CEO Communication Audit - Rod Jones, CEO at Navitas

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS AUDIT
Rod Jones, Navitas
DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION

The roadmap
1. CEO communications
audit
(this document)
2. Thought leadership
strategy
3. Supported CEO
blogging
‘Build a comprehensive plan’
•  Get started with a comprehensive
review and plan for success.
•  Built on detailed stakeholder
interviews, internal workshops and
detailed analytics review.
•  Findings presented in 90 page
report with detailed analysis,
review and implementation
recommendations.
‘Implement and measure’
•  Put strategy into action with our
thought leadership content creation
service.
•  Turnkey content delivery – we turn a
one hour video interview into a
month of content (five video
supported articles), Saving you at
least 24 hours of writing time each
month.
•  Options to build the presence of
your CEO and other executives
within your business.
‘Identify the opportunities’
•  This audit presents an introduction
to CEO thought leadership strategy.
•  We’ve conducted a desktop review
of strengths, weaknesses and
potential positioning for thought
leadership.
•  Includes individual communications
performance and benchmarks
against a group key competitors.
2

Introduction and overview
This audit is a holistic review of CEO communication –
assessing both current performance and opportunities to
build thought leadership. We cover six areas:
Note: This is a desktop audit and subject to customer
validation
Thought leadership is most valuable when you have
complete alignment between you and your
stakeholders.
Where possible, we’ve integrated the voice of the
customer into this assessment from publicly available
sources (i.e. testimonials, analyst reports). Our
experience shows that this desktop assessment is
accurate to an approximate 80% confidence interval.
It is strongly recommended that this audit be validated
through customer interviews before taking any next
steps (see page 28).
Validated
strategy
1. Current awareness and positioning
• Benchmarking you vs. comparable organisations and leaders for current awareness
(and brand vs. CEO awareness)
2. Thought leadership fundamentals
• Assessing recent CEO communications for thought leadership fundamentals
(interest, trust and visibility), and make any key recommendations
3. The CEO and company narrative
• Introducing narrative, and assessing Navitas’ current narrative as communicated to
market
4. Stakeholder review and prioritisation
• Prioritising Navitas’ different audience groups for any CEO communication
5. Topic prioritisation
• Defining broad theme/topic prioritisation based on audience group prioritisation
6. Content analysis and recommendations
• Making recommendations as to the tone and style of thought leadership content
to be delivered by Rod Jones to achieve best results
3
What you say
about you
What
stakeholders
say about you

Brand/CEO awareness and maturity
4
Navitas Rod Jones
Earlystage
Industryawareness
Brand and CEO awareness Assessing the performance of CEO communications
depends on the stage of the company and existing
public profile.
The right communications strategy, and
performance metrics depend on the existing profile
of the brand and individual.
For example, the right strategy for the CEO of an
early stage business is dramatically different to the
right strategy for a business that has already
achieved broad industry awareness.
HighLow
Generalmarketawareness
HighLow
CEO - High
industry
awareness
Company – Low
general market
awareness

5
1. Current awareness and
positioning

Where is Rod Jones most commonly positioned at present?
6
On this slide, we’re looking to see how a broad
set of your stakeholders think about and position
Rod Jones.
On the left, we’ve visualised individuals who
feature alongside Rod in prominent press
articles. Larger bubbles represent more frequent
mentions alongside Rod.
The group is relatively diverse, with vice-
chancellors, entrepreneurs and analysts all
represented.
The lack of definite peers, and the dual focus
(education, entrepreneurship) is a great starting
point, and opens up a large number of options
for thought leadership.
Source: Google News Archives, Top 50 results (see page 30)

Where is Navitas most commonly positioned at present?
7
Source: Google News Archives, Top 50 results (see page 30)
On this slide, we’re looking to see how a broad
set of your stakeholders think about and position
Navitas.
On the left, we’ve visualised organisations who
feature alongside Navitas in prominent press
articles. Larger bubbles represent more frequent
mentions alongside Navitas.
Universities are by far the most frequently
associated organisation – with the issues at
Macquarie capturing much attention.
From a broad stakeholder perspective,
universities are the most logical comparable
organisation for Navitas.

(64%, 100%)
As a result, we’re benchmarking the following comparables
Brian SchmidtMichael Spence Glyn DavisRod Jones
Relative CEO and brand awareness:
Internal
metrics
LTM
revenue:
$1.0bn
Valuation: $1.82bn
Students /
Employees:
80,000+
/ 7,100
External
metrics
Search
volume
(Brand)
31%
Search
volume
(CEO):
0%
Alexa rank: 85,234
Internal
metrics
LTM
revenue:
$2.0bn
Valuation: na
Students /
Employees:
52,789 /
5,350
Internal
metrics
LTM
revenue:
$2.1bn
Valuation: na
Students /
Employees:
45,411 /
4,068
Internal
metrics
LTM
revenue:
$1.2bn
Valuation: na
Students /
Employees:
20,892 /
3,753
External
metrics
Search
volume
(Brand)
100%
Search
volume
(CEO):
28%
Alexa rank: 8,362
External
metrics
Search
volume
(Brand)
80%$
Search
volume
(CEO):
56%
Alexa rank: 7,354
External
metrics
Search
volume
(Brand)
64%
Search
volume
(CEO):
100%
Alexa rank: 12,651
50% 75% 100%25%0%
0%
50%
100%
75%
25%
Brand presence
CEO presence
(100%, 28%)
(80%, 56%)
(31%, 0%)
CEO centric
Risks around succession
and long-term awareness
Brand centric
Not humanised, risks
around trust,
•  This chart benchmarks relative awareness for both brand and
individual CEO
•  All numbers are Google search volumes for “Organisation” and
“CEO name”. 100% represents maximum search volume for any
term over last 12 months.
Source: Annual reports, Google Trends, Alexa
We’re benchmarking the following comparables:
8

9
2. Thought leadership fundamentals

Great CEO communicators are trusted, interesting and visible
3. Visible
1. Interesting 2. Trusted
2. Trusted
Signals we look for:
•  Shows appropriate vulnerability
•  Individually relatable
•  Consistently communicates the
same narrative over time
•  Connected to society as a whole,
not just the business
•  Has a clear purpose
See page 14 for a relative assessment
1. Interesting
•  Human first
•  Talks with full range of emotions
•  Tells stories
•  Short messages, consistent long-
term narratives
•  Talks about the future
•  Appropriate mix of crazy and
inevitability
•  Avoids robo-speak / corporate
language
3. Visible
•  Is accessible across a range of platforms
•  Addresses multiple audiences
•  Has public views on corporate, industry and
societal issues
•  Regularly quoted by third parties
Interesting and visible is a trap that
many politicians and CEOs fall into.
It’s relatively easy to build this
position with strong reactionary
positions.
Whilst this positioning does lead to
airtime and profile, it leads to very
little influence and action because
there’s no underlying foundation of
trust.
Trusted and visible is a position
that’s hard to achieve without
substantial conferred status and
trust (i.e. the position of Governor
General).
Anyone with this positioning will
always achieve stronger
communications performance by
being more interesting.
It has never been more important to get the right balance of interest
and trust. Old media PR strategies typically focused excessively on
interest factors, which translate poorly in an always on, authenticity
driven new media environment
10

