your communications team currently sits on the path from executing decisions to shaping them, and what it takes to move to the next level.

About Tara McDonagh Tara McDonagh is a Communications as Business Advisor™ activist, advisor to Fortune 500 communications leaders and their teams, and Founder of Raise the Tide™ for women in Comms. Recognized by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) in 2026 as an industry champion/thought leader, Tara helps Co