Excellence in Communication Leadership (EXCEL) Award
 The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) has named Brian J. Dunn, president and chief operating officer of Best Buy Co., Inc., as this year’s recipient of the Excellence in Communication Leadership (EXCEL) Award. Dunn will be a featured keynote speaker during the World Conference on 8 June in San Francisco.
As IABC’s highest award given to non-members, the EXCEL Award recognizes leaders who foster excellence in communication and contribute to the development and support of organizational communication.
Tim Connelly, director of internal communications at Best Buy, nominated Dunn with the following introduction of his president.
Brian J. Dunn, president and chief operating officer of Best Buy Co., Inc., began his Best Buy career as a sales associate in the Minnetonka, Minn., store in 1985. His extraordinary career and the company itself are both profoundly marked by his unique ability to communicate with employees, customers, partners and other key company stakeholders.
Brian’s communication skills have been employed and honed in several ways over the years. He has an innate ability to motivate employees, using his natural energy and sharp wit to engage people in the company’s key strategies and tactics. And as his responsibilities have increased, he has become highly skilled in tailoring messages to Best Buy’s multiple audiences, internal and external. He can effectively reflect the company’s unique culture when communicating with employees (speaking to them as the retail employee he was and still is), translate wonky-sounding company initiatives into everyday language during media interviews, and expertly discuss the detailed financial data and operational strategies of a US$40 billion company with the investment community.
Brian’s communication style—personal, humorous and self-effacing—resonates with diverse groups within these broader audiences as well. He has spent time speaking with, and listening to, Best Buy stakeholders around the world as the company charts its international expansion. He also actively engages in “top-of-the-house” meetings with key vendor partners throughout Asia, frequently hosts live webcasts and live blog sessions with employees in the U.S. and Great Britain, regularly leads town hall meetings with employees in China, Canada and the U.S., and is a regular presenter at Best Buy’s annual Women’s Leadership Forum.
One of Brian’s greatest gifts as a communicator is his self-deprecating style. He is willing (and eager) to make light of himself and his role, is the first to acknowledge that senior executives do not have all the answers, and is genuinely interested in listening to and learning from all of the people with whom he interacts. He personally participates in leading-edge communications activities (he’s an enthusiastic user of social media at work and at home), happily joins in on the creative development of live-event and video content, and is always accessible and engaged regarding real-time company announcements and discussions.
In addition to pushing the communication envelope through his personal participation in these activities, he also sets the standard for how leaders in Best Buy are expected to communicate. He holds other leaders accountable for facilitating town hall discussions with their intact teams and continually urges employees at all levels to be active and visible ambassadors for Best Buy’s brand message.
Yet for all of Brian’s accomplishments and leadership in the communication arena, his true colors really show through when times are toughest. The year 2008 was difficult for Best Buy, as it was for most companies. And, as the company has navigated a painful course—which has included a dramatic drop in sales and stock value, along with a round of human capital reductions at the corporate support center—Brian has been front and center. His instinct is always to be as honest and transparent as possible, and he has a natural tendency to think like a communicator—like a writer, he begins by asking what the audience wants and needs from him, and then he delivers it. His thoughtful, intuitive approach to communicating has immeasurably helped the company pull through a difficult year with its culture and core values intact.
Brian often describes his role as Best Buy’s “Chief Context Officer”—the person most responsible for helping all of the company’s constituencies understand what the company has to offer as a place to work, shop or invest. Brian’s rare ability to communicate effectively across multiple forms of media to engage distinct and diverse audience groups makes him an outstanding choice for the 2009 IABC EXCEL Award.
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