Content examples we’ve analysed in depth
11
As a basis for this audit we’ve picked five typical market facing communications featuring or authored
by Rod.
This analysis is our basis for understanding current CEO communications to stakeholders (including
story, narrative and style)
The content we’re using in this audit:
•  Price caps in VET policy
would undermine innovation
agenda - Rod Jones
•  26 October 2016
•  https://www.navitas.com/
organisation/story/382
•  Celebrating National Skills
Week - Rod Jones
•  2 September 2016
•  https://www.navitas.com/
organisation/story/372
•  There is more to the
economy than rocks - Rod
Jones
•  25 June 2015
•  https://info.thewest.com.au/
westadvertising/feature/
20150625/downloads/
feature.pdf
•  Commsec Executive Series 3
Aug 16: Navitas (NVT) CEO,
Rod Jones
•  27 November 2013
•  https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=8rXLrMjoJRY
•  Sky News - Navitas CEO
Rod Jones
•  21 April 2015
•  https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=iWRRWPaAax0

How Rod performs on the interest benchmark
Human first:
Talks with full range of
emotions:
Tells stories:
Short messages,
consistent long-term
narratives:
Appropriate mix of
crazy and inevitability:
Avoids robo-speak /
corporate language:
Communicates concisely, on consistent
topics. Evidence of long-term narrative.
Evidence of your personal values and
beliefs. Talking about your personal life,
sharing and celebrating special events.
Regular evidence of communication with
a full range of emotions.
Communicates through stories, not
messages.
Strategic content that is equal parts crazy
and inevitable. Takes strong opinions.
Talks in simple, conversational language.
Talks about the future
2
1
3
1
2
3
15 (46%)Total score:
(/28)
Talks strategically. Does not only
communicate on a reactive basis.
How each factor builds interest:
In a social media era, it’s expected that all opinions can be condensed to 140 characters.
The length of story is shorter than ever. But those messages must sit inside consistent long
term narratives – otherwise the messages will come off as shallow, short term and un-
coordinated.
As humans we’re built to be interested in humans first. Whatever your job, role or
company, humans are most interested in human stories. As a result, it’s important to
communicate as a human first. Before you’re a CEO, you have to show that you’re a real
person, just like your audience.
Humans respond to stories that engage them on an emotional level. Communicators that
highlight appropriate emotions will always outperform dry corporate communication.
Talking with a full range of emotions doesn’t mean consistently “happy”, “sad” or “angry”
– rather expressing emotions on the extreme end of the spectrum as appropriate.
People have always communicated through stories, rather than repeating messages or
sound bytes. Today’s stakeholders are suspicious of corporate messages that are
increasingly dry and fail to capture the imagination. Communicating through stories
ensures memorability and action.
The most interesting thought leadership content balances equal parts crazy and
inevitability. As a thought leader, you're speaking about ideas that are dramatically
different to current "best practice". This means that there's always a risk that you'll be
perceived as somewhat 'crazy’. You can mitigate this risk by positioning your ideas as the
inevitable future - whether the reader/listener accepts this or not.
All stakeholders have become increasingly suspicious of “corporate speak”. CEOs must
communicate in simple and conversational language that builds a human connection and
rapport with all their audience. Buzz words and corporate speak do nothing but drive
disengagement.
Today’s stakeholder is suspicious. To be a leader you must set direction for the future.
Thought leadership is about moving beyond the reactionary day-to-day… instead focusing
more on a long term agenda for the future. For the company, the industry and society as a
whole.
What we’re looking for:
Consistently Regularly Occasionally Rarely
4 3 2 1
Source: Benchmarked on basis of publically available articles and reports.
12
Narrative is consistent, well structured
and generally well used. The narrative
addresses and responds well to the
Macquarie loss.
Rare to find mentions of personal
passions and values, although
occasionally alluded to.
Very unflappable – which has served well
through the Macquarie loss. However the
narrow scope of emotion/excitement
communicated will hurt perceived
growth prospects.
Very rare use of stories across the
benchmarked content (though you
always feel that they’re sitting
underneath the surface).
Strong opinions are rare in Rod’s content
– as a result the vision of the future isn’t
compelling.
Highly variable – great on video, but not
strong in written communication.
Regularly looks forward, but the topics
aren’t engaging. Big opportunities to
drive engagement here
Assessment:
1

2
3
3
2
1
How Rod performs on the trust benchmark
Shows appropriate
vulnerability:
Communication that shows appropriate
vulnerability (failures, mistakes and
shortcomings in the context of your
current success).
Individually relatable:
Connected to society
as a whole, not just the
business:
Has a clear purpose:
Consistently
communicates the
same narrative over
time:
Source: Benchmarked on basis of publically available articles and reports.
Consistent messaging, stories and
narratives over the medium to long term.
Does the audience feel like they know
you as a person? Do they understand
and empathise with your passions, wants
and flaws? Do you talk with your
audience or down to your audience?
Discussing issues bigger than the
business (whether industry, societal or
personal).
Strong and believable individual
purpose.
11 (55%)Total score:
(/24)
Content that shows you're vulnerable strengthens your credibility and signals that you’re
both genuine and honest. Both of these signals lead to trust. If you’re willing to share your
failures, mistakes and shortcomings, it makes it easier for any audience to connect with you
and trust what you’re saying.
Consistency is critical for building trust. In the same way that we don’t trust people that
we’ve just met, we don’t trust narratives that we’ve just heard. It takes time and repetition
to build trust. This is established through consistently communicating the same narrative
over an extended period of time. Whilst your messages and stories can change over time,
these should stay inside a consistent overarching roadmap to build trust (this is your
narrative).
Trust is built on a foundation of individual likeability. We like people who we can easily
relate to. Relatability can be easily measured by asking questions such as “Would you like
to have a beer with this person? Or “Would you invite this person round for dinner?”
Focusing on issues bigger than just the business helps stakeholder trust. It improves
relatability by demonstrating alignment of interests - you’re motivated by the greater good
(for employees, the industry, society). Talking about issues beyond the business makes it
much easier for stakeholders to find points of agreement and alignment with you as the
CEO.
Many stakeholders are sceptical of CEOs as being excessively profit motivated. Having a
clearly stated and believable purpose makes your motivation clear to all stakeholders. This
purpose needs to be simple and a “higher calling” to be believable. If this purpose isn’t
contextually coherent with the CEO and company’s actions, then it can appear duplicitous
and damage trust (rather than improve it).
How each factor builds trust:What we’re looking for:
Consistently Regularly Occasionally Rarely
4 3 2 1
13
Rare. Definite opportunities to
demonstrate more authenticity – thus
building trust. Should be done in the
context of current success.
Relatively strong. The Macquarie loss
seems to have forced tight messaging
around future growth and prospects, and
this has been broadly understood.
Opportunity for more focus on longer
term narrative.
Great on video, but poor in writing.
Simple easy language used on camera
and in interview. More emotions and
stories will help substantially.
Evidence of a strong passion for national
education policy issues. However the
opinion pieces tend to be dry and not
compelling.
Variable – When Rod talks about the
foundations of Navitas the purpose
seems clear. But this appears
disconnected to discussions of current
performance and future directions.
Needs review and consolidation.
Assessment

