This document discusses research on CEO reputation and its importance. Some key findings include:
- Executives estimate that nearly half (45%) of their company's reputation and 44% of its market value is attributable to their CEO's reputation.
- Strong CEO reputation provides benefits like attracting investors, positive media attention, and protecting the company during crises. It also helps attract and retain employees.
- To have a strong reputation, CEOs need clear vision, inspire others, be ethical, communicate well internally and externally, and ensure the company is a good place to work.
- A company's senior management team and industry can also significantly influence its reputation, not just the CEO alone. Maintaining
CEO reputation is found to be a fundamental driver of corporate reputation according to Weber Shandwick's research. The survey of over 1,700 executives from companies with over $500 million in revenue across 19 countries found that executives attribute nearly half (45%) of their company's reputation and market value (44%) to their CEO's reputation. Strong CEO reputation provides significant benefits like attracting investors (87%) and positive media attention (83%). It also helps attract and retain employees, with 50% of executives saying the CEO's reputation impacted their decision to join the company and 58% saying it keeps them there.
[Infographic Korea Edition] The CEO Reputation Premium - Weber ShandwickWeber Shandwick Korea
This document discusses the importance of CEO reputation for corporate reputation and market value. Some key points:
- South Korean executives attribute around half of their company's market value and reputation to their CEO's reputation.
- CEO visibility can improve corporate reputation, but it also carries risks of harming reputation if not handled with care.
- Most South Korean executives believe CEOs should engage externally through activities like speaking at events, sharing insights publicly, and holding community leadership positions. However, taking public political stances is seen as more inappropriate.
- A strong CEO reputation influences employee decisions to join and remain at a company according to South Korean executives. It also affords crisis protection and attracts investors.
The document examines differences and similarities between male and female CEOs and their impact on corporate reputation. It finds that having a female CEO does not negatively impact a company's reputation. While some small differences in perceived leadership qualities exist along traditional gender stereotypes, the essentials of strong reputation are largely the same for both male and female CEOs. Both genders contribute similarly to their company's market value through reputation. However, perceptions of the number of female CEOs are inaccurate, and women are significantly more reluctant than men to take on the CEO role.
• Chief executives are now thinking strategically about international business ethics—specifically, how trustworthy their companies need to be. To generate that trust, CEOs are not just interested in growth for their enterprises. They want to attain “good growth”: real, inclusive, responsible, and lasting growth. And they want their companies to contribute to good growth in every country where they operate.
A CEO is ultimately responsible for the growth of a company as evidenced by its financial performance, its capacity for self-renewal, and its character. The only way you can measure character is by reputation.
The American Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) has identified employee engagement – inspiring and motivating people to excel at work – as the biggest challenge faced by its individual and company members. The traditional response of most organization leaders has been to throw money at the problem. In this executive brief, the author draws from his own wealth of leadership experience, and from the findings of numerous specialists in the field of leadership development and employee engagement, to offer a more compelling and effective alternative.
This document discusses lessons that can be learned from military leadership and applied to organizations facing turbulent times. It introduces the concept of Goal Orientated Leadership (GOaL), which is based on principles developed by military leaders over centuries. Under GOaL, leaders set clear outcomes and constraints but empower subordinates to determine tactics. This allows flexibility to adapt to changing conditions. The document contrasts this with typical leadership responses to crises that increase control and reduce responsiveness. GOaL is presented as a framework to help organizations navigate turbulence more effectively through empowered and agile execution.
CEO reputation is found to be a fundamental driver of corporate reputation according to Weber Shandwick's research. The survey of over 1,700 executives from companies with over $500 million in revenue across 19 countries found that executives attribute nearly half (45%) of their company's reputation and market value (44%) to their CEO's reputation. Strong CEO reputation provides significant benefits like attracting investors (87%) and positive media attention (83%). It also helps attract and retain employees, with 50% of executives saying the CEO's reputation impacted their decision to join the company and 58% saying it keeps them there.
[Infographic Korea Edition] The CEO Reputation Premium - Weber ShandwickWeber Shandwick Korea
This document discusses the importance of CEO reputation for corporate reputation and market value. Some key points:
- South Korean executives attribute around half of their company's market value and reputation to their CEO's reputation.
- CEO visibility can improve corporate reputation, but it also carries risks of harming reputation if not handled with care.
- Most South Korean executives believe CEOs should engage externally through activities like speaking at events, sharing insights publicly, and holding community leadership positions. However, taking public political stances is seen as more inappropriate.
- A strong CEO reputation influences employee decisions to join and remain at a company according to South Korean executives. It also affords crisis protection and attracts investors.
The document examines differences and similarities between male and female CEOs and their impact on corporate reputation. It finds that having a female CEO does not negatively impact a company's reputation. While some small differences in perceived leadership qualities exist along traditional gender stereotypes, the essentials of strong reputation are largely the same for both male and female CEOs. Both genders contribute similarly to their company's market value through reputation. However, perceptions of the number of female CEOs are inaccurate, and women are significantly more reluctant than men to take on the CEO role.
• Chief executives are now thinking strategically about international business ethics—specifically, how trustworthy their companies need to be. To generate that trust, CEOs are not just interested in growth for their enterprises. They want to attain “good growth”: real, inclusive, responsible, and lasting growth. And they want their companies to contribute to good growth in every country where they operate.
A CEO is ultimately responsible for the growth of a company as evidenced by its financial performance, its capacity for self-renewal, and its character. The only way you can measure character is by reputation.
The American Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) has identified employee engagement – inspiring and motivating people to excel at work – as the biggest challenge faced by its individual and company members. The traditional response of most organization leaders has been to throw money at the problem. In this executive brief, the author draws from his own wealth of leadership experience, and from the findings of numerous specialists in the field of leadership development and employee engagement, to offer a more compelling and effective alternative.
This document discusses lessons that can be learned from military leadership and applied to organizations facing turbulent times. It introduces the concept of Goal Orientated Leadership (GOaL), which is based on principles developed by military leaders over centuries. Under GOaL, leaders set clear outcomes and constraints but empower subordinates to determine tactics. This allows flexibility to adapt to changing conditions. The document contrasts this with typical leadership responses to crises that increase control and reduce responsiveness. GOaL is presented as a framework to help organizations navigate turbulence more effectively through empowered and agile execution.
Keller Williams is the largest real estate franchise in the world with over 139,000 agents. It attributes much of its success to its strong company culture. The study surveyed Keller Williams agents and found an exceptionally strong culture across market centers that emphasizes ethics, collaboration, and caring for agents. Agents view the culture very positively and as more important than compensation or training for the company's success. However, the study could not find a direct relationship between strong cultural perceptions and higher market center profits, likely because cultural perceptions were already very positive across centers.
Emergent leaders, the ones that get noticed, promoted and pampered in their organizations, typically exhibit strong self-confidence, decisiveness, and visionary thinking – which are not bad things. These characteristics are related to charisma. Too much might be as unacceptable as too little, though. Charisma has a dark side; it is linked to narcissism, and narcissism comes with disastrous side effects.
Multiple studies have revealed that it is humility in leadership that ensures results, productivity and effectiveness of an organization. Humility is a personality trait that is not glamorous at all, and often overlooked. Yet, it seems what many companies are missing in their endeavors to face and cope with the exigencies the 4th industrial revolution is presenting. According to their conversation on leadership 4.0 at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting of the new champions, working with millennials, leaders say humility works better than bossing around (Vanham, 2019). Today, there are fewer possibilities for dysfunctional narcissistic leaders to mask or coat their misconduct. It is a huge opportunity for HR departments to make identifying humble leaders and developing humility in charismatic leaders a priority.
This document discusses extreme leadership and provides examples of leaders who achieved exceptional long-term returns for shareholders through serial reinvention, shrewd investments, and superb execution. It examines Richard Branson of Virgin Group, Dick Smith who delivered a 16% compound annual return over 43 years in various industries, and David Cote who increased Honeywell's revenue 69% and profit margins to 16% over 11 years.
Should a CEO serve as a Director on other companies' Boards? From the perspective of the CEO's own Board, does having their CEO serve as a Director on other Boards contribute to or detract from their own company's performance. The answer is not always simple or clear.
This document discusses why the leadership development industry is failing and proposes solutions. It argues that leadership is often poorly defined, focusing on competencies that prioritize career advancement over building teams and achieving results. As a result, the wrong people often attend leadership programs. It proposes adopting a simple definition of leadership as the ability to build teams and achieve results. It also recommends only interviewing proven high-performing leaders when developing competency models, and making the ability to build teams and achieve results explicit in models. The document contends that addressing these issues around definition, selection, content, delivery, purpose, and evaluation of programs could improve returns on leadership development spending.
This document discusses challenges facing organizations in today's rapidly changing environment and the opportunity for HR professionals to help organizations adapt and thrive. Specifically, it notes that:
1) Hierarchical and rigid organizational structures are unsuitable for turbulent times and increased agility is needed.
2) HR can help organizations question past behaviors, develop unique human competencies, and enhance innovation, adaptability, resilience and an empowering culture.
3) By doing so, HR has the opportunity to make people management the ultimate source of an organization's competitiveness and truly contribute in a strategic manner.
This document provides an overview of strategic alignment between business and talent strategies. It discusses how the modern business environment presents unique challenges related to globalization, technology, demographics, and more. To compete in this complex environment, companies need sound business strategies as well as talent strategies to execute those business strategies. The document argues that people are one of the most important ways for a company to unlock its strategy, so managing talent is critical to achieving business goals. It emphasizes that close alignment between business and talent strategies helps ensure realization of the business strategy and operations excellence required for success. The rest of the document outlines key questions and considerations for aligning business and talent strategies.
This document discusses the changing role of corporate boards and how this impacts chief human resource officers (CHROs). Some key points:
1. Corporate boards have evolved from ritualistic appendages to playing a more active leadership role in areas traditionally managed. This creates opportunities for CHROs but many have yet to become strategic advisors to boards.
