🏢 Communications Introductions: Jesse Tron

Head of Communications, Americas at JLL

In This Edition

• 🏒 How managing fan emails to the NHL Commissioner led to a career in communications

• 📺 Why you should prioritize media training in any role

• 📖 How studying Chaucer can help you succeed as a communicator

About Jesse

Jesse Tron is Head of Communications, Americas, JLL. Before joining JLL he was the Managing Director at M Group Communications where he ran the firm’s corporate practice, reporting to the CEO, conducting client strategy sessions and campaign management. Prior to that, he was Head of Communications and PR Practice at the Dealey Group.

Before going the agency route, Tron was the Vice President of Communications for the International Council of Shopping Centers, running successful PR and strategic communications programs during his tenure with the association. He also acted as a spokesman and was frequently quoted in top-tier publications such as The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, and Bloomberg and appeared on multiple broadcast platforms to discuss industry trends.

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What sparked your path into Communications? 

I went to a small liberal arts college where I double majored in English and Studio Art. When I graduated, I wasn’t sure what to do with my degree. I considered law school but ultimately took an internship in the PR department with the National Hockey League. I was always a big sports fan, and the fact that my wife played ice hockey in high school made me even more interested in the opportunity! 

This internship was a great chance to learn about communications while working in a fast-paced environment that emphasized clear, clean and concise communications. One of the memorable experiences was helping manage fan emails to the NHL Commissioner. I found myself really gravitating toward the field of external communications and that’s the path I pursued. My career started in media relations and crisis communications, and it’s been a great path for my interests and skills. 

What projects are you are proud of accomplishing over the years? 

I’ll share two projects, while years apart, they have similar missions and impact. When I was at ICSC, the trade association for the shopping center industry, we did a lot of programming around the concept of “the mall is not dead.” We used to say that the mall’s obituary was written from the day it was conceived — there have always been these spikes in the economic viability of the mall. The financial crisis of 2008-2009 reinvigorated the “mall is dead” narrative in the media. 

To address that, we did a lot of educational work around the retail industry to talk about what the mall is and isn’t. Of course, the concept of the mall from 1980s no longer exists, but it shouldn’t — it has evolved to stay fresh and new. Today, the mall is still here — it’s different with outdoor spaces and unique offerings, but physical retail is very prevalent and important to the consumer landscape — people like to interact and go out and shop in environments. 

Fast-forward to today, I can draw a lot of parallels to the work we are doing around the office. Because of the pandemic, we all found ourselves suddenly working on our couches from one day to the next. We’ve been asking ourselves — what does that mean for the future of the office? At JLL, we’ve embarked on a campaign around that concept. We’re bullish on the future of the office, but it also needs to evolve, adapt and become something new for employees, just as the mall changed. 

One reason I believe in this work so much is that there are economies that exist around the office — restaurants, retail shops and vendors. When you look at how the pandemic impacted cities like New York, the job loss and economic activity decline was significant. This is not good for the community and areas around these big office environments. For the economic viability of metro areas and downtowns, it’s really critical to consider the impact and re-imagine the office environment. 

What are the skills that are most important for someone to succeed in Communications? 

As communicators, we need to know about a lot of different topics. You can’t be an expert on all, but you have to understand complex issues and dynamics across a broad range of activities. Then, you need to be able to distill that information and effectively communicate it to others who might not understand it. This means you need to be able to think strategically and analytically like a researcher who immerses themselves in the work. 

I always look for people with different experiences that can be applied to communications. If you are a strong writer, you can distill dense topics. The former English major in me knows that if you had to figure out what Chaucer was talking about and can relate that to the modern day, you have the writing, analytical and thinking skills to succeed in communications. 

It’s also important to be perceptive and a good listener. I also strongly encourage people to get crisis communications experience — while certainly stressful, it’s also invaluable. If you approach every communication scenario through a crisis lens, you are preparing yourself for a great outcome. For those who deal with these situations, it’s important to be level-handed and calm, which is really appreciated by leadership.

On the external side, you have to have thick skin and get used to hearing “no” a lot. With communications, you’re not selling a product, you’re pitching a concept and an idea. You need to understand what your audience wants to hear from you. 

You spent time as a company spokesperson. Can you share how you prepared for that experience?

First, you need to know the material. It’s about understanding your core subject matter and researching the business. Then, with media training, you learn to effectively deliver it and how to speak to the press. I recommend media training yearly for people who find themselves in any kind of public setting. It’s not just for broadcast news, these skills are transferable in any pubic speaking setting — pitches, board room meetings, panels and town halls. Finally, you have to practice to get good at it. 

This fall, we had a Communications Summit that brought together both the external and internal teams. Everyone went through media training, specifically how to prepare a spokesperson. There’s so much that external and internal can learn from the other with this skill set. For internal, it is about how to address employees, the tone to take at a town hall or a panel discussion is critical for the employee experience.

How do you continue learning about the field?

The best resource has been connecting with my peers, even outside of my core industry. When I talk to people who are working on similar issues and thinking about effective communications strategies, there’s a lot to learn from the people who are leading this work in diverse businesses. I encourage everyone to find a way to make connections personally with others in the field and be able to have real authentic conversations. 

Fast forward to the future — what do you think communications at work will look like? 

I am very bullish on the communications field going forward. A few years ago, when I was focusing mostly on external, the media landscape was significantly changing with smaller newsrooms. At the time, I was worried about what it meant for the future of the field — if there aren’t going to be as many reporters, how are we going to tell the stories? But, now because of the number of channels, the amount of information and sources, it makes our jobs even more important. 

We are at a time when understanding and telling an authentic and transparent story about companies is hugely important. People are craving this more and more, both internally and externally. All of that buoys me in feeling that our jobs are becoming more and more important.

I like to spend a lot of time thinking about the future of my team and how we are going to stand up to that challenge and deliver on what is being asked for by our people, not just senior leaders, everyone across the company is looking for ways to engage. We have a tremendous opportunity to shape organizations and help them thrive from the inside. That’s an incredible honor!

It’s a really impactful and exciting field and time to be a part of it. It’s not just writing an effective email or press release, it’s so much more than that. As communications experts, we provide unique viewpoints that can be critical to the decision-making process. I hope people understand how you can make an impact on the future of organizations and businesses moving forward by working in communications. 

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