How Rod performs on the visibility benchmark
Is accessible across a
range of platforms:
Addresses multiple
audiences:
Has public views on
corporate, industry and
societal issues:
Regularly quoted by
third parties:
Investors and government stakeholders
seem well covered. Opportunities to do
more to communicate to prospective
partners, employees
Regularly quoted in company and
entrepreneurial coverage – but not
frequently in educational thought
leadership.
Press is well covered, but hard to find
any regular engagement across social.
Blog, LinkedIn and Twitter may be
relevant opportunities.
Strong views around the future of
education and the country.
10 (35%)
Search volume:
(score /10)
2
4
2
0
2
Total score
(/26)
Current low visibility relative to
comparables (see page [ ])
Presents your expertise across a broad range of issues. Shows custom understanding and
perspectives related to the issues of each stakeholder group.
Visibility is substantially driven by how others talk about you. We’re looking for evidence
that you’re regularly treated as an authority in your space.
In an increasingly fragmented media environment, consistent presence across multiple
channels increases visibility and provides proof of authenticity. Stakeholders expect a CEO
to communicate through a range of channels (not just press releases).
For both visibility and trust the CEO must engage the full spectrum of corporate, industry
and societal issues. Speaking across a broader range of issues increases the number of
opportunities for you to appear, and for your audience to see you.
Ultimately, the best predictor of future visibility is current visibility. The more visible you
currently are, the more opportunities for future visibility will present themselves.
How each factor builds visibility:Assessment:
Source: Benchmarked on basis of publically available articles and reports. Consistently Regularly Occasionally Rarely
4 3 2 1
14
Addressing a broad range of stakeholder
groups including customers, employees,
investors, NGOs and government.
Regular quotes by third parties show that
you’re providing interesting and relevant
commentary on topics that media and
influencers find interesting.
Authentic communication across multiple
channels of communication including
press, owned media, events/conferences
and social media.
Communicates on across a full range of
business, industry and societal issues.
In this case we’re measuring current
visibility relatively, through Google
Trends search results.
What we’re looking for:
2

15
3. The CEO and company narrative

What is a CEO narrative (and why does it matter)?
Difference
Purpose
FuturePast Narrative
What’s the difference between
messaging and narrative?
Messaging
•  Emphasises key messages that are
used repetitively through all
communications
•  Messages tend to be rote delivered
and have low ability to respond to
context
•  Can sound scripted
Narrative
•  Emphasises an underlying story that’s
used repetitively through all
communications
•  A narrative is flexible and adapts to
the context
•  Easily remembered
•  Sounds authentic
Your individual narrative should build on the strengths and
differentiators of the business. It must be intellectually
aligned but individually unique and meaningful.
16
Thought leadership and all CEO communication is grounded
on a strong narrative. A narrative combines your past, future,
difference and purpose into a short and compelling
framework to guide all your communication.

Identifying ways to strengthen Rod’s CEO narrative
Past
Key narrative questions:
1.  Where has the company come from?
2.  What was the problem the company set
out to solve?
3.  How has your journey shaped you and the
company today?
Purpose
1.  Why is the CEO driven to make this
company succeed?
2.  What is the company’s purpose?
3.  What values differentiate the company and
its culture?
4.  What are your obsessions?
Difference
Key narrative questions
1.  How is Rod meaningfully different to other
CEOs in the competitive set?
2.  What do customers uniquely love about
the business?
3.  What opportunities are open to Rod and
Navitas as a result of the positioning of
competitive set?
Future
1.  Where is the company going in the future?
2.  What’s the publically stated direction of
the company?
3.  What’s the world changing ambition or
goal of the company?
4.  How is the unique future that Navitas is
creating meaningfully different from the
competitive set?
Key company and market commentary:
“International students aren’t universities core business”
- Sky News, Apr 2015
“it had nothing to do with academic ability, it was
everything to do with all the transitional issues they face.
The way they were being dumped into classrooms they
just weren’t succeeding. It was about establishing a new
model to meet the needs and requirements of these
students ”
-  Sky News, Apr 2015
“The time was right, universities were becoming
uncomfortable with the failure rates of international
students and weren’t sure how to deal with it.”
“We’ll move in a direction where universities are far more
global. It probably means that if universities can’t
change, they won’t survive”
- PIE News, Feb 2015
“Universities will have to move to a very much blended
approach, technology is driving all this and the
technology is getting better and better every day…I can
see a future of virtual classrooms where you can be
anywhere in the world”
“Education is ripe for disruption... We recognise the
importance of technology within education. A lot of work
is going in to making sure we’re well placed to take
advantage of new technologies and courses that are
going to come into play”
= Commsec Executive Series, Aug 2016
“We’ll move towards a global education, where students
won’t necessarily pick up all of their degree from one
university. They’ll be able to select different parts of a
qualification from anywhere in a world.”
“Life is changing in education, we’ve had a 20 year good
run of very significant growth…we’re taking the company
and repositioining it so it remains relevant into the
future.”
“The company grew out of a recognition about 20 years
ago that international students coming into Australia
were struggling and were not succeeding at university”
“Few international students seemed to be able to
successfully transition between where they’d come from
and where they wanted to be”
-- PIE News, Feb 2015
“It has been a tough year, we’ve had 12 months or so of
having to wash out the contracts. But the underlying
business has been pretty strong, and has offset the loss
of Macquarie”
“We took the first year content, taught the same
content, but in a way that met the needs and
requirements of the students.”
“Let’s make sure we set Australians up for the best
chance of success by developing and valuing their skills
through a strong VET sector in this country….It’s
something we at Navitas are committed to, and will
continue to strive for.”
- Celebrating National Skills Week, Sep 2016
“Our role has always been to transition students across
into the university environment”
“We’re involved with international students, bringing
them in, putting them into programs, transitioning them
into university studies..”
“Our capacity is to find students and provide a bridge
between where ever they are and the university
environment”
17
Rod’s narrative is strong and clearly defined with respect to
where Navitas has come from, and how the business is different.
Purpose can occasionally be contradictory with future, and both
could be strengthened and consolidated.

