Making CEO Communication a Strategic Business Asset

How do you help a CEO communicate effectively when their time is limited, expectations are high, and everyone around the leadership table has a view about communications?

That was the focus of our latest IABC Heads of Communications Special Interest Group (SIG) session, where we explored how senior communication professionals can maximize CEO communication as a strategic business asset.

When CEO Communication Really Matters

One of the useful frameworks Rachel Madan shared was to think about the moments when CEO communication can have an outsized impact on business results. Four stood out:

1. Leadership transition, particularly when a CEO or other senior leader joins or leaves.
2. Turnaround and restructuring, where what leaders communicate and how they communicate it can influence how change is received.
3. Money moments, including investor relations, fundraising, capital markets, and requests for resources.
4. Business model change, from mergers and acquisitions and repositioning to pivots and geographic expansion.

CEO communication shouldn’t just be treated as a stream of speeches, emails, and updates. It needs to connect directly to what the organization is trying to achieve.

Start With What Stakeholders Care About

Our peer discussion surfaced a challenge that will be familiar to many senior communicators: gaining the support of boards and senior stakeholders for strategic communication.

One practical suggestion was to start with stakeholder priorities rather than our own. What matters to the chief financial officer, chief operations officer, audit and risk committee, or board? Understanding those agendas gives communicators a much stronger basis for demonstrating how communication contributes to the outcomes stakeholders already care about. Annual reports, board agendas, and relationships with the corporate secretary can all help communicators understand those priorities.

Building a strong one-to-one relationship with the CEO was also highlighted as an important foundation before trying to navigate the views of the wider stakeholder group.

More CEO Content Isn’t Necessarily Better CEO Communication

We also talked about the pressure to keep CEOs highly visible. A weekly all-staff update, for example, can easily become unfocused if it isn’t anchored in a clear messaging framework.

The discussion challenged the assumption that everything needs to come from the CEO. Other leadership voices can be brought in, content can be organized around themes, and a clear narrative framework can help decide what the CEO genuinely needs to own.

Getting Access to a Busy CEO

Of course, even the best executive communication strategy depends on getting time with the executive.

The discussion suggested that demonstrating impact is critical to earning that access. Members also shared some very practical ways of working around a CEO’s schedule, including short, targeted preparation sessions, and voice notes and conversations while the CEO is on the move.

Sometimes Our Role Is To Say the Difficult Thing

Perhaps one of the strongest themes was the need for trusted communication advisers to be honest. Sometimes the greatest value we bring is being prepared to give direct feedback when something isn’t working.

In order to avoid making such feedback feel like personal criticism, communicators can frame their input around the CEO’s interests and reputation. Ultimately, that requires trust. And trust comes from understanding the business, knowing what matters to the leader, and being willing to have the conversations others might avoid.

Think About How People Want To Receive Information

We finished by considering another familiar challenge: reaching senior people who have multiple competing priorities. Senior leaders are managing multiple business priorities, so CEO communication cannot rely on status alone to command attention. It needs to quickly demonstrate relevance, connect to the issues leaders are already focused on and be clear about what they need to know, decide or do.

It was a lively and refreshingly practical discussion, and exactly what we want the IABC Heads of Communications SIG to provide: a space where senior communicators can talk candidly about the realities of the job, learn from one another and leave with ideas they can actually use.

If you’re a senior communication leader and would like to be part of the next session register here to be the first to hear when we have new dates. We’d love to have you as part of the conversation.