Listening to your CEO and having the courage to advise the top
chief when he has veered in the wrong direction are just a few of
the strategies PR executives need to employ now more than ever. So
says Leslie Gaines-Ross in her new book, CEO Capital.
In her book, Gaines-Ross, chief knowledge and research officer
for Burson-Marsteller, offers keys to building CEO reputation and
tying that to company success. The book, she says, is not just for
the CEO, but for anyone on the team responsible for building the
CEO's and the company's reputation - i.e. the communications team.
We asked her to share her advice for helping to strengthen a CEO's
reputation within and outside an organization. Her tips:
- Stop talking and listen. All too often communicators get caught
up in the "output" part of their job, disseminating messages to a
variety of stakeholders. Outputs are important, but a critical part
of any communications role is listening. Be another set of ears for
your CEO, and find out what employees and other audiences think and
feel about a CEO's words and actions. - Know how to deliver bad news. When you hear that the CEO's
words and actions are not coming off with a high degree of
credibility, you have to be able to communicate that information to
the chief exec. Develop an open relationship and let the CEO know
that you will be candid about how his or her behaviors are playing
with key constituencies. Knowing and understanding the CEO's
personality is critical here. "It's about knowing the person's
personality and mood so you know when to insert it," Gaines-Ross
says. - Get the seat at the table. If you don't report directly to the
CEO, you have to devise ways of becoming one of his key advisors.
Working hand-in-hand with the CEO on a daily basis is critical for
your communications efforts and for the CEO's reputation. "I just
heard of a company in crisis where they rearranged the office so
that the very senior PR people are on the same floor right next to
the divisional CEOs," Gaines-Ross says.
Leslie Gaines-Ross' book is available on Amazon.com for $20.97.
For more information, contact Peter Himler, [email protected].