18
4. Stakeholder review and
prioritisation

What are the key audience groups for all CEO communication?
1. Partners
•  Engaging potential
and current
partners. Given
partnerships are
built on trust, it
makes sense for the
CEO to leverage a
digital platform to
reinforce build
relationships/
dialogue and
reinforce
commitment to key
partners
2. Employees
•  Targeting potential
and existing
employees. Builds
trust and alignment.
•  Most relevant where
there is a large
recruiting
requirement from a
relatively small or
unknown
organisation.
3. Investors
•  Targets existing and
potential investors.
Most relevant in
public markets –
however there is
relevance ahead of
fundraising events
to build awareness
and demonstrate
traction.
4. Regulators
•  Targets regulators
and their
stakeholders.
•  Companies facing
specific regulatory
challenges. Whilst
the end target is
regulators, an
approach here may
focus on the
general public or
other stakeholders.
5. Industry
influencers
•  Targeting industry
analysts and
thought leaders.
•  Designed to
translate to
recognition in
‘industry leader’
lists, speaking at
conferences and
front of mind
recognition.
The next page presents an audience prioritisation analysis for Rod Jones…
There’s five broad audience groups that CEOs must engage through communication. The relevance and
prioritisation of each audience group depends on both industry and company stage:
19

What are the key audience groups for Rod Jones and Navitas?
Industry Influencers
Analysts - Total score:
Low
priority
moderate
priority
high
priority
Highest
priority
0-5 5-10 10-20 20+
Regulators/Government
Investors Employees
Partners
None/Low
Analyst reports have
some influence
Many/most read
analyst reports
1. Influence of analysts on customer/partner behaviour?
0 5 10
Leading player Emerging player New entrant
2. Current industry positioning?
5 10 15
Regulators - Total score:
low
priority
moderate
priority
high
priority
highest
priority
0-5 5-10 10-20 20+
Low Medium High
1. Risk of medium term changes in industry based regulations
or requirements?
0 5 10
Insignificant/
Low
Moderate Substantial
2. Current impact of industry or company specific compliance/
regulation on profitability?
0 5 10
No external
capital
Bank/
debt
Private
equity
1. Sources of capital?
0 1 2
0-10 10-100 100+
2. Number of investors?
0 5 10
Venture
capital
5
Public
markets
10
3. Liquidity of investment?
Unlikely Possible Highly likely
1. Additional capital requirement
over next 24 months?
0 5 10
Short term Medium term Long term
0 5 10
2. Investment time horizon?
Simple Moderate Difficult
0 5 10
3. Complexity of investment case?
low
priority
moderate
priority
high
priority
highest
priority
0-5
5-10
10-20
20+
Potential investors –
Total score:
Negligible Low
2. Risk of partner churn?
0 5
low
priority
moderate
priority
high
priority
highest
priority
0-5 5-10 10-20 20+
Potential customers - Total score:
1. Typical time to close?
1 2-5 5-20
2. Number of internal stakeholders?
5 10 10
Non-exclusive Exclusive
3. Nature of partner relationship?
0 10
20+
10
0-3 months 3-12 months 12 months+
3 5 10
1. Size of organisation
Low Moderate High
2. Level of industry and organisational change
0
5 10
3. Average employee engagement?
Extreme
20
0-30 30-100 100-500
0
2 5
500-1000
10
1000+
20
Consistently high Moderate Variable
0 3 5
Low
10
0-3% 3-10% 10-30%
1. Forecast employee growth over next 12 months?
0 3 10
Low Moderate High
0 5 10
2. Competitiveness in target talent markets?
30%+
20
Current partners
Potential partners
Current Employees Potential employeesPotential investors
Current investors
Low Moderate High
0 3 5
low
priority
moderate
priority
high
priority
highest
priority
0-5 5-10 10-20 20+
Current customers - Total score:
Current
Partners
Potential
Partners
Current
employees
Potential
employees
Current
investors
Potential
investors
Highestpriority
Highpriority
Moderatepriority
Lowpriority
Highestpriority
Moderatepriority
Lowpriority
Highpriority
Industry influencers
Regulators
low
priority
moderate
priority
high
priority
highest
priority
0-5
5-10
10-20
20+
Current employees –
Total score:
low
priority
moderate
priority
high
priority
highest
priority
0-5
5-10
10-20
20+
Current investors –
Total score:
0
low
priority
moderate
priority
high
priority
highest
priority
0-5
5-10
10-20
20+
Potential employees –
Total score:
20
0-20% 20-40% 40%+
1. Percentage of current revenue delivered through partners?
5 10 15
Moderate
10

21
5. Theme/topic prioritisation

What are the themes that CEOs should communicate on?
Customer–
Current
Customer-
Potential
Employee–
Current
Employee-
Potential
Investor–
Current
Investor-
Potential
Regulators/
Government
Analyst/
Influencer
Priority for Rod
Jones
High Highest High Highest Low High Low Highest
Proportional
allocation for
Rod Jones:
13% 18% 18% 8% 18% 8% 13% 3%
1. Product/service level
• 1A. Customer problems and benefits
• 1B. Highlighting customer success / case
studies
• 1C. Key customer problems
• 1D. Product direction / launching new
products and services
• 1E. Differences vs. competition
• 1F. Differentiating beliefs
2. Company level
• 2A. Financial results
• 2B. Celebrating success
• 2C. Working at company
• 2D. Company culture
• 2E. Purpose and vision
3. Industry level
• 3A. Competitive landscape
• 3B. Industry level challenges and
opportunities
• 3C. Industry level regulation and policy
• 3D. Future of the industry
4. Society level
• 4A. Company benefits to society
• 4B. Economic trends
• 4C. Public policy discussions
• 4D. Personal views on societal issues
• 4E. National and global issues
Nearly all themes are relevant for multiple audience groups, for example:
We can make a broad proportional communications audience allocation:
Partner - Current Partner - Potential
Employee -
Current
Employee -
Potential
Investor - Current
Investor -
Potential
Regulators Analyst/ influencer
1A. Customer problems and
benefits
High Highest Highest Moderate Highest Moderate High Low
Audiences and topics come together for a weighted topic allocation on the following page…
Based on your audience prioritisation…
There’s four broad theme groups that CEOs are expected to communicate across:
22

