A lot of communicators are jealous of you, Mr. or Mrs. CEO or C-suite communicator. That’s right, your functional peers envy your access to the CEO and your ability to put words in his mouth that make him sound genius. The CEO trusts you to make him look good and sound smart, and you deliver with captivating speeches that reiterate strategy and motivate people to act. You have the proverbial “seat at the table” that communicators covet!

But what if I told you that what got you that seat won’t necessarily help you keep it, especially given a change in CEO? Allow me to propose that being a solid speech writing is no longer “enough” to be an effective supporter of CEO communication.

Hear me out. What if today’s best executive-level communicators are those that act more as coaches than true speechwriters? Imagine. In this capacity, you would spend less time writing and editing drafts to get to “the perfect speech” and more time feeding insights and perspective from the front lines to challenge executive thinking. You would spend less time orchestrating major presidential-like events and more time hosting small discussion groups among employees.

Help Execs in the “In Between” Moments
Now why would you, an executive communicator, lessen your focus on your bread and butter activity? It sounds crazy! Well, you might if you believed that executive communication today is a lot less about formal “wow” presentations at the typical “big” moments like the annual strategy kickoff or the quarterly investor relations call and is a lot more about what’s happening in between those major moments.

Many of you tell me that you struggle with closing the say-do gap at the executive level. It’s painful to write a speech that focuses on being more flexible as an organization only to see the CEO enforcing red tape or pressing for more analysis to make decisions. So how can you help executives help themselves by aligning daily behaviors to momentous speeches?

For starters, think like a coach. Ask yourself:

• Are you challenging executive assumptions with feedback and perspective from the frontlines by both employees, customers, and other stakeholders?
• Are you building executive comfort with handling uncertainty? Are you leading efforts to train executives not only in media relations basics, but also in dialogue scenarios with stakeholder groups?
• Are you helping the executive recognize the inadvertent signals—the eye rolls, the glares, the tell vs. ask mentality—that might prevent open communication around the company?

Move beyond Your Comfort Zone
Of course, chances are you haven’t been given the latitude to act less as speechwriter and more as executive coach. That said your own tendencies and preferences might also be holding you back from considering this expanded responsibility. If I had to guess, most executive communicators fall into The Presenter skill profile cohort. This means that you are great at creating simple, memorable messages and motivating audiences to take action. You’re less great, however, at strategic agility & judgment, interpersonal influence, and critical thinking. Taken together, I think that these three skills “under development” are essential to focus on to not only complement your existing strengths, but also to propel you to delivering different-in-kind impact for your executive.

A few companies that we’ve come across are broadening the type of support they provide executives. As a result, these communicators counsel is becoming increasingly sought after and appreciated. For example, the Communications team with a business unit at GlaxoSmithKline has lead sessions with the company’s leaders to help them develop the self-awareness of their communication habits necessary empower their staff.

I admit that speech writing isn’t likely to go away any time soon, but even your approach to this common activity could be improved!  Intuit, for example, outlines every executive speech with “bumper stickers”—short, catchy phrases that are repeated throughout a presentation and meant to be tweeted!

Get in Touch

Are your expectations changing? Do you need to vent about your CEO’s communication style? If you’d like to set up a conversation to share your opinion, email me at kokeefe@executiveboard.com.

CEC Related Resources:

• CEC Best of: Executive Communications
• Support Effective Leadership in Times of Change
• Coach Senior Leaders

CEC Related Blog Posts:

• Why Your Leadership Communications Support Misses the Mark
• What to Ghost Write for Your CEO’s Blog
• Coaching Leaders: 10 Tips for Effective Presentations
• Improve Executive Visibility with Employees