2. A survey found that less than a third of directors view their CHRO as having significant influence, and nearly a quarter see the CHRO as having little influence.
3. To succeed, CHROs must position talent as integral to strategy and risk oversight. They should act as advocates rather than bureaucrats and establish themselves as trusted advisors to boards.
The document provides information about the individual's business profile, including their values, work style, cultural fit, competencies, sales orientation, potential business paths, and needs and wants in a franchise business. It finds that the individual is a societal, prefers a control culture, works as a connector, has strengths in leadership and vision with competencies complementing a business focused on developing relationships over time. Their needs suggest preference for businesses allowing impact, innovation, replication/simplification and a hands-off approach.
CSIC research fellow Tracey Wright interviews 12 DC-area small businesses to explore how they use social media to communicate their socially responsible business practices to their stakeholders.
The document discusses the lack of gender diversity in senior leadership roles in Canadian corporations despite 25 years of focus on advancing women. While women make up 48% of the workforce, only 36.5% of lower managers, less than 18% of top executives, less than 14% of boards, and 6% of CEOs are women. This lack of diversity represents a competitive disadvantage as research shows the most successful companies have diverse leadership that incorporates multiple perspectives. The authors argue that true change requires leadership that values diversity and holds teams accountable through transparent processes rather than just counting women or focusing on tactics. Leaders must uncover and address underlying biases to create lasting cultural change at all levels of an organization.
2 accelerating high performance team effectivenessmikegggg
This document summarizes an executive report on leadership and business strategy from The Beacon Group, a Canadian professional services firm. The report discusses high performance team effectiveness and provides analysis on developing effective leadership teams. It identifies key factors such as strategic clarity, cultural alignment, credibility, commitment, and accountability. It also provides models for measuring team effectiveness and offers suggestions for improving team performance.
The document summarizes the Global Leadership Development Project. It discusses how the project will expand to collect ongoing data from organizations annually on important leadership issues identified in previous surveys. The research process will be ongoing, seeking annual participation from leaders and HR executives involved in leadership development and succession planning. The project aims to better understand leadership requirements in different contexts and establish categories of excellence for evaluating leadership development programs.
- The document discusses a survey of over 150 global executives on their approaches to reputation management. It finds that few companies have the right processes to systematically assess and manage reputation across departments.
- A key challenge is integrating stakeholder views into business strategy and decision-making. While many companies measure stakeholder perceptions, they often do not use these insights to inform strategic choices.
- Corporate communications departments usually lead on reputation issues but often focus on "classic" communications tasks rather than strategic business advice. The study suggests communications can play a bigger role in validating strategies and advising executives.
ROP Maturity is a both a process and a philosophy. In order to achieve higher Return On People, your organization must be willing to fundamentally change the way it measures its workforce and view its people as a financial asset, not a liability. It must thrive on rapid change, and recognize that agility is now a basic survival skill. The Return on People eBook will open your eyes to steps you can begin to take today in order to get there.
- The document discusses the importance of reputation management for businesses. It notes that reputation is now seen as a key intangible asset that is important for customers, investors, and other stakeholders.
- To develop and maintain a strong reputation, companies need to focus on quality, customer service, governance, risk management, corporate responsibility, communications, and adapting to changes and innovation in the market. Understanding stakeholders, issues, and developing a strong brand are also important aspects of effective reputation management.
The document discusses five key steps to creating the 21st century workforce experience:
1. Redefining employee engagement through establishing a "new people deal" that outlines mutual expectations and commitments between organizations and employees.
2. Re-inventing organizational structures to be more adaptive through dynamic talent marketplaces that match employees to the right assignments.
3. Shaping a reputation-based culture through transparency, peer feedback, and real-time check-ins to form an environment empowering talent transformation.
4. Leveraging innovative technologies to enable and drive real-time talent transformation and the creation of adaptive organizational frameworks.
5. Introducing an adaptive organizational model as the backbone for engaging talent, alloc
Recent experience suggests that many CEOs and directors of failed companies are able to obtain or retain directorships at other companies after their departure. Should this be a concern for shareholders?
This document discusses Korn Ferry's framework for assessing leadership performance based on four dimensions: competencies, experiences, traits, and drivers. It provides definitions and examples for each dimension. The document then analyzes the respondent's results for each dimension, comparing their scores to research on skills and preferences correlated with leadership success. Their strengths are highlighted in competencies like ensures accountability and aligns execution. Areas for development are also noted.
How Opinion About Job Performance Becomes FactMiqui Mel
This document discusses the challenges in accurately measuring corporate and executive performance to determine compensation. It summarizes interviews with business leaders, academics, and commentators who express doubt that any single executive can be largely responsible for corporate success, which depends on many factors including market conditions, competitors, existing brand strength, and work of other employees. While luck and circumstances may influence perceptions of performance, some argue shareholders can reasonably assess expectations and impact of other factors when evaluating executives. Overall it casts doubt on automatically attributing corporate results solely to executives in justifying high pay.
Leaders, by definition, go first. That’s why it’s so astounding that 70% of Fortune 500 CEOs still do not have a social presence. Every day, new studies arise making the case for social CEOs — and the benefits to employees, shareholders, customers and influencers. At a time when most of the planet is online, your company — and its reputation — cannot afford to be left behind.
소셜 미디어 시대, 기업 커뮤니케이션 차원의 소셜 미디어 커뮤니케이션 활동은 지속적으로 증가되고 있으나, 글로벌 Top 50 기업 64%의 CEO들은 소셜 미디어 대화 공간에서 특별한 활동을 진행하고 있지 않다.
조사 대상: 글로벌 TOP 50대 기업 60 여명의 CEO 대상 대외 활동 조사(미국 20명, 유럽 27명, 아태 9명, 남미 4명 대상)
조사 방식: 팩티바(Factiva), 검색 엔진, 기업 웹사이트, 학계 강연, 컨퍼런스 발표 및 소셜 미디어 채널 등
주요 리포트 내용:
-글로벌 TOP 50 기업 CEO들의 커뮤니케이션 현황(93%CEO의 의견이 기존 미디어 뉴스 보도에 소개되고 있는 것에 반해, 36% CEO만이 기업 웹사이트 및 소셜 미디어 채널을 통해 대외 커뮤니케이션 활동에 참여) 고 40%가 오프라인 대외 커뮤니케이션 활동에 참여)
-Social CEO의 의미
-Social CEO가 주로 이용하는 채널
-CEO들이 소셜 미디어 대화에 참여하지 않는 이유
-CEO들이 소셜 미디어 대화에 참여해야 하는 이유
-Social CEO가 될 수 있는 방안
Keller Williams is the largest real estate franchise in the world with over 139,000 agents. It attributes much of its success to its strong company culture. The study surveyed Keller Williams agents and found an exceptionally strong culture across market centers that emphasizes ethics, collaboration, and caring for agents. Agents view the culture very positively and as more important than compensation or training for the company's success. However, the study could not find a direct relationship between strong cultural perceptions and higher market center profits, likely because cultural perceptions were already very positive across centers.
Emergent leaders, the ones that get noticed, promoted and pampered in their organizations, typically exhibit strong self-confidence, decisiveness, and visionary thinking – which are not bad things. These characteristics are related to charisma. Too much might be as unacceptable as too little, though. Charisma has a dark side; it is linked to narcissism, and narcissism comes with disastrous side effects.
Multiple studies have revealed that it is humility in leadership that ensures results, productivity and effectiveness of an organization. Humility is a personality trait that is not glamorous at all, and often overlooked. Yet, it seems what many companies are missing in their endeavors to face and cope with the exigencies the 4th industrial revolution is presenting. According to their conversation on leadership 4.0 at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting of the new champions, working with millennials, leaders say humility works better than bossing around (Vanham, 2019). Today, there are fewer possibilities for dysfunctional narcissistic leaders to mask or coat their misconduct. It is a huge opportunity for HR departments to make identifying humble leaders and developing humility in charismatic leaders a priority.
This document discusses extreme leadership and provides examples of leaders who achieved exceptional long-term returns for shareholders through serial reinvention, shrewd investments, and superb execution. It examines Richard Branson of Virgin Group, Dick Smith who delivered a 16% compound annual return over 43 years in various industries, and David Cote who increased Honeywell's revenue 69% and profit margins to 16% over 11 years.
Should a CEO serve as a Director on other companies' Boards? From the perspective of the CEO's own Board, does having their CEO serve as a Director on other Boards contribute to or detract from their own company's performance. The answer is not always simple or clear.
This document discusses why the leadership development industry is failing and proposes solutions. It argues that leadership is often poorly defined, focusing on competencies that prioritize career advancement over building teams and achieving results. As a result, the wrong people often attend leadership programs. It proposes adopting a simple definition of leadership as the ability to build teams and achieve results. It also recommends only interviewing proven high-performing leaders when developing competency models, and making the ability to build teams and achieve results explicit in models. The document contends that addressing these issues around definition, selection, content, delivery, purpose, and evaluation of programs could improve returns on leadership development spending.
This document discusses challenges facing organizations in today's rapidly changing environment and the opportunity for HR professionals to help organizations adapt and thrive. Specifically, it notes that:
1) Hierarchical and rigid organizational structures are unsuitable for turbulent times and increased agility is needed.
2) HR can help organizations question past behaviors, develop unique human competencies, and enhance innovation, adaptability, resilience and an empowering culture.
3) By doing so, HR has the opportunity to make people management the ultimate source of an organization's competitiveness and truly contribute in a strategic manner.
This document provides an overview of strategic alignment between business and talent strategies. It discusses how the modern business environment presents unique challenges related to globalization, technology, demographics, and more. To compete in this complex environment, companies need sound business strategies as well as talent strategies to execute those business strategies. The document argues that people are one of the most important ways for a company to unlock its strategy, so managing talent is critical to achieving business goals. It emphasizes that close alignment between business and talent strategies helps ensure realization of the business strategy and operations excellence required for success. The rest of the document outlines key questions and considerations for aligning business and talent strategies.
