6_Kónya László_CxO Comms_v4_221031.pptx

1. THE BOSS WILL
CALL, LET’S JUST
WAIT!
CxO Level Communication
Laszlo Konya | CEO
Deutsche Telekom IT Solutions
10th “Art of Projects” English-speaking,
International Project Management Conference
November 3, 2022.
https://pmibudapestevents.hu

2. Who are the CxO-s?
9 NOVEMBER 2022
CxO level communication 2
CEO, CIO, VP FICO, VP HR, VP, SVP, Director
Getting 3-400 emails per day
Being involved in 15-20 key projects / deals / initiatives in parallel
Responsible for delivering results for their unit
80/20 applies everywhere: CxO-s focus on 20% which
• Deliver 80% of the results OR
• Influence +/- 80% of the results OR
• Have 80% of the risks OR
• Have high strategic importance
The rest 80% should be operated on autopilot, CxO needs to be involved
BEFORE problems happen

3. How CxO-s spend their time
HBR July-August 2018 How CEOs manage time
• 9 hours 42 minutes per weekday
• Working on 79% of weekend days, 3 hours
54 minutes daily
• 70% of vacation days, 2 hours 24 minutes
daily
• Altogether 62,5 hours / week (american
data)
31 10 25 5 29
Work Commute and transit Personal Vacation Sleep
61 15 24
Face-to-face Phone and letter Electronic
43 36 21
Core agenda Important unfolding developments Have-to-do
7 23 32 21 13 4
<15m 30m 1h 1-2h 2-5h 5h
Work VS Personal time
Mode of Communication
Core Agenda VS. Other Activities
Length of Meetings
Most of CEO-s realized the imporance of health
factors, sleeping 6 hours 54 minutes/day,
excercising 45 mins/day in average

4. Profiling your CxO stakeholders
9 NOVEMBER 2022 4
How your results influence their
overall revenue / profit / etc.
Important to make a profile of your main
stakeholders: try to understand their way of
work, their expectations CEO / VP FICO / VP HR / VP
business all of them have different
priorities!
They fly at different altitude
Whatever message you’d like to
give, must fit in their world
How your project fits in their
overall picture
HBR July-August 2018 How CEOs manage time
CxO level communication

5. The Topic
9 NOVEMBER 2022
CxO level communication 5
• FIRST: YOU need to know what is YOUR GOAL
• Always give a VERY SHORT overview of the topic at the
beginning to set the stage
• The CxO-s might not remember the whole project, the
actual status, the abbreviations or previous decisions!
• In some cases the CxO will not even know what is this
meeting
• Be aware: since your last email on the topic 2 weeks ago,
the CEO might have got 10x300 = 3000 emails.

6. Topics CxO-s are interested in
9 NOVEMBER 2022
CxO level communication 6
Focus topics
• What is the scope of the presentation: is it FYI or a Decision?
• Financial aspects
• Deadlines, major milestones
• Changes
Are we on track? If no, what actions we plan to go back on track?
Transparency is key! CxO is not interested to see everything green, is interested to
see things going into the right direction!
Focus on Impact not Progress!
Show the big picture, their revenue / profit impact

7. Decision making
9 NOVEMBER 2022
CxO level communication 7
1. CxO-s looooooove to make decisions!
2. Agree with the CxO-s at the beginning on the decision-making process
3. If there are several CxO-s in the decision round, talk to them
1:1 before
4. Present to the CxO 3 alternatives, and explain the proposed solution and the WHY
5. Try to bring in more than one option for a decision, but do not make up meaningless options

8. When?
9 NOVEMBER 2022
CxO level communication 8
• CxO-s always want to know about the possible troubles
BEFORE they happen. Due to:
1. Influencing in the right direction
2. Customer communication in time
3. Being prepared for the top-down storm
• Timing also important: bad news will be taken better in
the first half of the day, worse in the evening when CxO-
s are tired
• When sending info for a meeting, give enough time for a
CxO to read the material, at least 1 whole workday (but
better 3  )

9. How – Presenting Live
9 NOVEMBER 2022
CxO level communication 9
1. RULE NR 1: BE PREPARED!
2. Have the main messages on first 1-2 slides
3. If a decision has to be made, mention that at the beginning
4. Sensitive topics, worth to be discussed with key decision makers
before
5. Don’t expect to convince the CxO on all your ideas, try to focus on
the most important ones
6. If there is a flaw, they’ll find it!

10. Managing emotions
9 NOVEMBER 2022
Presentation Title 10
1. They want to know you believe what you say
2. Label their feelings
3. Mirror their words
4. Don’t take it personal!

11. Active listening
9 NOVEMBER 2022 11

12. How – Sending E-mail
9 NOVEMBER 2022
CxO level communication 12
• CxO will read only 2-3 paragraph of your email!
• Important messages to the beginning of the email, highlighted
• More detailed info can come later, and CxO might read it if interested
• Be structured, no long unstructured text
• In case of critical info best to give a heads-up first in person / via
phone.
• Don’t inform the CxO about critical issue first in email!
• Don’t argue with the CxO in email with large CC.
You will not convince the CxO to change his/her mind this way!

13. Bullshit Management
9 NOVEMBER 2022
CxO level communication 13
RULE
DO NOT use BULLSHIT.
CxO-s hate it.
I.
II.
RULE
If you have no other choice, than
using it, please go to rule I.
RULE
What happens if the bullshit is coming
from the CxO? You must understand
the reason of the bullshit:
• CxO doesn’t understand further
discussions needed
• CxO gives no importance to the
issue must be considered in the
next steps
• No idea why. Dig deeper with
questions like:
• Explain this in simpler terms
that I can understand it
• Are you trying to say that… „
„ ?
• Let’s break this into pieces.
…
III.

14. Follow Up
9 NOVEMBER 2022
CxO level communication 14
Follow up
Ask for confirmation, but don’t wait for it!
Like: „If you have any comments, please
reply until …, If no feedback arrives, the
topics are considered approved”.
Always send a written
summary of the agreed
topics after the meeting
In case of deadline for CxO put
in buffer, due to other duties
delay is highly probable
Email reminders are
polite, but better to call
to remind
Don’t give too long deadline, it will get lost!

15. Key To All – Emotional Intelligence
9 NOVEMBER 2022
Presentation Title 15
Self Social
Management
Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Acceptance
• Independence
• Self-Appreciation
• Temperament/Personality
• Strength Consciousness
• Self-Assurance
• Cause and Effect
• Self-Identification
• Values and Principles
SELF - Awareness SOCIAL -
AWARENESS
• Compassion
• Helpfulness
• Empathy
• Sensitivity and Appreciation
• Benevolence
• Care, Consideration and
Thoughtfulness
• Citizenship/Community
• Dealing with Diversity
• Political Savvy
• Communication
• Self-Discipline/Control
• Self-Leadership
• Dependability
• Self-Direction
• Change Management
• Risk Management
• Initiative and Motivation
• Optimism and Positive
Psychology
• Problem Solving and
Decision Making
• Resilience
• Conflict Management
• Collaboration
• Influence
• Leadership
• Meaningful Relationships
• Negotiation
• Developing Others
• Change Catalyst
• Building Bonds
• Communicating for
Relationships and Results
SELF - Management SOCIAL - Management

16. 9 NOVEMBER 2022
CxO level communication 16

17. THANK YOU
LÁSZLÓ KÓNYA