Starting a senior Comms role?
Here are the 5 lessons I wish someone had shared with me before I became a Director of Communications. (And how they can help you.)
Stepping into your first Director of Communications or Head of Comms role is both exciting and challenging. This free guide shares five hard-won lessons from 20+ years in board-level roles, helping you avoid common early mistakes, build credibility fast, and lead with confidence from day one.
.jpg)
Louise Thompson,
leadership coach and former board Director of Communications
What every new Director of Communications needs to know in their first 100 days
Stepping into a senior Communications role is exciting, but it can also feel like a leap into the unknown.
After leading Comms in very different organisations (from Silicon Valley startups to the National Health Service), I have learned some valuable lessons about what makes or breaks those first few months in a Director of Comms role.
This short guide shares five practical insights that will help you avoid the common traps new Comms leaders fall into and start your new role with clarity, confidence, and credibility.
Inside, you’ll learn:
✅ The smart questions and due diligence every new Comms leader should do before day one — so you arrive informed, confident and on the front foot.
✅ Practical ways to identify who really matters, build empathy, and form relationships that give your strategy credibility from the start.
✅ How to make the most of your “new joiner” window — using curiousity to understand your organisation, culture and communication gaps.
✅ Why listening to others matters — but trusting your own insight matters more.
✅ How to define what success really looks like in your new Comms role.
Get your free guide:
5 Things I Wish I’d Known as a
First-Time Director of Communications
Why I created
this guide
This is the guide I wish I'd had as a new leader
Hi, I'm Louise Thompson, Leadership Coach and former board-level Director of Communications.
I've led Comms for more than 20 years, from high-growth startups to national public services including the NHS. But it wasn't always easy and coaching transformed my confidence and my impact as a credible comms leader.
I now help Comms leaders move from overlooked operator to indispensable strategic adviser in my capacity as a leadership coach.
Recognised as a LinkedIn Top Voice and followed by over 80,000 on TikTok, I make leadership development practical, relatable and real.
“Six months of coaching with Louise and I feel much more confident in my own expertise and decision making capabilities, I’m building on my leadership skills every day and I genuinely feel valued at work.”