Communication and the CEO

We live today in a sophisticated multi-media society where the number of global communications networks has exploded in recent years. This has made it even more important to have effective communication, “the right word at the right time”.
Looking back at a brief history of communication we start with the first consumer brand, Wedgwood, in 1760, followed by the first newspapers in the 1800’s. With the development of the understanding of psychology, Pavlov and his slavering dogs (1920), the advertising world took off in the 60’s and 70’s. The mid 90’s had the www.com chaos and the last decade has left us reeling from stimulus, response and endless feedback. So is the 21st century is the age of conversation?
An organisation’s reputation is increasingly based on how others see the CEO and how others talk about you. Those favourable perceptions are dependant upon the CEO's visibility and the consistency of thier behaviour. The communication skills of CEOs are important in shaping public perception, after all in today’s business world CEOs are the celebrities! In a world of suits, their human face helps to differentiate the brand, inspire confidence and deliver results. In the voluntary sector this is equally true but many CEOs are reluctant to take the risks of being in the goldfish bowl of public life.