Our recommended theme allocation for Rod Jones
Partner - Current Partner - Potential
Employee -
Current
Employee -
Potential
Investor - Current
Investor -
Potential
Regulators Analyst/ influencer
Weighted
proportional topic
allocation
Priority Moderate Moderate High Highest Low Low Low Moderate
Recommended allocation for Rod 13% 18% 18% 8% 18% 8% 13% 3%
Product/service level 30%
Customer/partner problems and
benefits 4 4 3 2 2 2 1 3 5%
Highlighting customer/partner
success 4 4 3 1 2 2 1 4 5%
Key customer/partner problems 4 4 3 1 2 2 1 3 5%
Product direction / launching new
products and services 4 4 4 2 2 2 1 4 5%
Differences vs. competition 4 4 4 2 2 2 1 4 5%
Differentiating beliefs 4 4 4 3 2 2 1 4 5%
Company level 26%
Financial results 2 2 4 1 4 4 2 4 5%
Celebrating success 3 1 4 4 3 4 1 3 5%
Working at company 1 1 4 4 3 4 1 2 4%
Company culture 2 3 4 4 3 4 1 2 5%
Purpose and vision 3 4 4 4 4 4 2 4 6%
Industry level 23%
Competitive landscape 4 3 3 3 4 3 3 4 6%
Industry level challenges and
opportunities 2 3 3 3 4 3 3 4 5%
Industry level regulation and policy 3 2 2 2 4 3 4 4 5%
Future of the industry 4 4 3 3 4 3 2 4 6%
Society level 22%
Company benefits to society 2 2 4 4 3 2 3 2 5%
Economic trends 2 2 2 2 3 3 4 2 4%
Public policy discussions 2 2 2 2 4 2 4 1 5%
Personal views on societal issues 2 2 3 4 2 1 2 1 4%
National and global issues 2 2 3 2 1 1 2 1 3%
23

24
6. Content style analysis and
recommendations

Content style recommendations for Rod Jones
Idiocentric:Reader centric:
Practical:Theoretical:
Complex:Simple:
Balanced:Opinionated:
Primarily dedicated to discussing personal feelings and emotions.
Inside out, rather than outside in. Characterised by more frequent
use of “I”, “we”, “our”
Focused on what the reader can take from the content.
Outside in, rather than inside out. Characterised by more frequent
use of “you”, “your”
Arguments justified with theoretical rationale.
Concepts rather than examples.
Arguments justified with practical case studies and real examples.
Easy to scan. Many subheadings.
Easy to jump in and out of the article.
Flowing article that is interdependent. Will struggle to get value
without reading in depth. Will tend to be longer
May take multiple readings to get full value.
Strong opinions. Generally tells only one side of the story.
Clear view about what is right and wrong.
Sits on the fence.
Tells both sides of the story.
Rod has strong opinions that are largely reader
centric. His arguments are well formed, and
there’s a lot to take away.
However, it’s really hard to get to the strength of
the underlying ideas, because the structure and
presentation of content isn’t accessible or
compelling to a busy reader.
Whilst it’s important to maintain accessibility,
complexity and depth is both acceptable and
expected given the audience and the topic area.
More examples, stories and personal anecdotes
will add weight to existing opinions.
Content design
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R Rod Jones– Current positioning
Rod Jones– Recommended positioning
25

Content style recommendations for Rod Jones
Corporate:Personal:
Formal:Conversational:
Written on a personal level.
Could be a conversation. Uses the simplest language choices to
convey meaning.
Uses deliberately sophisticated language.
Will not always use the simplest language choice.
Simple, descriptive language. Shorter sentences and paragraphs.
Speaks like an old friend, assumes trust and agreement.
Regular use of “you”, “your”.
Longer sentences and consistent paragraphs.
Theoretical, official and formal language.
Doesn’t assume agreement on any points.
Measured:Excited:
Disciplined:Playful:
Mature:Young:
Enthusiastic, eager.
Lots of energy. Speaks in an “off the cuff manner”.
Regular and measured language.
Thoughtful and planned language. Consistent. Restrained.
Regular jokes, may be self-depreciating.
Happy and friendly tone. Evident the author had fun writing the
post.
Controlled, consistent, habitual
Unlikely to be self-depreciating
Eager and enthusiastic language. Advanced, implies mastery
Self-aggrandising :Self-deprecating:
Regularly makes fun of self.
Does not present as being on a pedestal.
Only references to self are in a positive context.
Difficult for the reader to empathise with.
When speaking, Rod is a strong communicator.
But in writing, the language becomes corporate,
wordy and inaccessible.
Rod has ‘approachable gravitas’. It’s important to
build all written content on his strengths as an
authentic and relatable communicator
Language
Tone
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R Rod Jones– Current positioning
Rod Jones– Recommended positioning
26
Tone is generally reasonably good and
accessible. It’s well balanced, although the
excitement/enthusiasm can occasionally be
variable (Generally more excited when talking
about the early days of Navitas).
Regardless of how serious the content, it’s
important not to disconnect from why Rod
loves his work and the company.

27
Summary, recommendations and
next steps

Executive summary: Rod Jones and Navitas
1. Navitas has a strong profile, but Rod is under-represented relative to comparable
educational organisations.
•  Our market scan shows that Rod is positioned at the intersection of entrepreneur and educator. The lack of definite peers, and the dual focus (education,
entrepreneurship) is a great starting point, and opens up a large number of options for thought leadership.
•  For Navitas universities are by far the most frequently associated organisation – with the issues at Macquarie capturing much attention.
2. Rod is a strong verbal communicator, but struggles with accessibility in writing.
•  Rod’s authenticity and directness is a great platform for building interest and trust. .
•  Increasing the frequency of stories and using a full range of emotions will deepen engagement and authenticity
3. Rod’s narrative is well structured, but could be better integrated into the future
direction of the company.
•  Rod has a well structured and delivered narrative, however there is some potential for dissonance between the purpose of the company (transition) and declared
future directions (i.e. SAE).
•  It’s critically important to validate this revised narrative through detailed customer interviews and build the narrative on this basis.
4. Rod has a large number of important stakeholder groups (partners, employees,
investors and regulators are all critical).
•  There’s a reasonably large number of important stakeholder groups right now for Rod and Navitas.
•  The diversity of high priority stakeholders introduces a risk of ‘reactive only’ communication - not covering any stakeholders in enough depth to drive thought
leadership.
5. Given the stakeholder mix, Rod needs to communicate across a relatively even balance
of company, industry and societal level themes
•  Based on the suggested audience prioritisation, we’d suggest that CEO communication from Rod should be allocated in the following themes/proportions:
Product/service level 30%, Company level 26%, Industry level 23% and Society level 22%.
6. Style should align to Rod’s natural strengths as an authentic communicator
•  Rod is naturally a strong and authentic communicator on video. We need to bring this to other channels and build strong, opinionated content that speaks with
depth and complexity to the future of the company and industry.
•  Rod has a fantastic position of ‘approachable gravitas’ that we can leverage to build compelling thought leadership across all stakeholder groups.
28