This document discusses the changing role of corporate boards and how this impacts chief human resource officers (CHROs). Some key points:
1. Corporate boards have evolved from ritualistic appendages to playing a more active leadership role in areas traditionally managed. This creates opportunities for CHROs but many have yet to become strategic advisors to boards.
2. A survey found that less than a third of directors view their CHRO as having significant influence, and nearly a quarter see the CHRO as having little influence.
3. To succeed, CHROs must position talent as integral to strategy and risk oversight. They should act as advocates rather than bureaucrats and establish themselves as trusted advisors to boards.
The document provides information about the individual's business profile, including their values, work style, cultural fit, competencies, sales orientation, potential business paths, and needs and wants in a franchise business. It finds that the individual is a societal, prefers a control culture, works as a connector, has strengths in leadership and vision with competencies complementing a business focused on developing relationships over time. Their needs suggest preference for businesses allowing impact, innovation, replication/simplification and a hands-off approach.
CSIC research fellow Tracey Wright interviews 12 DC-area small businesses to explore how they use social media to communicate their socially responsible business practices to their stakeholders.
The document discusses the lack of gender diversity in senior leadership roles in Canadian corporations despite 25 years of focus on advancing women. While women make up 48% of the workforce, only 36.5% of lower managers, less than 18% of top executives, less than 14% of boards, and 6% of CEOs are women. This lack of diversity represents a competitive disadvantage as research shows the most successful companies have diverse leadership that incorporates multiple perspectives. The authors argue that true change requires leadership that values diversity and holds teams accountable through transparent processes rather than just counting women or focusing on tactics. Leaders must uncover and address underlying biases to create lasting cultural change at all levels of an organization.
2 accelerating high performance team effectivenessmikegggg
This document summarizes an executive report on leadership and business strategy from The Beacon Group, a Canadian professional services firm. The report discusses high performance team effectiveness and provides analysis on developing effective leadership teams. It identifies key factors such as strategic clarity, cultural alignment, credibility, commitment, and accountability. It also provides models for measuring team effectiveness and offers suggestions for improving team performance.
The document summarizes the Global Leadership Development Project. It discusses how the project will expand to collect ongoing data from organizations annually on important leadership issues identified in previous surveys. The research process will be ongoing, seeking annual participation from leaders and HR executives involved in leadership development and succession planning. The project aims to better understand leadership requirements in different contexts and establish categories of excellence for evaluating leadership development programs.
- The document discusses a survey of over 150 global executives on their approaches to reputation management. It finds that few companies have the right processes to systematically assess and manage reputation across departments.
- A key challenge is integrating stakeholder views into business strategy and decision-making. While many companies measure stakeholder perceptions, they often do not use these insights to inform strategic choices.
- Corporate communications departments usually lead on reputation issues but often focus on "classic" communications tasks rather than strategic business advice. The study suggests communications can play a bigger role in validating strategies and advising executives.
ROP Maturity is a both a process and a philosophy. In order to achieve higher Return On People, your organization must be willing to fundamentally change the way it measures its workforce and view its people as a financial asset, not a liability. It must thrive on rapid change, and recognize that agility is now a basic survival skill. The Return on People eBook will open your eyes to steps you can begin to take today in order to get there.
- The document discusses the importance of reputation management for businesses. It notes that reputation is now seen as a key intangible asset that is important for customers, investors, and other stakeholders.
- To develop and maintain a strong reputation, companies need to focus on quality, customer service, governance, risk management, corporate responsibility, communications, and adapting to changes and innovation in the market. Understanding stakeholders, issues, and developing a strong brand are also important aspects of effective reputation management.
The document discusses five key steps to creating the 21st century workforce experience:
1. Redefining employee engagement through establishing a "new people deal" that outlines mutual expectations and commitments between organizations and employees.
2. Re-inventing organizational structures to be more adaptive through dynamic talent marketplaces that match employees to the right assignments.
3. Shaping a reputation-based culture through transparency, peer feedback, and real-time check-ins to form an environment empowering talent transformation.
4. Leveraging innovative technologies to enable and drive real-time talent transformation and the creation of adaptive organizational frameworks.
5. Introducing an adaptive organizational model as the backbone for engaging talent, alloc
Recent experience suggests that many CEOs and directors of failed companies are able to obtain or retain directorships at other companies after their departure. Should this be a concern for shareholders?
This document discusses Korn Ferry's framework for assessing leadership performance based on four dimensions: competencies, experiences, traits, and drivers. It provides definitions and examples for each dimension. The document then analyzes the respondent's results for each dimension, comparing their scores to research on skills and preferences correlated with leadership success. Their strengths are highlighted in competencies like ensures accountability and aligns execution. Areas for development are also noted.
How Opinion About Job Performance Becomes FactMiqui Mel
This document discusses the challenges in accurately measuring corporate and executive performance to determine compensation. It summarizes interviews with business leaders, academics, and commentators who express doubt that any single executive can be largely responsible for corporate success, which depends on many factors including market conditions, competitors, existing brand strength, and work of other employees. While luck and circumstances may influence perceptions of performance, some argue shareholders can reasonably assess expectations and impact of other factors when evaluating executives. Overall it casts doubt on automatically attributing corporate results solely to executives in justifying high pay.
Leaders, by definition, go first. That’s why it’s so astounding that 70% of Fortune 500 CEOs still do not have a social presence. Every day, new studies arise making the case for social CEOs — and the benefits to employees, shareholders, customers and influencers. At a time when most of the planet is online, your company — and its reputation — cannot afford to be left behind.
소셜 미디어 시대, 기업 커뮤니케이션 차원의 소셜 미디어 커뮤니케이션 활동은 지속적으로 증가되고 있으나, 글로벌 Top 50 기업 64%의 CEO들은 소셜 미디어 대화 공간에서 특별한 활동을 진행하고 있지 않다.
조사 대상: 글로벌 TOP 50대 기업 60 여명의 CEO 대상 대외 활동 조사(미국 20명, 유럽 27명, 아태 9명, 남미 4명 대상)
조사 방식: 팩티바(Factiva), 검색 엔진, 기업 웹사이트, 학계 강연, 컨퍼런스 발표 및 소셜 미디어 채널 등
주요 리포트 내용:
-글로벌 TOP 50 기업 CEO들의 커뮤니케이션 현황(93%CEO의 의견이 기존 미디어 뉴스 보도에 소개되고 있는 것에 반해, 36% CEO만이 기업 웹사이트 및 소셜 미디어 채널을 통해 대외 커뮤니케이션 활동에 참여) 고 40%가 오프라인 대외 커뮤니케이션 활동에 참여)
-Social CEO의 의미
-Social CEO가 주로 이용하는 채널
-CEO들이 소셜 미디어 대화에 참여하지 않는 이유
-CEO들이 소셜 미디어 대화에 참여해야 하는 이유
-Social CEO가 될 수 있는 방안
The document discusses shaping organizational culture for transformation in a hyperconnected world. It provides summaries of interviews with five CEOs who have led culture transformations:
1) Gary Shorb of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare focused on a "Power of One" culture to achieve goals like quality care and employee satisfaction.
2) Dominique Leroy of Proximus transformed the culture from silos to collaboration to enable growth after years of stagnation.
3) Basil Scarsella of UK Power Networks shaped the culture after an acquisition to improve reliability, customer service and employee engagement.
4) Bryan Jordan of First Horizon National Corporation rebuilt the culture after downsizing from the financial crisis to refocus the company.
Estudio elaborador por el Instituto Korn/Ferry sobre la figura del Chief Communications Officer a partir de una encuesta global a los principales directivos de las compañías de Fortune 500
The current economic crisis will impact home and retirement account values for years to come, but where it may have the biggest impact is in corporate reputations, where even the most respected brands in the financial services world have seen trust for their leadership and institutions drop to all time lows.
60 % of company`s market value is attributable to corporate reputation. Where is the role of CEO in the proces of building, maintaining and recovering corporate reputation?
The document discusses how CEOs perceive the current economic environment as vastly more complex than before. It notes that 79% of CEOs expect complexity to increase further. While most CEOs doubt their ability to manage complexity, some organizations have consistently performed well ("Standouts"). The summary explores how Standouts may mitigate complexity and convert it into opportunities.
Winds of change: The shifting face of leadership in business is an Audi report, written by The Economist Intelligence Unit. It delves into the attributes that business leaders need, the factors that influence them and how they can lead most effectively.
The current age of hyper transparency requires more public presence of corporate managers. In today’s business world, some of the most valued behaviours include taking part in events, being accessible to the media and available in social networks, sharing new insights and trends, playing a visible role in society or featuring on the corporate video channel.
This document includes detailed percentages about different aspects that show the interdependence between CEO reputation, company reputation, and market value and it’s based on the research The CEO Reputation Premium: Gaining Advantage in the Engagement Era, carried out by Weber Shandwick, in partnership with KRC Research, who sought to quantify the value of CEO reputation and measure the importance of CEO engagement. They conducted a survey of more than 1 700 executives that worked in companies with revenues of $500 million or more and represented 19 countries around the world.
Besides, it explains what CEO’s attitudes are more valued, what activities CEOs should do and what are the core competences for a CEO to Gain a Good Reputation.
It also talks about the perceptions of the highest executive power depending on gender. However, apart from these small differences, the reputations of male and female CEOs contribute approximately the same levels to the market value of their firms.
It ends up with some suggestions to maximize CEO's public presence and benefit corporate reputation.
