Carly. Harry. Michael.
In the last few months, several high-profile CEOs -- including Carly Fiorina from Hewlett-Packard, Harry Stonecipher from Boeing, and Michael Eisner from
Walt Disney -- have been fired despite, for the most part, having solid track records. Combined with relentless coverage in the press of CEOs on trial, including Bernie
Ebbers (Worldcom) and Dennis Kozlowski (Tyco), senior PR managers may think it's a good time for the boss to take a step back, lest he or she get caught in any of
the crosshairs.
"The old attitude of informal cooperation with the CEO has been replaced by a new spirit of legalistic, often antagonistic, check-the-boxes formality," reads the
BusinessWeek cover story (April 25) "Downsizing the CEO." "When red flags arise, directors are quicker than ever to hire outside attorneys to investigate potential
wrongdoing. And the lawyers conducting these probes have been transformed from trusted counselors, who in the past were all too willing to lend their credibility to white-washes,
into inquisitorial cops."
As a growing number of CEOs get the boot -- not to mention the increasing scrutiny of corporate America among regulators and the media -- now is not the time for PR to play
it low key.
"Crisis is a time for opportunity," says Eric Yaverbaum, president of Jericho Communications (New York City), and author of "Leadership Secrets of the World's Most
Successful CEOs" (Dearborn Publishing, 2004) and "PR for Dummies" (Wiley). "As a senior PR manager, you want to be there, speaking to the CEO honestly and not
massaging his or her ego because the better the PR, the more the boss is an asset" to the company.
PR managers shouldn't drown in the recent flood of bad ink about CEOs. Rather, they should use it as an opportunity to facilitate ways in which the CEO can demonstrate that
he or she is doing the right thing for stakeholders.
For instance, Fred Smith, CEO of FedEx Corp., a perennial among Fortune's Most Admired Companies (No. 6 in the 2005 rankings), has in the last several years
stepped up his efforts in corporate communications, investor outreach, media outreach and employee communications, says Bill Margaritis, corporate VP/Worldwide Communications and
Investor Relations at FedEx and an Arthur W. Page Society board member. (Arthur W. Page, which represents corporate communications execs, recently released "Building
Trust: Leading CEOs Speak Out: How They Create It, Strengthen It, And Sustain It." For more info, go to http://www.awpagesociety.com/resources/BuildingTrust.)
Of course, Smith has had to sell to stakeholders FedEx's recent transformation from being an overnight delivery company to a network of companies specializing in shipping and
information needs. Still, Smith "constantly visits the front lines, is good-humored and is down to earth," Margaritis says. "CEOs set the tone. It's not difficult to figure out
why some companies ran into problems, which start at the top."
He adds, "As the PR manager, you have to communicate more than ever before because of the way in which information moves and the impact it can have on corporate reputation.
You have to be a steward of that reputation and help execs harness that power, whether it's demonstrating vulnerabilities or the upside of having a third-party endorsements."
Other PR pros in the trenches stress that, in order for communicators to better serve their CEOs, they must once and for all start to speak the CEO's language -- and tie that
back to PR.
"Instead of PR [managers] thinking what can make news, per se, they should be thinking what can make revenue through news," says Mark Stevens, CEO of MSCO Inc.
(Purchase, N.Y.) and author of "Your Marketing Sucks" (Random House, 2003). "When the CEO has faith in the idea of PR and proof that the PR manager has business acumen, he
or she does listen...[But] if you come into the CEO's office and do PR-speak, you're going to get blown away."
Tom Martin, director of corporate relations at ITT Industries (White Plains, N.Y.) and president of the Arthur W. Page Society, says in the current climate, the main
role for senior PR counselors is to keep the company's priorities straight. "You need to get the CEO's message out first to employees, which is key to implementing business
strategy, and help the executive-management team make good decisions in how the company is reflected in the media," says Martin, who reports directly to ITT President & CEO
Steven Loranger. "The market rewards consistent performance and credibility."
He adds, "PR methods used [for the C-level] are just as important as business performance. They need to be done in a credible way and, clearly, we have a credibility issue in
some circles."
Yaverbaum, from Jericho Communications, says that when it comes to dealing with the CEO, too often senior PR pros play the blame game. Instead, they should take a hard look
in the mirror. "For a lot of PR managers, the CEO is the spherical son of a bitch: 'The CEO wouldn't let me have a seat at the table. The CEO wouldn't do the interview,'" he says,
adding that there is way too much "whining" these days among PR managers. "It's a very easy out for PR people to blame the CEO, but the problem isn't the boss. It's you, because
you have not properly prepared and educated your CEO."
Contacts: Bill Margaritis, 901.818.7090, [email protected]; Tom Martin, 914.641.2157, [email protected]; Mark Stevens, 914.251.1500, [email protected]; Eric Yaverbaum, 212.645.6900 x102, [email protected]