— January 7th, 2026
A rather dramatic story about trust, truth, and finding your place in the room.
If I had a dollar for every time someone in comms said they “just need a seat at the table”, I could probably buy the table, the chairs, and the boardroom snacks.
For years, I believed that was the goal too. Oh that seat…oh that meeting…oh that invite. It sounded like the marker of success. Proof you’d “made it”. Truly. But somewhere along the way, I realised the seat isn’t the goal at all.
What actually matters is building trust. The kind you earn through hard lessons and a few bruises. The kind that gets you called before the meeting even starts.
I started in traditional PR…heckling journalists on the daily, trying to place products I didn’t care about in the glossy magazines, and networking at parties with terrible catering.
I loved the energy in the beginning. Who wouldn’t? But I was restless and hungry. I was helping brands tell polished stories externally while their own people had no clue what was happening inside their walls.
It wasn’t until COVID hit that it really landed for me. You could see, in real time, how employee trust shaped business results. When people were informed and included, the company thrived. When they weren’t, everything quite literally stalled. That’s when I shifted gears and moved from external to internal comms.
Back then, internal comms wasn’t exactly a glamorous career move. It was the polite afterthought at the end of strategy decks: “We’ll loop comms in later.” But I saw potential. Give people context and clarity, help them connect their work to the bigger picture, and you unlock a level of engagement no marketing campaign could ever buy.
Of course, that didn’t mean anyone rolled out the red carpet. I learned quickly that internal comms wasn’t something people automatically respected—you had to show them why it mattered.
And I’ve always been someone who speaks up. I’m not shy about asking the hard questions or saying the thing no one wants to say. So I started pushing back, asking questions, bringing data, and telling leaders the uncomfortable truth: “You want to know why your people are disengaged? You’re not being honest with them.”
That didn’t always go down well. But it built credibility. Bit by bit, people realised internal comms had some bite. I liked that.
And this wasn’t just a shift happening in my little corner. It was a global shift.
Last year, I came across a Forbes article about the rise of senior communications leaders—how comms was becoming central to decision-making instead of an afterthought—and it really resonated with me.
It put into words something I’d already been living on a daily basis…if comms isn’t in the room, the business is already one step behind.
Then it became more real for me. A few years ago I was working in a role at a global company, preparing to announce a major restructure—the biggest we’d ever done.
The night before, we had a major incident. A serious issue. My phone lit up at 2am. The first calls weren’t to HR or Legal. The first call came to me. The executives wanted to know what to say, what to do, how to tell the board without the house being set on fire.
From that point on, I stopped chasing the seat and started focusing on being the person people could rely on—calm, clear, and honest, even when it wasn’t easy.
Over time, I learned what really builds trust. You earn it through consistency—delivering on promises, simplifying chaos, listening more than you speak, and acknowledging those hard lessons.
You help leaders look confident even when they’re sweating bullets before a major moment. You push back when you need to, but you do it respectfully and with evidence. That’s what makes you indispensable.
Today, I lead employee communications at Superbet. When I joined, the function needed a reset. We now sit within strategy and transformation - right where it belongs.
My team are true business partners. We help leaders communicate clearly, connect meaningfully, and build trust across their teams. It’s the kind of work that feels equal parts strategic and human.
And if there’s one thing I tell my team, it’s this: Don’t wait to be invited. Be pushy. Show your value until they can’t start without you.
When you can’t get time in a leader’s diary, don’t disappear. Drop them a note. Here’s what I’ve done, here’s the impact, here’s what’s next. It doesn’t need to be long, it just shows you’re thinking ahead, and that you see the bigger picture.
Those small, consistent moments build trust faster than any town hall or campaign ever could.
Because the truth is, the table will change and the titles will change. What stays the same is who they call when it matters. Become that person, and you’ll never need to chase a seat again.
Annabelle Gordon-Jones is a global internal communications leader known for bringing clarity and momentum to complex, high-growth organisations.
Currently Director of Employee Communications at Super, she drives the Group’s strategic narrative and supports the business through major moments of transformation and growth.
Having lived and worked across Europe, the UK, and Australia, Annabelle has built her career in global roles where cultural nuance, and sharp strategic judgement are essential.
This international experience has shaped her resilience and her ability to quickly read organisations, anticipate risks, and translate complexity into clear, confident communication that helps people navigate change with certainty.