HARRISON THE BUSINESS Leadership Communication P R C EXPERT PRESS How Leaders Communicate and How Don W. Stacks and Donald K. Wright, Editors DIGITAL LIBRARIES Communicators Lead in Today’s Global • MÜHLBERG EBOOKS FOR Enterprise BUSINESS STUDENTS E. Bruce Harrison • Judith Mühlberg Curriculum-oriented, born- My graduate students like this book’s real-world focus on public digital books for advanced relations as a strategic role in the C-suite. —Ron Culp, professional business students, written director, Public Relations & Advertising graduate program, Leadership by academic thought DePaul University; former Senior Vice President, Chief Com- leaders who translate real- munication Of cer, Sears world business experience Leadership in Communication is a cogent, bright, easily readable Communication into course readings and de nition of what corporate communicators do. More than that, it’s reference materials for an uncommonly careful look at how strategic communication de nes, How Leaders Communicate students expecting to tackle drives, and creates value for a commercial enterprise—its employees, management and leadership its owners, and those whom they serve. —James S. O’Rourke, IV, challenges during their PhD, Professor of Management, Mendoza College of Business, and How Communicators Lead professional careers. University of Notre Dame The quality of leadership in any organization—business, LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION POLICIES BUILT social, military, and government—is enhanced or limited by the in Today’s Global Enterprise BY LIBRARIANS quality of its leadership communication. The authors assert • Unlimited simultaneous that leader ship is given force by strategic communication that usage produces results required in competitive conditions. For the • Unrestricted downloading professional in enterprise communication, this brings into and printing focus two questions: What is the relevance of com munication • Perpetual access for a in the leadership process of reaching best achievable outcomes one-time fee (BAOs)? And, how does the primary communication professio- • No platform or nal attain expert in uence and success in a leadership position? maintenance fees This book provides insights and guidance on functioning at the • Free MARC records highest levels of the corpo rate communications profession. • No license to execute E. Bruce Harrison teaches business leadership communication The Digital Libraries are a at Georgetown University. He holds the 2009 Distinguished E. Bruce Harrison comprehensive, cost-e ective Service Award from the Arthur W. Page Society; the 2001 Betsy Plank Distinguished Achievement Award from the University way to deliver practical of Alabama; and the Society of Professional Journalists’ Distin- Judith Mühlberg treatments of important guished Service Award for his work on media freedom. business issues to every student and faculty member. Judith Mühlberg holds a JD from Michigan State University, and was recognized in 2012 as A&S Outstanding Alumna by the University of Wyoming. She is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and is an expe- rienced leader in key elds of communication advocacy, in For further information, a aerospace, automotive, and in strategy execution consulting free trial, or to order, contact: with Fortune 500 companies. She is also a member of the [email protected] Arthur W. Page Society and Women Corporate Directors. www.businessexpertpress.com/librarians P R C Don W. Stacks and Donald K. Wright, Editors ISBN: 978-160649-808-8 Leadership Communication Leadership Communication How Leaders Communicate and How Communicators Lead in Today’s Global Enterprise E. Bruce Harrison and Judith Mühlberg Leadership Communication: How Leaders Communicate and How Communicators Lead in Today’s Global Enterprise Copyright © Business Expert Press, LLC, 2014. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations, not to exceed 400 words, without the prior permission of the publisher. First published in 2014 by Business Expert Press, LLC 222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017 www.businessexpertpress.com ISBN-13: 978-160649-808-8 (paperback) ISBN-13: 978-160649-809-5 (e-book) Business Expert Press Public Relations Collection Collection ISSN: 2157-345X (print) Collection ISSN: 2157-3476 (electronic) Cover and interior design by Exeter Premedia Services Private Ltd., Chennai, India First edition: 2014 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America. To CCOs and future CCOs: Knowing that it’s about leading and communicating, in the realization that you can’t do one without the other. Abstract The quality of leadership in any organization—business, social, military, and government—is enhanced or limited by the quality of its leadership communication. The authors of this book, both of whom are experienced in the practice and study of enterprise communication, assert that leader- ship is given force by strategic communication that produces results required in competitive conditions. For the professional in enterprise communication, this brings into focus two questions: (1) What is the relevance of com- munication in the leadership process of reaching best achievable outcomes (BAOs)? and (2) How does the primary communication professional attain expert influence and success in a leadership position? This book provides insights and guidance on functioning at the highest levels of the corpo- rate communications profession. This function by an individual identified in many companies as the chief communication officer(CCO) has risen in importance in free-enterprise economies, coincident with the evolution of social media, journalism, data analytics, government engagement, change management, and other factors shaping enterprise strategies and success. The book examines the enterprise CCO at three levels: the communicator rising toward, or newly positioned in responsibility for, enterprise commu- nication; the CCO as a collaborator in leadership with others (chief execu- tive and chief financial officer are examples of those with whom leadership communication is structured and driven); and the developed, influential communication chief dealing with missions, strategies, and the execution of enterprise vision. A detailed guidance is given on information flow that takes advantage of stakeholder perception management and the produc- tive, enabled employee culture. Crisis communication in modern contexts is explained, with emphasis on precrisis intelligence gathering through social conversation analysis, and procedures for crisis communication man- agement are drawn from cases provided by CCOs in author interviews and lectures in the authors’ graduate classes at Georgetown University. viii ABSTRACT Keywords advocacy, Arthur W. Page, best achievable outcomes, business pur- pose, CCO, chief communication officer, chief executive officer, collaboration, communication consulting, corporate character, corporate communications, corporate governance, corporate reputation, crisis com- munication, C-suite communication, culture change, employee value proposition, enterprise culture, influence, information flow, leadership communication skills, leadership presentation, leadership traits, leading change, shared value deals, social media analysis, stakeholder perception management, strategic communications, strategic leadership, strategy execution, strategy implementation, transformational change, vision, WIIFM, workplace motivation Contents Advance Quotes for Leadership in Communication ..................................xi Preface ................................................................................................xiii Part I The New Model CCO: Grasping the Opportunity ............................................................... 1 Chapter 1 What’s In It for You? ........................................................3 Chapter 2 Leadership Is Communication .......................................23 Chapter 3 Leadership Traits............................................................39 Chapter 4 How Communicators Lead in the C-Suite .....................53 Chapter 5 Influence: Replacing and Reasserting “Control” ............71 Part II The Influential CCO: Skills and Competence ........... 89 Chapter 6 Listening: Where Communication Begins .....................91 Chapter 7 Culture: Understanding and Influencing .....................111 Chapter 8 CEO Letter: Leadership’s Cardinal Communication ..........................................................133 Chapter 9 Language and Presentation ..........................................151 Chapter 10 Limits: Corporate Governance .....................................173 Part III The Working CCO: Leadership in Context ............. 181 Chapter 11 Crisis Basics: “Topic A Bad News” and the CCO ........183 Chapter 12 Crisis Communication Strategies and Execution .........201 Chapter 13 Pre-crisis Intelligence: SEC Risk Factors ......................223 Chapter 14 Sustainable Business Communication: Financial, Social, and Civic ..........................................................233 Chapter 15 Continuing the Trustworthy Deal ................................251 References ...........................................................................................263 Index .................................................................................................277