Document written by Corporate Excellence – Centre for Reputation Leadership, quoting the research The CEO Reputation Premium: Gaining Advantage in the Engagement Era prepared by Weber Shandwick in collaboration with KRC Research in in 19 countries around the world from surveys of more than 1 700 executives of companies invoicing 500 million USD or more and released on March 2015.
The executive summary discusses how corporate reputation has risen in importance for boards, but few non-executive directors have backgrounds in corporate communications. While communications leaders oversee large teams and budgets, more than half feel they lack career development opportunities. Most cannot see a career outside communications in the medium term. Non-executive director roles are viewed as the preferred path outside communications, but few communicators have held one. Communications leaders face barriers to progression including perceptions of their discipline and limited options for professional development. Chairmen are skeptical about communications professionals becoming non-executive directors due to questions around their commercial expertise.
This document summarizes a Q&A with Michael Beer about high commitment, high performance (HCHP) organizations. Beer discusses three key things that differentiate HCHP firms: 1) they achieve performance and psychological alignment while enabling learning and change, 2) they are led by principled leaders focused on multiple stakeholders, not just shareholders, and 3) they institutionalize systems for honest, collective conversations to facilitate learning and avoid rigidities. While desirable, few companies exhibit these qualities due to poor leadership that fails to engage employees and address "silent barriers" to commitment, performance, and change.
In a world where succession planning is increasingly important, it’s good to be the COO — right? The chief operating officer has traditionally been the number two person in the C-suite — the senior executive charged with overseeing all of the company’s business operations. As such, the COO has long been viewed as the heir apparent, the leading insider candidate to succeed the chief executive officer. Yet, according to the senior executive search firm Crist Kolder Associates, the percentage of Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies with a COO has declined steadily from 48 percent in 2000 to 36 percent in 2014.
This document provides an overview of the skills and experiences needed to become a chief operating officer (COO). It examines the core capabilities required for the COO role, which varies widely between companies. The document outlines how companies can develop internal candidates for COO succession planning or to fill new COO roles. It is based on research including a survey of over 300 COOs and analysis of the career paths of almost 100 leading COOs across various industries.
The document discusses McKinsey & Company's research on "the war for talent" - the phenomenon of increased competition among companies for highly skilled workers. It finds that having strong talent is now critical for business success given the knowledge-based economy. However, attracting and retaining talent is also becoming more difficult. The war for talent will persist for decades due to demographic trends reducing the future supply of managerial talent. While most companies recognize winning this war is important, few feel prepared to strengthen their talent pools. The document outlines five imperatives that top performing companies follow: instilling a talent mindset, creating an attractive employee value proposition, continuously recruiting talent, growing great leaders, and differentiating and affirming employees. It urges
The document discusses how social media can help new CEOs in their first 100 days. It provides examples of CEOs like Mark Reuss of GM who used Facebook to communicate with dealers during difficult times. New CEOs face challenges like establishing their reputation and communicating changes. Using social media allows CEOs to personally connect with employees and listeners to address uncertainties. They can make their messages repetitive and reinforce their brands to multiple stakeholders at once. While return on investment is hard to measure, social media gives CEOs a low-cost way to connect with important audiences during critical first months.
IN THIS SUMMARY
CEOs face a life that not many people have the opportunity to experience. Not only are they in a position to effect great change, but as leaders of companies, they also have an incredible amount of responsibility and accountability on their shoulders. Adapting to change and navigating a company through both success and failure can be hugely challenging, yet there are CEOs who seem to do it with ease and confidence. What are their secrets? In The New Secrets of CEOs, authors Steve Tappin and Andrew Cave explore this very question and delve into the mindset of a CEO. After conducting hundreds of interviews with CEOs, Tappin and Cave present a broad spectrum of executive insights, thoughts on what drives them, and how they operate.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
http://www.bizsum.com/summaries/new-secrets-ceos
Kulwinder singh's research paper on The CEO brandKulwinder Singh
1. The document discusses how Satyam BPO leverages its CEO, Venkatesh Roddam, for branding purposes through thought leadership opportunities like speeches and media interviews.
2. It explains the steps taken to effectively position the CEO as a thought leader in the industry, including understanding media landscapes, preparing the CEO for different types of interactions, and maintaining consistency in the CEO's messages.
3. Thought leadership is defined as an executive sharing perspective on broad industry topics with a wide audience, and several examples are given of successful thought leadership campaigns that elevated other CEOs and their companies.
This document discusses measuring leadership in companies. It makes the following key points:
1) While companies closely track metrics like finances, quality, and surveys, few directly measure if they have the right leaders now and for the future. Developing leaders is important but difficult to measure precisely.
2) Top companies take a holistic approach to leadership measurement, gathering data to provide insights for human resources, business leaders, people managers, and potential leaders themselves.
3) Examples of companies like Cummins use frameworks to rigorously assess employees' performance and potential, focusing on specific leadership attributes needed for business goals. Surveys also give feedback to better develop individual potential leaders.
Aiming for the top: A guide for aspiring COOs and their organisationsEY
Our latest report on COO's titled 'Aiming for the top: A guide for aspiring COOs and their organisations'. The report provides insight on the skills and experiences needed to become a COO, it explains how companies can develop a robust pipeline of well-rounded talent for the succession to an existing COO position, or how to find a strong candidate for a new COO role. Read it to know how companies, and especially COOs currently in the role, can support the operations talent within their teams with the aim of eventually developing a strong successor.
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Studie zur CEO-Reputation: Anbruch einer neuen Engagement-Ära
1. The CEO Reputation Premium | 1
INTRODUCTION
The CEO
Reputation Premium:
Gaining Advantage in the
Engagement Era
2. INTRODUCTION
The CEO Reputation Premium | 1
The past several years have not been easy for big business and its leaders:
CEOs. Research has found that respect for corporate leaders and large
multinationals has declined. Between the global financial crisis, spread of
worldwide protest movements such as Occupy, backlash against executive
compensation, and even employee revolts, CEOs have faced numerous
threats to their reputation and those of the companies they run.
Despite this erosion in positive perceptions of CEOs, Weber Shandwick’s
research continues to find that CEO reputation is a fundamental driver of
corporate reputation, and is unwavering in its contribution to market value.
Our newest research, reported herein, finds that global executives estimate
that nearly one half of a company’s market value is attributable to its CEO.
CEO reputation continues to be a premium form of currency and wealth
in an economy where companies trade on their reputations every day. As
Michael Fertik, founder and CEO of reputation.com, says, “Reputation is
the new oil.” This CEO premium exerts enormous influence over enterprises
and within the industries they operate, and should never be underestimated
or neglected. What has changed, however, is the growing complexity of the
global stakeholder audience coupled with a dynamic and radically changed
media environment. The convergence of these new factors makes it harder
than ever for companies to get heard beyond a whisper, leave a lasting
impression, and figure out who holds the key to influence.
Introduction
3. 2 | The CEO Reputation Premium The CEO Reputation Premium | 3
INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION
When it comes to shaping CEO and corporate reputation today, it is not
just the usual suspects — investors, financial analysts, business media,
regulators — whose perceptions matter most. As Goldman Sachs’ CEO
Lloyd Blankfein rightfully admitted during the financial crisis, everyone
matters now:
“I think the average American probably had no contact and had never heard
of Goldman Sachs before three years ago. Shame on us in a way for not
anticipating how important that would be. We’re an institutional business
with no consumers. It turns out, another name for consumers are citizens
and taxpayers. They became important for reasons that are obvious. They
always should have been important, but it wasn’t part of our audience as we
thought about it. Now we will have to develop those muscles a little better
than we have.”
— LLOYD BLANKFEIN, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, GOLDMAN SACHS
According to Weber Shandwick’s past research, the general public is quite
aware of company wrongdoing, and its opinions of companies are often
swayed by what CEOs and other executives say and do. When BP’s former
CEO Tony Hayward responded to a reporter about the Deepwater Horizon oil
spill, the words that poured out of his mouth were heard around the world:
“There’s no one who wants this thing over more than I do, I’d like my life back.”
Those last five words were not only plastered in headlines and endlessly
broadcast, but spread like wildfire on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, text,
blogs, and via word of mouth, and are still referenced by the media as an
example of a major PR blunder. What CEOs say or don’t say, where they say it,
and to whom they say it increasingly makes or breaks reputations and derails
job security.
Business leaders are at a pivotal point. They are emerging from a period
in which CEOs kept fairly low profiles, raised to the public spotlight only
by crisis or scandal. While they were keeping quiet, the media landscape
exploded around them, effectively crowding out carefully crafted message
points and spawning increasingly distracted audiences only interested in
140 characters at a time.
Truth be told, CEOs have entered a golden age of opportunity in which to tell
their company stories. They are far less dependent on traditional media to
profile their biographies and echo their future strategies. CEOs can now take
their storytelling content directly to stakeholders without negotiating with
the media. Content marketing and social media have opened up avenues of
plenty for CEOs to communicate their narratives. CEOs now have more ways
to connect and to do so consistently versus episodically (e.g., quarterly). In
light of these radical changes in the business landscape, Weber Shandwick
wanted to revisit the realm of CEO reputation and better understand what is
required today. As we see it, CEO reputation matters today more than ever
and needs to be managed, cultivated and shared. CEOs need to engage with
their many stakeholders in deeper ways. They need to be seen and heard and
be on the scene internally, externally and virtually.
“As CEOs regain their footing after the global recession,
reputation is being shaped by new forces that require greater
CEO engagement and presence. Although social media has
placed nearly every CEO and company in the spotlight for
good and bad, it has also given CEOs a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to tell their company stories in unimaginable and
untold ways. Our study updates the latest thinking on how
CEOs are perceived today, and how their roles are changing in
this topsy-turvy, never off media environment.”