Validation and leveraging this audit
4. Content plan
(themes & topics)
•  Building a detailed plan of
content themes and topics to
capture thought leadership
•  Includes a medium term
roadmap of content to be
delivered (when and to who)
1. Audience prioritisation
•  Reviewing which audience groups
are the most important, and how
they think about your business and
CEO today
•  Ensures clear prioritisation of the
right messages for each audience
and stakeholder group
2. Narrative and messaging
strategy
•  Building a strong narrative
framework (past, future, difference,
purpose) to anchor all
communications
•  A strong narrative aligns the way
that stakeholders think about the
business/CEO, and makes all
communication more effective
5. Distribution strategy
•  Plan for which channels /
mediums should be used for
which messages
•  Timing and frequency of
communications
•  Concrete return analytics and
measurement framework
•  Key actions for increasing
sharability of content
3. Content personality, voice
and style
•  Selecting the right style of content
that speak to customers in a way that
builds expertise and trust
•  Assess tone, complexity and voice to
ensure you’re building a long term,
trusted relationship
•  Includes a content design framework
and benchmark to guide all content
creation efforts
The TLP approach to thought leadership
strategy
•  We use analytics, client interviews and a detailed
workshop process to build a comprehensive thought
leadership strategy
•  Heavy focus on validation through customer and
stakeholder interviews
•  You receive a comprehensive 90 page report,
designed for turnkey implementation and impact
through our supported CEO blogging process
•  Results delivered within 14 days
Key components of any successful thought leadership strategy:
This audit is a starting point for CEO thought leadership. Validation and planning are critical for success
29
1. CEO
communications audit
2. Thought leadership
strategy
3. Supported CEO
blogging
‘Build a
comprehensive plan’
‘Identify the problems’ ‘Implement and
measure’

