22/05/2026
It was not just sending videos. Angela Ahrendts was solving a classic scale-up problem.
When she moved from being CEO of Burberry to leading Apple Retail, she had to connect with 60,000+ employees across hundreds of stores globally – to keep culture, clarity, and customer experience.
Her weekly 3-minute internal videos that she shared with all of them were a leadership system.
The raw, unedited, direct communication to employees covered multiple aspects including updates on strategy, in-store experience, community and human connection. These videos successfully unified a massive, global, and dispersed retail team, turning them into a cohesive, mission-driven team.
At scale, communication cannot depend only on meetings, policies, memos, or formal briefings. People need to hear what matters, why it matters, and how it connects to the larger purpose, repeatedly.
The second lesson is simplifying the communication - short beats perfect! A 3-minute video can often carry more authenticity, warmth, and interest than a long email. Also, with distributed teams across the globe, people could sense the leader’s presence.
The third is that as businesses grow, leaders can become distant, abstract symbols. While scaling, leaders need to remain visible and connected. It is about creating emotional connect and alignment.
And perhaps the most powerful lesson: Culture scales through stories. A short story can travel faster than a policy document, and touch people deeply.
As a Scaling CEO, what do my people need to hear, feel, and align with consistently, so the business can scale without losing its essence?