— LESLIE GAINES-ROSS, CHIEF REPUTATION STRATEGIST
WEBER SHANDWICK
4. 4 | The CEO Reputation Premium The CEO Reputation Premium | 5
INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION
Our report is presented in three parts:
Part I: The CEO Reputation Advantage demonstrates how and why
CEO reputation matters, the premium it delivers, and the shifting drivers
of corporate reputation. It also describes executives’ views on the
importance of bench strength, CEO humility, and the rash of CEO apologies
in recent years.
1. CEO Reputation Matters
2. What It Takes
3. Bench Strength Counts, Too
4. Corporate Reputation Today: Strong, Yet Vulnerable, with New X Factors
5. Humble CEOs Come with Benefits
6. Inside Look at CEO Reputation
Part II: CEO Engagement Now Required takes a deep dive into CEO
engagement and visibility — the new imperative for CEOs in the
Engagement Era. This section covers the importance of CEO external
engagement, preferred avenues for building CEO profiles, and the pluses
and minuses of digital engagement. In addition, the section looks at
whether CEOs should be taking public stands on political issues of the day.
1. CEO Public Engagement is the New Mandate
2. CEOs Need an External Profile in More Ways than One
3. CEO Social Media Engagement Comes with Reputational Rewards
4. CEOs Should Exercise Caution when Taking a Public Stance on Policy
Part III: The CEO’s Guide to Reputation and Engagement provides
strategies for business leaders and their companies in order to build
executive equity, bolster CEO engagement on a visible scale, and reap the
reputational benefits of effectively engaging stakeholders.
Weber Shandwick, in partnership with KRC Research, sought to quantify the
value of CEO reputation and measure the importance of CEO engagement
from those closest to the CEO. We conducted an online survey of more than
1,700 executives — managers through the C-suite, but excluding CEOs.
Respondents worked in companies with revenues of $500 million or more and
represented 19 countries across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC)
and Latin America (LatAm).
How We Did the Research
North America
United States
Canada
Latin America
Brazil
Asia Pacific
Australia
China
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Japan
Malaysia
Singapore
South Korea
Europe
UK
France
Germany
Italy
Norway
Sweden
Turkey
Survey respondents represented 19 markets.
5. 6 | The CEO Reputation Premium The CEO Reputation Premium | 7
PART I: THE CEO REPUTATION ADVANTAGE
PART I
The CEO Reputation Advantage
In today’s business world, it’s undeniable that CEO reputation matters to an
organisation’s success and is one of its most valuable and competitive assets.
Global executives in our survey agree: on average, they attribute nearly half
(45%) of their company’s reputation to the reputation of their chief executive
officer. Neither is this inextricable link between CEO and corporate reputation
expected to fade. Half of executives (50%) expect that CEO reputation will
matter more to company reputation in the next few years.
CEO reputation matters to the bottom line, too. Executives estimate that
44% of their company’s market value is attributable to the reputation of
their CEO.This extraordinary interdependence between CEO reputation and
market value demonstrates that leadership is a resource worth investing in
and cultivating.
CEO Reputation Matters1
6. 8 | The CEO Reputation Premium The CEO Reputation Premium | 9
PART I: THE CEO REPUTATION ADVANTAGE PART I: THE CEO REPUTATION ADVANTAGE
0
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
The benefits of cultivating a highly regarded CEO reputation, in addition to
enhancing market value, are plenty. Executives report significant benefits
that accrue from positive CEO reputation including attracting investors
(87%), positive media attention (83%), and crisis protection (83%). Strong
CEO reputation also attracts (77%) and retains (70%) employees. Employees
should be an important agenda item for CEOs today because of the influence
they exert. Employees at an American supermarket chain took a stand against
their company after their admired CEO was ousted by the board.Their revolt
led to the CEO being reinstated.
Tellingly, one out of every two executives (50%) say that their CEO’s
reputation impacted their decision to accept the position, and even more —
58% — say it keeps them at the company. Six in 10 executives (61%) would
vote to keep their current leader if the company held an election.
Our research shows that reputation is non-discriminatory when it comes to
gender. Male and female CEOs are just as likely to run companies with very
strong reputations and to have comparably strong reputations themselves.
Moreover, the reputations of male and female CEOs contribute approximately
the same levels to the market value of their firms.
What attributes drive strong CEO reputation? By wide margins, executives who
work with highly regarded CEOs, relative to those with lesser regarded CEOs,
describe their CEOs as having a clear vision for the company, inspirational and
motivational to others, honest and ethical, a good communicator internally, and
someone who cares that the company is a good place to work.They also describe
these highly regarded CEOs as having a global business outlook, being a good
communicator externally, decisive, and customer-focused.
What It Takes2
The last few years of financial crisis, scandals, and looking the other way have
raised the bar on ethics and honesty. More than eight in 10 executives with
highly regarded CEOs (86%) also report that they trust their company leader to
do the right thing for the company and that their company’s leader emphasises
the importance of ethical conduct throughout the company (84%).
How executives describe their CEOs
The CEO Reputation Premium
Hasaclearvision
forthe
com
panyInspiresand
m
otivatesothers
Ishonestand
ethical
Isagood
com
m
unicator
internally
Caresthatthe
com
pany
isagood
place
to
work
Hasaglobalbusiness
outlook
Isagood
com
m
unicator
externally
Isdecisive
Isfocused
on
custom
ers
Highly regarded CEOs Poorly regarded CEOs
Strength and impact of company reputation
Company’s reputation is very strong
CEO’s reputation is very strong
% company market value attributed to reputation of CEO
35%
38%
43%
33%
36%
47%
Executives with
male CEOs
Executives with
female CEOs
7. 10 | The CEO Reputation Premium The CEO Reputation Premium | 11
Canada 28%
Brazil 55%
US 38%
UK 25%
Norway 48%
India 56%
China 45%
Singapore 45%
Malaysia 59%
Indonesia 68%
Australia 38%
Japan 28%
Hong Kong 51%
Italy 42%
France 36%
Germany 32%
Turkey 60%
Sweden 26%
Value of CEO reputation across the world
How survey respondents describe the CEOs they admire most...
“Is familiar with the market, knows the competition,
values managers, does not say ‘I know it all.’ ”
— APAC EXECUTIVE
“Those that balance all three sets of stakeholders:
customers, employees and shareholders – in that
priority order. Employees have almost become a
commodity and a good CEO is one who cultivates the
workforce to ensure talent in all disciplines remains to
strengthen the company.”
— NORTH AMERICAN EXECUTIVE
“It is a person who
always keeps the reins
of the tasks he is in
charge of and able
to infuse trust and
optimism within
the company.”
— EUROPEAN EXECUTIVE
“Competent, has an
outlook on the market
and the future, concerned
about the employees and
their needs, focused on
results and customers,
a strategist.”
— LATIN AMERICAN
EXECUTIVE
% company market value attributed to the reputation of CEO
8. 12 | The CEO Reputation Premium The CEO Reputation Premium | 13
PART I: THE CEO REPUTATION ADVANTAGE PART I: THE CEO REPUTATION ADVANTAGE
The CEO is not the only leader who influences corporate reputation. Globally,
more than four in 10 executives (44%) believe a company’s reputation is
influenced a great deal by senior management other than the CEO.
The importance of the senior management team is even more pronounced
in companies with strong reputations. More than half of executives in highly
reputable companies (56%) believe a company’s overall reputation is greatly
affected by the reputation of the senior management team, compared to only
one-third of executives (30%) in companies with weak reputations.
It is important for companies to recognise that while the CEO wields tangible
power over reputation, other top executives have considerable influence
and can add substantial credibility to the company’s narration. Viewing
other executives as a portfolio of storytellers can play a powerful role in the
development of a strong company reputation.
Bench Strength Counts, Too3
Nearly nine in 10 executives (86%) consider the reputations of their
companies to be strong. However, fewer than four in 10 (38%) concede to
a very strong reputation — hardly a cause for confidence in the ability to
withstand a crisis or major threat.
Company reputations are shaped by a variety of factors, with quality of
products and services identified as the most important factor by 66% of
global executives, followed by financial performance (57%). Leadership
reputation falls among the top five drivers (49%). The least influential
reputation driver is how the company is discussed in social media.
Corporate Reputation Today: Strong, Yet Vulnerable,
with New X Factors
4
Importantly, a company’s industry ranks as the third most important driver of
corporate reputation (50%) and is among the top five drivers of reputation
for each industry represented in our study. Clearly, the reputational impact of
an industry today ripples beyond a single company. As an example, the BP oil
spill impacted the reputation of other oil majors, and sizeable triage had to be
applied to improving their collective reputation.The same goes for just about
every industry today. For executives responsible for managing reputation, the
adage about being “tarred with the same brush” rings true.
“That social media is not yet a top reputation driver is not
surprising. Social media is still fairly new as a reputation-builder
around the globe, but is fast becoming a reputational asset.”
— CHRIS PERRY, PRESIDENT, DIGITAL, WEBER SHANDWICK
Company’s overall reputation is influenced a great deal by…
(according to executives)
Quality of products and services
Financial performance
Company industry
Company leader reputation
Marketing and communications efforts
Company reputation for innovation
What news media says about company
Senior management team (excluding CEO)
What employees think and say about company
Corporate responsibility efforts
Awards and honours
Political or regulatory relationships
Country of headquarters
What is said about company in social media
66%
57%
50%
49%
49%
48%
45%
44%
42%
40%
39%
35%
33%
32%
9. 14 | The CEO Reputation Premium The CEO Reputation Premium | 15
PART I: THE CEO REPUTATION ADVANTAGE PART I: THE CEO REPUTATION ADVANTAGE
Top six drivers of company reputation (by company industry)
Quality of products/services
Financial performance
Marketing and communications efforts
Company industry
Innovation
CEO reputation
Media reports
CSR efforts
Senior leader reputation (besides CEO)
Particularly noteworthy is the high importance that worldwide executives
place on marketing and communications in driving reputation. Perhaps the
proliferation of outlets and new ways that reputation can be communicated
today is elevating the influence of marketing communications. In today’s
digital age, consumers have countless ways of finding out information about
a company, and the more effective marketers and communicators provide
organisations with better ways to leverage the conversation. Additionally,
whereas companies can easily imitate their competitors’ products and
services overnight, how a company communicates and engages stakeholders
can provide the differentiating and sustainable edge.