30
Appendix

The press articles supporting this analysis
31
Article Title URL Individuals Organisations
1
Navitas chief executive Rod Jones plans to keep the top
job for another two years
http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/navitas-chief-executive-rod-jones-plans-to-keep-the-top-job-for-another-two-years-20160202-
gmjhx3.html David Buckingham, Andrew Harding Macquarie University, iiNet, Morgan Stanley, Rio Tinto
2 Navitas first-half earnings jump http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/navitas-firsthalf-earnings-jump/news-story/153afc9ad62f02022e1943b343dbed02 Macquarie University
3 Navitas lifts H1 profit, announces buyback
http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/breaking-news/navitas-reaffirms-its-full-year-guidance/news-story/
52bcb3926b965893a2b3789f94db7846 Macquarie University
4 Navitas shares are on a tear http://www.businessinsider.com.au/navitas-shares-are-on-a-tear-2016-2 University of South Australia, Macquarie University
5 Navitas CEO Rod Jones bulllish despite closures
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/navitas-ceo-rod-jones-bulllish-despite-closures/news-story/
0f425b13ac4f493d45c7728dc4129d33
Macquarie University, Curtin University, Vocation, Australian Careers Network, Morgan
Stanley
6
Navitas: Education provider hits billion dollar revenue
level and record profit http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-02/education-provider-navitas-hits-billion-dollar-revenue/7681464 Macquarie University,
7 Navitas revenue hits record $1bn http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/navitas-revenue-hits-record-1bn/news-story/710f56b5f2de735dd40f4d1c76819612 Macquarie university, Curtin university
8
Navitas CEO Rod Jones warns Australia could lose lead
in international education
http://www.afr.com/news/policy/education/navitas-ceo-rod-jones-warns-australia-could-lose-lead-in-international-education-20150611-
ghm24l#ixzz4PqgIohNn International Education Advisory Council.
9
Navitas CEO Rod Jones warns fee cap in student loan
scheme could damage quality
http://www.afr.com/news/policy/education/navitas-ceo-rod-jones-warns-fee-cap-in-student-loan-scheme-could-damage-quality-20161008-
gry2am Simon Birmingham, Helen Zimmerman
10 Navitas shareholders anxious about 2016 http://www.afr.com/business/navitas-shareholders-anxious-about-2016-20150727-gilah4 Romano Sala Tenna Katana Asset Management, Macquarie University,
11
Navitas boss Rod Jones expects crackdown after
Vocation’s woes
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/navitas-boss-rod-jones-expects-crackdown-after-vocations-woes/news-story/
c7a902647c1e9cd15dde3548b3b2e159 Vocation, Macquarie University
12
No more nasty surprises, says Navitas chief as profit
slumps 31pc http://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/no-more-nasty-surprises-says-navitas-chief-as-profit-slumps-31pc-20140728-zxjv3.html Joshua Ross, John Dawkins
Macquarie University, Watermark Funds Management, Latrobe University, Deakin
University, University of South Australia, Vocation, Intueri Education Group
13 Navitas marked down after uni setback http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/navitas-marked-down-after-uni-setback/news-story/1360efef2142f0097ef3d953619f0d8d Wassim Kisirwani
Macquarie University, Deutsche Bank, Edith Cowan University, Massachusetts College,
Curtin University, South Australian Institute of Business and Technology
14
Navitas founder Rod Jones loses $100m as shares plunge
30pc http://www.afr.com/news/policy/education/navitas-founder-rod-jones-loses-100m-as-shares-plunge-30pc-20140709-jgokr Peter Rae, Macquarie University, Morningstar,
15 Navitas revamps ECU college deal https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/32577553/navitas-revamps-ecu-college-deal/#page1 Edith Cowan University
16 Navitas in JV with Edith Cowan University https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/32577553/navitas-revamps-ecu-college-deal/#page1 Steve Chapman Edith Cowan University
17 Should you buy Navitas Limited http://www.fool.com.au/2015/04/28/navitas-limited-is-on-the-right-track/ Peter Larson Macquare University, Flight Centre, Servcorp
18 Navitas to close Curtin Sydney https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/29556298/navitas-to-close-curtin-sydney-campus/#page1 Deborah Terry Curtin University, La Trobe University, University of Technology Sydney
19 Navitas up on record enrolments https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/22178861/navitas-up-on-record-enrolments/#page1
20 Navitas shares drop on fall in profit http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-03/navitas-shares-drop-on-fall-in-profit/6066040?pfmredir=sm Macquarie University
21
Navitas talks to ‘a number’ of universities over
partnership
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/navitas-talks-to-a-number-of-universities-over-partnership/news-story/
90aeba63f7e92b232a3b351112dd99d3 Macquarie University, Florida Atlantic University
22 Navitas to close several colleges https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/30371078/navitas-to-close-several-colleges/ Western Kentucky University, EduGlobal
23 Ex-iiNet chief joins Navitas https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/30231119/ex-iinet-chief-buckingham-joins-navitas/#page1 David Buckingham, Bryce Houghton, TPG Telecom,
24
Education group Navitas buys SAE Group from former
rich list member Tom Misner for $289 million
http://www.smartcompany.com.au/growth/17909-20101215-education-group-navitas-buys-sae-group-from-former-rich-list-member-tom-
misner-for-289-million/ Tom Misner
25 Education boss Rod Jones and his investment elixir http://www.afr.com/markets/commodities/energy/education-boss-rod-jones-and-his-investment-elixir-20140824-jctrd#ixzz4Pr0hkfND Jon Biesse, Bob Bunning ,
Hoperidge, digitalBTC, WelleCo, Myer Family Company, Enerdrill, Perth Energy, Merredin
Energy, AustAsia Energy, NWQ Capital Management
26 Navitas secures new IT chief http://www.itnews.com.au/news/navitas-secures-new-it-chief-429971 Mick Campbell, Neil Hitchcock
Cerebral Palsy Alliance, Ramsay Health Care, Ashurst Lawyers, PeopleSoft, Westpac
Financial Services
27 Spotlight on Navitas http://www.fool.com.au/2013/07/31/spotlight-on-navitas/ Peter Larson Edith Cowan University, McMillan Shakespeare
28 Navitas, ECU in another short-term deal https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/31749705/navitas-ecu-in-another-short-term-deal/#page1 Edith Cowan University, Macquarie University
29 Navitas extends ECU contracts https://www.businessnews.com.au/article/Navitas-extends-ECU-contracts Steve Chapman Edith Cowan University
30
After Macquarie University bust-up, Navitas will target
joint ventures with other unis http://www.afr.com/business/after-macquarie-university-bustup-navitas-will-target-joint-ventures-with-other-unis-20150622-ghuci0 Macquarie University, University of Western Sydney, Macquarie Bank,
31 Stop the talk, just deliver https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/30458223/stop-the-talk-just-deliver/#page1
Malcolm Turnbull, Margaret Seares, Michael Anghie, Diane Smith-Gander, Chris Sutherland, Geoff
Rasmussen, Liam Twigger, Sabina Shugg, Marion Fulker, Graham Laitt, Andy Crane, Charlie Bass,
Tony Grist, Peter Klinken,
WA Govt, Fed Govt, EY, Programmed, Azure Capital, PCF Capital, KPMG, Committee for
Perth, CBH, Milne Agrigroup,
32
Brexit: local companies paying a high price for UK
exposure
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/brexit-local-companies-paying-a-high-price-for-uk-exposure/news-story/
d4e8b41a65db1abfaf8a6f340bd9dc81 Gerry Harvey, Emilio Gonzalez, Ben Cleary, Simon Hickey
Macquarie Bank, Ramsay Healthcare, Lend Lease, Harvey Norman, Clydesdale Bank,
National Australia Bank, BT Investment Management, British Government, Morgan
Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Platinum Asset Management, Tribecca Investment
Partners, Westfield, CLSA, Campus Living Villages
33 Navitas cuts back on dodgy enrolments amid visa rorting
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/navitas-cuts-back-on-dodgy-enrolments-amid-visa-rorting/news-story/
ba7eb686d3190751585583c1961fab20 Immigration Department
34 Navitas loses tax dispute in Britain http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/navitas-loses-tax-dispute-in-britain/news-story/22ba25435dfdcfd36bc1bf653f77e031 British Government
35
Navitas partners with University of Canberra in push for
students http://www.afr.com/news/policy/education/navitas-partners-with-university-of-canberra-in-push-for-students-20150515-gh2v5t Simon Ridings University of Canberra, Macquarie University
36 Mapping play Spookfish banks $6m https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/29821273/mapping-play-spookfish-banks-6m/#page1 Tony Grist, Brent Stewart, Jason Marinko Spookfish, Little Creatures, Market Equity,
37 Chinese students lead new gold rush for universities http://www.smh.com.au/national/chinese-students-lead-new-gold-rush-for-universities-20150402-1me0ah.html Andrew Robb, Alan Olsen, Andrew Norton
Federation University, Strategy Policy & Research in Education, Grattan Institute, Fed
Govt,
38 Navitas set to appeal in UK tax case https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/31700772/navitas-set-to-appeal-in-uk-tax-case/#page1 UK Government
39 Navitas to buy SAE Group for $289m http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/navitas-to-buy-sae-group-for-375m/story-e6frg8zx-1225970765258 Tom Misner, David Moberley Macquarie Bank, KPMG, Morgan Stanley
40
Move over Movember, billionaire Andrew Twiggy Forrest
has a new cause No Cash November
http://www.smh.com.au/business/cbd/move-over-movember-billionaire-andrew-twiggy-forrest-has-a-new-cause-no-cash-
november-20141104-11go7r.html Macquarie University
41 Downturn timing right for Melchor https://www.businessnews.com.au/article/Downturn-timing-right-for-Melchor Shane Jones, Tim Wise, Melchor,
42 Growth is a matter of degree for Navitas http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/growth-is-a-matter-of-degree-for-navitas/story-e6frg8zx-1226001087109 Peter Larson Edith Cowan University
43 Navitas to shut door on Sydney http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/navitas-to-shut-door-on-sydney/news-story/7bd99cfee085841de3e1bb849c57d3fc Deborah Terry, Farina Parsons Curtin University, La Trobe University, macquarie University, Morningstar
44 High Wired: Incivility grows in UWA staff spat
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/high-wired/incivility-grows-in-uwa-staff-spat/news-story/
b9c46a13d681ad8a2c2723f8b6a6bd1f Ashley Services, Intueri Education, Florida Atlantic University
45
Navitas reports 13% growth on back of increased HE and
ELT enrolments http://thepienews.com/news/navitas-reports-13-growth-on-back-of-increased-he-and-elt-enrolments/
University of Canberra, University of Western Sydney, Sydney Institute of Business and
Technology, Macquarie University
46 VCs ride the salary gravy train http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/vcs-ride-the-salary-gravy-train/news-story/438607adde76398f9ceb855353bbebb4 Greg Craven, Michael Spence, Glyn Davis, Peter Hoj, Peter Coaldrake, Kerry Cox,
Australian Catholic University, Sydney University, University of Melbourne, Queensland
University of Technology, University of Queensland, Edith Cowan University,
47 Navitas delivers robust result after SAE acquisition http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/navitas-delivers-robust-result-after-sae-acquisition/story-e6frg9lo-1226106633387 Tim Misner, Credit Suisse
48
Western Australia looks past resources to future tech
boom http://www.afr.com/technology/western-australia-looks-past-resources-to-future-tech-boom-20150506-ggvluu Tony Grist, Simon Hackett, Stuart Nixon, Jason Marinko, Howard Dawson, David Satterthwaite, Migme, iinet, Amcom, Pawsey Centre, Carnegie Energy,
49 Paul Joins Navitas and Programmed https://www.businessnews.com.au/article/Paul-joins-Navitas-and-Programmed Lisa Paul, Fed Govt, Programmed, CSIRO,
50 Navitas named on innovation list http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/navitas-named-on-innovation-list/story-e6frgcjx-1226927389410 Forbes,

