The CEOs and the Importance of a Chief Communications Officer
The CEOs agreed that having a Chief Communications Officer (CCO) is crucial for business success. They agreed that good CCOs should at least have the following characteristics:
- First, a competent CCO should be extremely meticulous with details, able to present hard data, facts, and numbers; (Arthur W. Page Society, 2013).
- Second, the CCO must comprehend and be familiar with social media dynamics. Social media should not be disregarded because it currently plays a significant role in communications with various stakeholders (Arthur W. Page Society, 2013).
- The CEOs also required their CCO’s to be prompt with their response, such that they can give feedback at any given time regarding the status of the company.
- They also wanted officers who had a good understanding of how the business works as this is very primary (Arthur W. Page Society, 2013).
- The CEOs desired the officers to be collaborative with other persons as the goals of an enterprise can only be achieved with a team. The CEO’s expected their officers in charge of communications to have excellent networking skills and rich contact portfolio. They are supposed to have contacts everywhere with the media, stakeholders the potential partners and the employees (Arthur W. Page Society, 2013).
The Role of Chief Communications Officers
The CEO’s also cited the responsibilities of the CCO’s as follows:
- First, they expected the officers in charge of communications to manage the new communication channels such as the Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms (Arthur W. Page Society, 2013).
- Secondly, their role is to ensure that they maintain an excellent corporate reputation of the enterprises they represent. The CEOs also believed the work of the CCO is to quickly defend the company against attacks and produce hard facts and detail to prove it (Arthur W. Page Society, 2013).
- The communications officer should lead the team in making sure that the business goals communicated outside are the same one that the internal employees are striving to achieve.
- Furthermore, the role of the CCO is to take the global approach to communicate issues by incorporating various languages. Also, the officer needs to produce status reports for the business often.
Impact of Self-Awareness, Cultural and Emotional Intelligence
Self-awareness, cultural understanding, and emotional intelligence are essential skills for strategic communication. A communicator that is self-aware knows his/her strengths and weaknesses and is sure to use her high attributes to articulate issues to the audience (Franchetti, 2016). Cultural awareness enables the communicator to give information that is relevant in any given context. Emotional intelligence affects the ability of the communicator to present critical corporate issues with authenticity and integrity (Franchetti, 2016). Emotional intelligence assists the speaker to respond to tough questions without becoming easily flustered (Franchetti, 2016).
References
Arthur W. Page Society. (2013). The CEO View: The Impact of Communications on Corporate Characters in a 24×7 Digital World. Arthur W. Page Society.
Franchetti, S. (2016, October 11). Emotional Intelligence and Its Impact on Communication in the Workplace. Retrieved November 26, 2017, from Franchetti Website: https://franchetti.com/emotional-intelligence-impact-communication-workplace/