“It has not always been the case that industry is a leading
reputation driver. When researching what impacted reputation
years ago, industry reputation barely made the top five.”
LESLIE GAINES-ROSS, CHIEF REPUTATION STRATEGIST, WEBER SHANDWICK
Building CEO reputation is not about enhancing egos or celebrity. In fact,
it would be hard to count on one hand the names of today’s celebrity CEOs.
Humility is now the new green among chief executives, possibly because
they’ve all experienced their 15 minutes of shame in addition to their 15
minutes of fame in this tell-all world. A Weber Shandwick media search found
that 2014 was a record year for coverage related to CEO humility.
Humble CEOs Come with Benefits5
71
63 61
54 54
68
53
48 46 4444 4444
69
63
56 54 52
69
63
58 57 56
66
60
54 52 52
65
55 53 51 51
Finance
Technology Science/Engineering
0
10
20
30
40
50
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
60
Media coverage of CEO humility
Global English Language Top Tier Outlets Aggregated by Factiva
# articles
52 51
52
48 50
Travel/Tourism
Consumer Healthcare
10. 16 | The CEO Reputation Premium The CEO Reputation Premium | 17
PART I: THE CEO REPUTATION ADVANTAGE PART I: THE CEO REPUTATION ADVANTAGE
I trust my company’s leader to do the right thing
for the company. 88% 18% +70
My company’s leader emphasises the importance of
ethical conduct throughout the company. 85% 25% +60
My company’s leader is aware of what goes on in every
part of the company. 78% 25% +53
I cannot envision my company’s leader being caught
in a scandal of any kind. 72% 32% +40
My company’s leader is more willing to talk with the
news media than he/she was a few years ago. 50% 24% +26
My company’s leader underestimates the importance of
his/her participation in social media. 26% 23% +3
My company’s leader is much less inclined to
take risks than he/she was a few years ago. 29% 28% +1
My company’s leader is focused almost exclusively
on the bottom line. 47% 55% -8
My company’s leader does not care what others
think about the company. 21% 31% -10
In our research, two in 10 executives (22%) describe their CEOs as humble.
Highly regarded CEOs are nearly six times as likely as poorly regarded CEOs
to be considered humble by their executives (34% vs. 6%, respectively).
Being humble is one thing, but is humility an effective CEO characteristic?
According to our finding, the answer is a clear “Yes!” Executives with
humble CEOs are more likely than average to describe their CEO as a good
communicator (internally and externally), comfortable talking to the news
media and open and accessible. Humble CEOs are even more likely to win
awards for themselves or for the company and are about twice as likely as
the average CEO to participate in social media. A new study among Chinese
CEOs from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University
found that humble CEOs should not be underestimated. They can be strong
bosses because they empower and motivate those around them.
One-third of global executives (30%) report that the reputation of their
CEOs is very strong internally. That is, these CEOs have a strong reputation
among their own employees. Knowing how influential employee opinion
is today, Weber Shandwick wanted to understand the drivers of CEO
reputation from the employee perspective.
What factors distinguish CEOs most liked by employees? The most
noticeable differences are trust, ethical behaviour, keeping a pulse on
company goings on, being scandal-free, and being media-friendly. Less
highly regarded CEOs are faulted for focusing too much on the bottom line
and being apathetic toward the company’s reputation.
Inside Look at CEO Reputation6
Global executives agree…
CEOhasaVERYSTRONG
reputationinternallyCEOhasaWEAK
reputationinternallyGAP(strongreputation
minusweak)
How executives describe their CEOs
Good communicator internally
Good communicator externally
Comfortable talking to the
news media
Open and accessible
Wins awards for self or company
Participates in social media
Total global executives
35%
56%
34%
54%
34%
46%
29%
57%
21%
37%
15%
28%
Executives with humble CEOs
11. 18 | The CEO Reputation Premium The CEO Reputation Premium | 19
Mea Culpa: apologies are overused, but sincere
A company misstep or wrongdoing often necessitates a CEO acknowledging
what went awry. Sometimes conceding to what happened can take the form of
an apology, which, for the most part, executives often perceive to be sincere
and genuine.Three-quarters of executives (74%) report that CEO apologies in
general are genuine, at least some of the time. Of course, it is important not to
overlook the fact that 26% also think that CEOs in general are rarely or almost
never sincere in their apologies.
“To be effective, and ultimately beneficial, an apology must be done
thoughtfully and well. Given the litigious world we live in, the stakes
are high. As every corporate legal counsel will tell you, everything
you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. At the
same time, a growing body of research indicates that apologies
and atonement can reduce monetary exposure in litigation, while
perceived denial or recalcitrance only makes the plaintiff’s bar
richer. So the decision to apologise in a crisis requires a balance
between liability concerns and overall business interests.”
— PETER DUDA, EVP/MANAGEMENT SUPERVISOR, CO-HEAD GLOBAL
CRISIS AND ISSUES, WEBER SHANDWICK, PR WEEK, JANUARY 2012
While executives predominantly give CEOs the benefit of the doubt on
sincerity, half (49%) believe that apologies are overused.
There is some merit to the claim that CEO apologies are overdone. In February
2014, The New YorkTimes columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin called for an
apology cease-fire. He says that the avalanche of CEO apologies is becoming
theatrical. Sorkin and management guru Dov Seidman started Apology Watch
on the DealBook website and hashtag #ApologyWatch to track apologies from
chief executives.They intend to keep CEOs and companies accountable for
what they promise to do post-crisis.
“Any leader who makes a mistake serious enough to
warrant a public apology ought to take a look in the
mirror and reflect on the root causes of the offense …
an authentic apology is best seen as a commitment to
change behaviour over the long term, a commitment
that can’t be made without a pause to carefully consider
what just happened and what comes next.”
“AFTER AN APOLOGY COMES THE REBUILDING OF TRUST”
THE NEW YORK TIMES, FEBRUARY 2014
Our study does not suggest that CEOs should quit apologising — on the
contrary. Apologies should be both specific and strategic, acknowledging what
happened while laying out a plan for how the company plans to overcome or
address the issue. An apology must be followed up with action and a heavy
dose of empathy.
CEO apologies are sincere and genuine…
Nearly always Most of the time Some of the time Rarely Almost never
21%
5%
6%
27%
41%
74% agree:
CEO apologies are
genuine at least
some of the time
12. 20 | The CEO Reputation Premium
“To fully leverage a CEO’s reputational equity, corporate
communicators need to establish what the executive stands for,
how that connects to larger corporate business goals, and how it
relates to society at large. Once the strategic narrative is agreed
upon, CEOs can tell their company story over and over at the right
venues at the right time and to the right audiences.”
— MICHO SPRING, CHAIR, GLOBAL CORPORATE PRACTICE
WEBER SHANDWICK
The CEO Reputation Premium | 21
PART II: CEO ENGAGEMENT NOW REQUIRED
PART II
CEO Engagement Now Required
Part I makes it clear that CEO reputation matters to a company’s overall
health and wellbeing.The challenge is how to build and manage it well. If
CEO reputation is shaped by the perceptions of both internal and external
stakeholders, how does a CEO get to be known and heard, respected and,
ultimately, understood? How can CEO engagement or visibility be maximised
effectively in this 24/7 world where everyone is a public figure and
information is endlessly pixelated? CEO engagement today encompasses a
range of activities, from a CEO’s internal and external communications to their
willingness to be accessible to the media to having an online presence.Taken
as a whole, the degree of a CEO’s engagement is something that he or she can
control, dial up, dial back, or calibrate depending on the situation.There are
risks, surely, but if carefully and strategically managed and driven by a greater
purpose, a CEO’s reputation can be elevated and strengthened through
greater public engagement.
Importantly, as CEOs engage their various publics inside and outside their
organisations, they have to have something to say that keeps their companies
at the forefront of change. CEO thought leadership should transcend sectors
and geographic borders, and distinguish and differentiate a company from its
competitors. As the CEO of GE Jeffrey Immelt said, “It’s got to be repeatable;
it’s got to be learnable; it’s got to be teachable.”
This section of the report delves deeply into CEO public engagement and
visibility, ground rules for success, and fault lines for failure.The research
provides insights into building lasting and enduring corporate reputations
as CEOs are increasingly seen on a wider public stage and even inside
corporate walls.
13. 22 | The CEO Reputation Premium The CEO Reputation Premium | 23
PART II: CEO ENGAGEMENT NOW REQUIRED PART II: CEO ENGAGEMENT NOW REQUIRED
For a company to be highly regarded, its CEO needs to be visibly engaged
with its many audiences. A full eight in 10 executives (81%) report that it is
important for CEOs to have a visible public profile for a company to be highly
regarded.This was not always the case. Years ago, CEOs and those around
them confused CEO visibility with CEO celebrity.Today, it is not about CEO
celebrity, but CEO credibility.Today, CEO visibility means having a greater
presence, but this time, with greater purpose.
Executives with highly reputable
leaders are even more likely to agree
that CEOs need a visible presence.
Among executives who report that
they work for CEOs with a very
strong reputation, a full 88% believe
that it is important for CEOs to have
a visible public profile, a figure which
is significantly higher than those with
CEOs who have weak reputations
(69%). Despite these differences, the
findings are clear that executives expect their CEOs to be publicly engaged if
they want better corporate reputations.To have admirable reputations today,
CEOs are going to have to embrace their public personas.
CEO Public Engagement is the New Mandate1
81%of executives report that
it is important for CEOs to
have a visible public profile
for a company to be highly
regarded.