About Thought Leadership Partners
32
At TLP, we’re a specialist agency that builds thought leadership content
for C-level executives.
Watch a short video introduction, or read on below:
https://youtu.be/hndoVYfuQdk
We do this through first person videos and blogs, directed at customers,
investors and employees.
CEOs that we talk to generally recognise the rationale for thought
leadership to:
•  Build personal and brand authenticity and trust
•  Engage key stakeholders in ongoing conversations
•  Shape the industry agenda
But at the same time, we hear from CEOs that they just don’t have the
time to sit down and write a blog post. The 4-5 hours it takes to publish
a high quality article is time that busy executives just don’t have.
We’ve listened to this and built a video interview led process. Instead of
writing, you sit down in front of a camera answering questions. We
transcribe that content and a journalist reshapes it into first person
content to be published (with video) under your name.
How our process works:
1.  We do extensive preparation, on the right topics and articles for you
to publish
2.  You’re interviewed on camera about these topics (your commitment
is a one hour interview once a month)
3.  Our journalists build five topic focused, transcription driven blog
posts out of the interview
4.  Because all content is built on your voice, there’s never ghost-writing
issues with depth and credibility
5.  You publish five, 500-700 word articles highlighting your expertise
with video highlights
6.  We deliver fortnightly analytics, optimising for engagement from the
right stakeholders
Over and above everything else, our clients love two things about what
we do:
•  How we genuinely understand the pressures and stakeholders of the
C-suite. We know that every hour has an opportunity cost. We’re
incredibly time efficient in producing authentic thought leadership
content that drives the success of your business.
•  We’re substantially more analytical and quantitative than any other
player in the Comms/ IR / Marketing space. We bring this focus to
strategy, campaign design and performance analysis.

Thought Leadership FAQs
33
What is thought leadership?
Thought leadership is respected expertise. You’re an expert and you’re known for it. When
people think of the ‘experts’ in your space, your name is one that immediately come to
mind.
It’s called thought leadership because of the implication that you shape the way that the
industry thinks. You ‘lead’ the thinking about your area of expertise.
In the same way we talk about “thought leadership“, you can also think of it as “recognised
expertise” or “industry leadership“.
What are the benefits of thought leadership?
Thought leadership does two things:
•  Establishes front-of-mind awareness
•  Builds trust in your expertise and ability to deliver
That means more leads, more sales and a lower cost of acquisition.
Expert focused content marketing earns returns by building front-of-mind market awareness
of you as the preferred provider in your sector. So when a prospect is ready to buy, you’re
their number one choice. As a result, products sold on impulse or at a relatively low
pricepoint are less effective candidates for thought leadership marketing.
Why should executives care about building thought leadership?
In today’s business environment it’s no longer enough to tell people you’re an expert – you
have to prove it.
Think about all the benefits of speaking at a leading industry conference. You build
reputation, broadcast your message to potential clients, partners and employees. You’re
communicating on scale to thousands of industry influencers, all at once. Thought
leadership delivers you exactly this benefit, but instead of one conference a year – you have
the potential to communicate to this audience once a week.
For all the same reasons you would value speaking at a highly relevant industry conference,
you should focus on building thought leadership. Building an audience gives you a powerful
platform to broadcast your message on a weekly basis.
Why is building thought leadership a good investment of time for a CEO?
Thought leadership is highly scalable. You’re speaking to hundreds, or thousands of your
most significant stakeholders at the same time.
Built successfully, you’ve got a platform that lets you as a CEO communicate to employees,
shareholders, sales prospects, customers, partners and regulators – with complete control
over the content that’s published.
No other channel of communication gives you the same level of direct access to all of your
key stakeholders, matched with complete control over content.
How hard is it to build thought leadership?
Building thought leadership is not particularly hard, so long as you satisfy two criteria:
1. You must have specialist areas of expertise, where you know as much as anyone in the
country or the world. Staying narrow also has the benefit of reducing the level of
competition. It’s very hard to be the expert in “board governance”, but it’s much easier to
be THE expert in say “board governance when dealing with cross border M&A”. It’s again
easier to be the expert in “Board governance dealing with cross border M&A into South
East Asia”.
2. You must be prepared to commit to a medium-term timeframe. Because of the explosion
of sources of opinion over the past 20 years, the average consumer just doesn’t trust what
they read. With the explosion of digital and social, consumers are exposed to hundreds of
thousands, or millions of times more sources of opinion than ever before. In this
environment, as a consumer, scepticism is not an alternative. In this environment, skepticism
is how you survive. This means that all buyers, all people take a lot longer to be convinced
about anyone’s expertise. That means it takes time to build trust. You must be prepared to
commit and stick at thought leadership for an extended period of time (3-6 months) to see
full results.
Is it possible to build thought leadership for multiple executives?
It’s possible (and even ideal) to build thought leadership for multiple executives within one
organisation.
However, we typically focus heavily on the CEO as a starting point. Why?
•  The CEO has the largest set of stakeholders to reach, and the most leverage in getting
strategic communications right
•  Building a CEO positioning and narrative framework sets the roadmap for all other
leaders in the organisation to follow (which doesn’t necessarily work in reverse).
•  Building thought leadership is heavily predicated on building trust. Trust is dependent
on repeated contact and familiarity. There is only so much bandwidth to reach key
stakeholders, which must be prioritised to building trust and recognised expertise.
•  The CEO must lead by example. It’s rare to find companies with execeptional
communications and thought leadership where the CEO is individually a terrible
communicator.

+61 3 9111 5659 | www.thoughtleadershippartners.com | Level 17 / 31 Queen St, Melbourne

CEO Communication Audit - Rod Jones, CEO at Navitas

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (16)

Similar to CEO Communication Audit - Rod Jones, CEO at Navitas

Similar to CEO Communication Audit - Rod Jones, CEO at Navitas (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

CEO Communication Audit - Rod Jones, CEO at Navitas