We're sure that when left alone in their corporate chambers, CEOs have to attach some professional analyses to how their leadership and reputation-management skills stack up - after all, no one's perfect, right?
So to help you embark on an overview of your CEO style - or if you're a communications exec trying to gently nudge your boss about his/her PR power - we offer you this quick test. It was culled from John F. Budd Jr.'s "Memo to CEOs: How To Manage Your ROE." Check those that apply:
_____ We provide all investors with quarterly updates.
_____ We believe that our investors are with us for the long term and have patience.
____ Whenever we have something to say that's important, we issue a news release.
____ We don't encourage press interviews because they distort and create undue expectations.
____ Flooding investors with too much information is overselling.
____ We send all news releases to our investors. It is more cost effective than fancy bulletins.
____ I don't make speeches and won't until we have a decent track record.
____ Our investors want to know how we're doing, not how our competitors are doing.
____ We don't telegraph problems until we have a solution.
Scorecard:
If you've checked four or more of these, you're typically a reactive CEO and are likely to disseminate information sparingly and are conservative in your business approach. But in this era of speedy information delivery, your tack is probably not progressive enough.
For a copy of the $5.95 primer (plus shipping), call 212/545-0190.