% executives agree that for a company to be highly regarded,
it is important for CEOs to have a visible public profile
There is a close tie between reputation and executive external relations.
Admired CEOs are four times more likely to be seen as good at engaging the
public than those with less admired status (50% vs. 13%, respectively). Highly
regarded CEOs are also more likely to be perceived as comfortable with the
news media, winners of awards and recognition and social media participants.
How executives describe their CEOs
Good communicator externally
Comfortable talking
to the news media
Wins awards for company
or self
Participates in social media
13%
19%
9%
7%
Executives with highly regarded CEOs Executives with poorly regarded CEOs
Significantly higher than executives with poorly regarded CEOs
Significantly higher than executives with poorly regarded CEOs
Active external relations by the CEO have the potential to be a highly
effective reputation builder, but are not without some risk. Therefore,
engagement activities need to be strategically planned and thoughtfully
managed to fully leverage all the upsides. When executives were asked
whether CEO visibility positively or negatively impacts corporate reputation,
an equal number said it improves reputation (41%), or can either improve or
harm reputation (41%). Only 10% think that CEO visibility hurts a company’s
reputation. CEO visibility is not without risk, but the rate of executives who
think it improves reputation suggests that effectively managing a CEO’s
public presence can go a long way toward contributing to a company’s
success and stature.
50%
47%
34%
24%
81%Total Global Executives
Executives with Highly Regarded CEOs
Executives with Poorly Regarded CEOs
88%
69%
14. 24 | The CEO Reputation Premium The CEO Reputation Premium | 25
PART II: CEO ENGAGEMENT NOW REQUIRED PART II: CEO ENGAGEMENT NOW REQUIRED
Compared to executives with male CEOs, executives with female CEOs
have a greater propensity to report that their CEOs engage externally.
Female CEOs are described as more comfortable than male CEOs when
talking to the news media (39% vs. 33%, respectively) and are more
willing to talk to the media compared to several years ago (52% vs. 43%,
respectively). The female CEOs of executives in our study are also slightly
more likely to participate in social media (20% vs. 15%, respectively).
Their tendency toward public engagement is likely why female CEOs are
also perceived as being more open and accessible. Perhaps female business
leaders such as Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and
PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi appear to garner coverage easily and leave the
impression that they are at ease with this role. Or, with so few women in the
C-suite, it may be harder for the ones at the top to stay out of the spotlight.
As more and more women enter the C-suite, it will be exciting to see if they
continue to be as externally engaged as the pioneers reflected in our study.
“Our research confirms that CEO visibility among external
stakeholders is critical to corporate reputation. However,
if not managed strategically, public visibility can be risky.
It takes careful planning and thoughtful programming to
ensure engagement activities are properly aligned to build
maximum reputational equity for the CEO, the senior team,
and the company.”
— CAROL BALLOCK, EVP, EXECUTIVE EQUITY & ENGAGEMENT LEAD
WEBER SHANDWICK
How executives describe their CEOs
Executives believe it is important for CEOs to partake in external relationship-
building and shine spotlights on their companies.The question is, which of the
many available platforms are most important for CEOs when their time is so
limited? Luckily, the options are plentiful. Here is what executives surveyed
recommend for CEOs who want to step out onto a broader stage:
CEOs Need an External Profile in More Ways Than One2
More willing to talk with the news media compared to several years ago
Comfortable talking to the news media
Open and accessible
Participates in social media
Significantly higher than executives with male CEOs
Impact of CEO being highly public or visible
Improves company reputation
Hurts company reputation
Both equally
Neither
Not sure
41%
4% 4%
41%
10%
52%
39%
33%
20%
43%
33%
28%
15%
Executives with
female CEOs
Executives with
male CEOs
15. 26 | The CEO Reputation Premium The CEO Reputation Premium | 27
PART II: CEO ENGAGEMENT NOW REQUIRED PART II: CEO ENGAGEMENT NOW REQUIRED
• Speak at industry or trade conferences (76%). At the top of the list of
external engagement activities given to respondents, executives report
that it’s most important for CEOs to speak at industry-related events, which
are even more important than non-industry-specific leadership events
(60%).This may best be explained by several factors. First, and as seen in
Part I of this report, the industry sector that a company sits within is one
of the leading drivers of corporate reputation, according to executives.
Conferences are an obvious stage for recognition as an industry leader.
Second, speaking at industry-related conferences highlights a CEO’s
expertise and prominence in the industry and levels the playing field among
competitors. An industry event is an equaliser — attendees share similar
goals and experiences. Third, the audiences at industry platforms are
usually comprised of the best contacts to advance the company’s business
and attract new talent.
• Be accessible to the news media (71%). Our research indicates that CEOs
are more media-friendly today: four in 10 executives (43%) agree that their
company leader is more willing to talk with the news media today than he
or she was several years ago.This suggests that CEOs, like their colleagues
surveyed in this study, see the importance of engaging with the news media.
Board members would not be doing their jobs in selecting CEO successors if
they did not require incoming CEOs to be media-savvy and media-prepared.
In this polarised and “gotcha” media environment that waits for no one, it is
imperative for CEOs to be able to interface skillfully with journalists.
• Be visible on the company website (68%). Weber Shandwick’s prior
research on social CEOs, The Social CEO: ExecutivesTell All, found that
many CEOs use corporate websites to engage publicly, either with video,
pictures, or the written word. Executives in that research reported many
benefits of using the company website for CEO communications, including
sharing company news and information, giving the company a human face,
enhancing the company’s credibility in the marketplace, and attracting best
talent. In our new study, 68% of executives close to the top believe that the
company website is an attractive choice for enhancing CEO reputation and
that of the company.
Between one-half and two-thirds of executives also think it’s important for
CEOs to share new insights with the public, be active in the local community,
be visible on the corporate video channel, speak at non-industry-specific
leadership events, hold positions of leadership outside the company, and
publicly take positions on issues that affect society at large (e.g., world
hunger). Demand for public CEO engagement is high and is only expected
to grow as more distribution channels develop and audiences fragment
even more.
Speak at industry or trade conferences
Be accessible to the news media
Be visible on the company website
Share new insights and trends with
the public
Be active in local community
Be visible on the corporate
video channel
Speak at leadership events not specific
to industry
Hold positions of leadership outside
the company
Publicly take positions on issues that
affect society at large
Participate in social media
Publicly take positions on policy and
political issues
External visibility activities that are important for CEOs to do
76%
71%
68%
67%
64%
63%
60%
53%
52%
43%
36%
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PART II: CEO ENGAGEMENT NOW REQUIRED PART II: CEO ENGAGEMENT NOW REQUIRED
Highly regarded CEOs have a higher
social media participation rate than
the average CEO (24% vs. 15%,
respectively), and are approximately
three times as likely as CEOs with weak
reputations to participate in social
media (24% vs. 7%, respectively).
Executives whose CEOs participate in
social media are significantly
more likely than those who don’t to
describe their leaders with multiple
positive characteristics.
Despite the rewards that come with
being social, not everyone is on board.
Approximately four in 10 executives
(39%) believe that it is inappropriate
for CEOs to participate in social media.
The fact that these executives’ CEOs
are largely missing from the social
scene may contribute to their point of
view. Only 6% of executives who think
CEO social media use is inappropriate
actually have a CEO who participates in
social media.
CEO Social Media Engagement
Comes with Reputational Rewards
3 How executives describe their CEOs
Has a clear vision for the company
Has a global business outlook
Good communicator internally
Good communicator externally
Cares that the company is a good place to work
Honest and ethical
Innovative
Decisive
Inspires and motivates others
Acknowledges the contributions of others
Competitive
Takes responsibility when things go wrong
Attracts top talent
Open and accessible
Excellent in crisis
Collaborative
Cares about others
Wins awards for company or self
A good listener
Executives with
social CEOs
44%
37%
30%
30%
Significantly higher than executives with unsocial CEOsExecutives with
unsocial CEOs
66%
64%
61%
60%
60%
57%
57%
55%
54%
53%
51%
49%
49%
49%
44%
21%
16%
19%
21%
21%
25%
20%
25%
55%
55%
54%
27%
33%
28%
27%
32%
25%
41%
49%
56%of executives follow business
leaders on social media,
including their own senior
management and CEOs of
other companies
55%of executives who have a
social CEO follow him or
her on social media
17. 30 | The CEO Reputation Premium
PART II : CEO ENGAGEMENT NOW REQUIRED
Does public engagement mean that CEOs should get involved in big policy
decisions or political issues? In a world where business and the economy often
intersect policy, it seems logical that CEOs would sometimes be expected
to take a public stance on political issues — especially in cases where these
issues impact how their organisations operate and succeed.
Our research suggests that CEOs would be advised to proceed with caution
when it comes to taking a public stand on policy or political issues. Executives
are more likely to think that it is inappropriate for CEOs to take a public
position than it is important (48% vs. 36%, respectively).This does not mean
that CEOs should refrain from taking positions, but that they should carefully
weigh the pros and cons and be sure that their stance aligns closely with their
company’s business goals. Executives may feel that when a CEO takes a public
stand on a policy issue, it places their CEO and company squarely in the public
eye, and not on the sidelines.There is no doubt that negative publicity can
ensue if CEOs take a stand on an issue that conflicts with the goals of their
company and with customer attitudes.
CEOs Should Exercise Caution When Taking a Public Stance on Policy4
Sometimes CEOs opt to take on these roles as private citizens — an identity
which is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain as the dividing lines
between private and public lives erode. Other CEOs may prefer to band
together to address political issues through industry associations or business
organisations such asThe Business Roundtable. No matter what a CEO
chooses to do policy-wise, it would be wise to conduct some research before
going public to determine whether there could be any vulnerability to the
company’s reputation.
The CEO Reputation Premium | 31
Appropriateness of CEOs taking public positions on
policy or political issues
36%
Important
for CEOs to do
Inappropriate
for CEOs to do
48%
18. 32 | The CEO Reputation Premium The CEO Reputation Premium | 33
Regional differences in CEO engagement
The importance of public CEO visibility varies little by region. When asked
about CEO visibility in general, executives from APAC and LatAm see slightly
more importance. However, the difference is pronounced for online visibility.
Theory and practice collide when it comes to regional views on CEO public
engagement. When asked about their own CEO’s visibility, North American
executives assign higher ratings than do their European, APAC and LatAm
peers to CEO engagement actions. Our research revealed some differences
around visibility, including…
• Compared to European, APAC and LatAm executives, North American
executives perceive their leaders to be better communicators, both
internally and externally.
• North American executives are significantly more likely than those from
Europe, APAC and LatAm to say that their CEOs are comfortable talking
to the news media. However, Europe, APAC and LatAm may soon catch up.
Four in 10 European executives (41%) and approximately half of APAC
executives (49%) and LatAm executives (49%) report that their CEOs
are more willing to talk with the news media today than they were several
years ago.
Importance of CEO visibility (% executives agree)
For a company to be
highly regarded, it is
important for the
CEO to have a visible
public profile
North America 79%
Europe 78%
APAC 84%
LatAm 84%
For a company to be
highly regarded, it is
important for the CEO to
be visible on the internet
(e.g., in company videos,
on social media, online
news sources)
North America 62%
Europe 68%
APAC 78%
LatAm 83%
How executives describe their CEOs
Comfortable talking to
the news media
Significantly higher
than other regions
57%
38%
26%
North American
executives
European
executives
APAC
executives
35%
32%
46%
37%
31%
23%
41%
49%
14%
12%
15%
29%
30%
34%
34%
49%
LatAm
executives
47%
Good communicator
internally
Good communicator
externally
More willing to talk
with the news media
compared to several
years ago
Participates in
social media
19. 34 | The CEO Reputation Premium
PART III: THE CEO’S GUIDE TO REPUTATION AND ENGAGEMENT
PART III
The CEO’s Guide to Reputation
and Engagement
Assess the CEO’s reputational premium. Considering the impact that
a CEO’s reputation has on market value and the degree of influence it
has on a company’s reputation, a company’s leader is too valuable to
keep hidden or silent. Determine your top executive’s strengths (their
equity) and areas where he or she underperforms relative to peers and
even aspirational peers to determine what to capitalise on and what to
improve. Keep in mind that highly regarded top executives are known
as being good communicators with clear visions for the company.
Develop the CEO’s “equity” statement. This defines what the CEO
authentically and distinctively stands for and how that connects
to the larger business goals of the company. It might reflect his or
her leadership beliefs, or how he or she is a change agent within the
industry. Without developing a succinct and credible equity statement,
it will be difficult to fully leverage the CEO’s reputation and capitalise
on visibility opportunities.
1
2
Weber Shandwick recommends that business leaders and their companies
consider the following strategies to bolster CEO engagement on a visible
scale and reap the reputational benefits that come with effectively engaging
stakeholders wherever they happen to be.
The CEO Reputation Premium | 35
20. 36 | The CEO Reputation Premium The CEO Reputation Premium | 37
PART III: THE CEO’S GUIDE TO REPUTATION AND ENGAGEMENT PART III: THE CEO’S GUIDE TO REPUTATION AND ENGAGEMENT
Identify and develop the CEO’s story on behalf of the company.
Once the equity statement has been determined and developed, the
CEO’s message or vision can be embedded in a compelling story that
delineates the greater purpose behind the company. Some CEOs may
want to visibly share company news, while others may see greater
opportunity in making themselves known as an industry expert, a
thought leader on a topic of societal importance, or an ambassador
to the larger world. Ask hard questions such as whether your CEO
is sufficiently communicating how the company is expanding or
challenging industry horizons, creating new markets, developing
innovative products and services that are bettering society, or creating
new knowledge that radically changes what is possible.
Be an industry advocate. Industry is a leading driver of corporate
reputation today, which means a successful CEO will be an industry
champion or possibly challenger of the norm. Speaking at industry
events, holding positions of leadership in industry organisations, and
having presence in industry trade publications are examples of ways
CEOs can show that not only are they leaders of their own companies,
but leaders of the industry at large.
Leverage the bench. The CEO’s senior management team influences
corporate reputation, too. In developing a CEO’s platform, story,
and communications plan, it’s important to consider how other
senior executives fit into the picture and can help validate the
corporate narrative. An integrated approach substantially increases
the company’s overall visibility and aligns all leaders with common
messaging against common business goals.
Bulk up on media training. Being accessible to the news media is one
of the most important things a CEO can do to be externally visible. But
the opportunity lies not just in being open to engaging with the news
media, but in being adept at doing so, especially when your company is
in the spotlight. The most reputable CEOs are the most comfortable
and skilled at talking to the news media. To keep pace with this elite
group and ensure that CEOs are in the position to communicate the
company story that drives market value, organisations should continue
to invest, or start investing, in frequent and formal media training.
Effectively sharing company news or expertise with the media puts a
human face to the corporate story and allows the company to at least
be embedded in part of the conversation and spread of word of mouth.
Carefully evaluate CEO’s stance on public policy. Keep in mind that
taking a public position on policy may not be the most appropriate way
to make oneself and the company known. CEOs should be cautious
in taking any position that isn’t obviously aligned to advance the
business. When communicating the position, it needs to be clearly
and transparently connected to the business interests of customers
and communities. This gives leaders “permission” to take the position.
CEOs must also be mindful that any public position impacts other
stakeholders such as employees.
Decide which venue is right for the CEO. There are numerous ways
CEOs can have a public presence, meaning engagement requires a
multifaceted approach. Understand which kind of activity is the best
channel for communicating the CEO’s message, whether it’s a speaking
event, position of leadership outside the company, video, news article,
or even a post on a social network like Twitter or Weibo. Think about
whether your CEO should be making greater use of content publishing
on LinkedIn, which can have enormous reach to curated and receptive
audiences (with usernames attached to public comments on LinkedIn
posts, comments are more likely to be positive than negative).
Live media (conferences, summits, forums, etc.) is a fast-growing
reputation-enhancer that offers an unprecedented number of channels
to choose from. It would be hard to ignore how media companies have
massively ramped up their live media business. For example, Atlantic
Media stages more than 200 events a year, The New York Times had
16 events scheduled for 2014. Financial Times Live is the conference
and events division of the Financial Times. Arianna Huffington’s Third
3
4
5
6
7
8
21. 38 | The CEO Reputation Premium The CEO Reputation Premium | 39
PART III: THE CEO’S GUIDE TO REPUTATION AND ENGAGEMENT PART III: THE CEO’S GUIDE TO REPUTATION AND ENGAGEMENT
Metric was convened last year and continues to thrive. CEOs and other
top executives are flocking to these live events to get their messages
out and repurposed before receptive and influential audiences that
enhance reputation.
Develop a solid social strategy. Having a social presence, no matter
how small, puts CEOs in the position to share their stories with a
greater audience and experience the reputational benefits that
come with being online. Social media participation is higher among
well-regarded CEOs, highlighting that there are benefits to being
social. To choose the right social platform, minimise risk and control
the conversation, have a strategic plan in place that identifies the
goals of social participation (e.g., conversing with stakeholders,
sharing expertise) and the story the CEO intends to deliver. Social
media training also goes a long way in making sure senior leadership
understands the importance of being online and knows how to
effectively use social tools to their advantage.
Keep reputation drivers at the top of your to-do list. Companies
have more control over some reputation drivers than others. Have
effective plans in place for communicating and engaging stakeholders
because marketing and communications have a great deal of influence
on company reputation today. Participating in CSR initiatives and
applying for awards and rankings can also go a long way in improving
corporate reputation. Know your company’s strengths and weaknesses
and have a measurement plan in place to track their performance.
Include reputation drivers and metrics in your leadership dashboard.
Bolster CEO reputation among your own employees. How can a CEO
improve reputation internally? Build trust by communicating plans for
the company to show that the CEO understands the organisation’s best
interests and is working to do the right thing for the company. This also
helps to show that the CEO knows what’s going on inside the company.
Internal reputation can also be improved by acting ethically and
communicating the importance of ethical conduct. This is one aspect
that greatly sets CEOs with strong internal reputations apart from
those with weak internal reputations.
Don’t view CEO humility as a weakness. It is, in fact, a desirable
quality that is associated with a positive reputation and effective
communications style. It is also a trait that the global media has tuned
into, so consider it part of the “CEO reputation premium!”
Conclusion
The goal of The CEO Reputation Premium: Gaining Advantage in the
Engagement Era is to quantify CEO reputation and measure the importance
of CEO engagement from those closest to the CEO. Due to the strong link
between CEO and company reputation and market value, the reputation
of the CEO is at a premium today, and is only going to grow more valuable.
Keeping a very low profile is no longer an option in our increasingly
connected and transparent world. Although there are risks that come with
public visibility, taking the CEO out from behind closed doors actually puts
control of the CEO’s and company’s reputation in their own hands. In today’s
highly volatile world, CEO and company reputations are constantly shifting
due to what’s being said about them in the media, on social media, blogs and
in unexpected places by employees and customers. CEOs have no choice
but to counter much of that he-said/she-said conversation by explaining
what their companies stand for and why it is important to hear what they
have to say. Of course, CEOs have to be comfortable in their own skins when
taking on this new mantle, but as a new generation takes the reins, public
engagement with a greater purpose will only increase, and will become the
new corporate imperative.
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22. 40 | The CEO Reputation Premium
For more information aboutThe CEO Reputation Premium: Gaining Advantage in
the Engagement Era, please contact: ThoughtLeadership@webershandwick.com
23. 42 | The CEO Reputation Premium
PART III: THE CEO’S GUIDE TO REPUTATION AND ENGAGEMENT