Roger Bolton, Jennifer Prosek, and Don W. Stacks
The role of the chief communication officer (CCO) has changed dramatically over the last half-century. Previously, it was a tactical function, focused on what might be called “push” communication—where the goal was to create awareness and understanding by taking information generated by others in the enterprise and passing it on to the appropriate stakeholder constituency. There was little strategy, little formal research, and the role exemplified what Broom and colleagues (1982; Broom and Dozier 1986; Broom and Smith 1979) labeled “technician.” Public relations was seen as a way get free publicity and outcomes were often defined as the size of the clipbook from generated media pick-ups. Today, however, the communication function has become a strategic function in the enterprise. Rather than simply writing executive speeches, media releases, or internal newsletters, the function now leads the enterprise’s strategic positioning and stakeholder engagement. Instead of being reactive and one-way, the communication function is now proactive and interactive. The CCO and her staff take both an inside–outside and outside–inside 360° strategic look at the enterprise and its corporate character. Instead of being a function “off to the side,” it is now deeply embedded in the C-Suite as a strategic partner.
The New Chief Communication Officer
As the enterprise has transformed over the past few decades, so too has the CCO’s role. This change, motivated first by globalization, social media, and stakeholder empowerment, forced the enterprise to take a broader approach to dealing with a new world order: Almost everyone who wanted to could engage with it for good or bad via social media, confirming the importance of the two-way symmetrical channel (Grunig 1987). Any stakeholder—active, aware, inactive, or latent—could now get his or her voice into the mix. Further adding to the enterprise’s transformation were shifts in geopolitics and demographics, which, in turn, added new, disruptive business models and a changing of the nature of work in general; and the stakeholder shifted from being empowered to actually becoming an active force in the enterprise’s business plans. The resulting change in the role of the CCO is described in the Page Model, shown in Figure 10.1. Here we see the CCO’s new focus starting with the enterprise’s corporate character (Arthur W. Page Society 2007). The CCO now helps the enterprise define, activate, and align its mission, vision, values, culture, business model, strategy, and brand. This is a significant departure from the old model, where the CCO waited for others to make decisions and then sought to explain them to stakeholders. Now, the CCO takes an active role in encouraging and sometimes leading the enterprise’s definition of its essential identity. In short, an enterprise that wishes to be trusted first must make itself trustworthy, and that has become job one for the CCO.
Figure 10.1 The Page Model
This central assumption—that enterprise identity is a function of its corporate character—then provides the foundation upon which a trusting relationship can be built with stakeholders. The model suggests that the first step is to establish shared belief; that is, to find a core of agreement between the company’s true character and the beliefs of the stakeholder. For example, the company and the stakeholder may mutually agree that the company should be environmentally responsible. A conversation can then occur, with both sides listening and being willing to change, on the details of exactly what the company is doing and what it should be expected to do. Once shared belief is achieved, a stakeholder may be motivated to take an action, such as buying a product or the stock, supporting a policy objective, or entering into a partnership of some sort. This may or may not involve a change in policy or perspective from either or both of the parties. If the action is repeated and each side begins to gain confidence in the other, the stakeholder may begin to feel aligned enough with the organization to become an advocate. That advocacy across a wide set of stakeholder constituencies can lead to more shared belief with additional stakeholders, and the virtuous cycle begins anew.
So, if the Page Model shows what the modern CCO must do, the question remains how she can do it, and the answer to that—outlined in The New CCO report—also represents a major change from the past. We have identified through earlier chapters three critical roles the CCO must play to ensure enterprise success. First, there is the “foundational role” described in Chapter 6—strategic business counselor, steward of enterprise reputation, effective communicator, and builder of stakeholder relationships. Second, there is the “integrator role” as demonstrated in Chapter 7, in which the CCO encourages or leads cross-functional teams within the C-Suite that build corporate character and stakeholder engagement. And, third, in what is clearly the newest and most aspirational role, the CCO of the future will be a builder of digital engagement systems (DESs). This role, as described in Chapter 8, brings the CCO full strategic authority to create information models that can be used across enterprise functions via the massive accumulation of data—both hard and soft (see Stacks 2017)—to build authentic, two-way relationships with stakeholders and to engage all employees in that effort.
The Role of the CCO
In sum, the role of the CCO can be understood this way:
• The primary job is to build and defend brand and reputation because this earns permission to operate and gives the enterprise the support it needs to implement its strategy and fulfill its purpose. The CCO does this by:
1. Working within the enterprise to build corporate character, which is the unique differentiating identity of the organization, defined by mission, purpose, values, culture, business model, strategy, and brand.
2. Building stakeholder engagement that results in advocacy.
• In order to do these things, the CCO has three roles:
1. The foundational role—strategic business counselor, steward of enterprise reputation, effective communicator, and builder of stakeholder relationships.
2. The integrator role—using leadership skills, the CCO works across the enterprise to build allies in the definition and activation of corporate character and stakeholder engagement.
3. The builder of DESs, which require new skills and capabilities to authentically engage internal and external stakeholders.
What’s Next?
The pace of change described in Chapters 1 to 3 is unlikely to abate. If anything, it appears to be accelerating. The challenges facing our world are immense and growing, despite significant and undeniable progress. It has been more than 70 years since the end of the last world war and the Cold War was ended more than a quarter-century ago. Yet, regional and tribal conflicts, terrorism, and rogue nuclear states make peace on earth a distant dream. Extreme poverty has been halved over the past 25 years and hundreds of millions of people in developing countries have entered the middle class, yet growing income inequality and stagnation in developed countries are creating a sense of unfairness, hopelessness, and political conflict that threatens the existence of the multilateral postwar world order. The pace of technological change holds out breathtaking promise for human advancement in knowledge, connection, efficiency, and well-being, but at the same time threatens disruption of existing businesses and employment and creates risks to privacy, economic security, and even worries about our future in a world of artificially intelligent machines.
In the face of these challenges, and others not yet imagined, we believe strongly in the power of business to be a force for good in the world—not alone, but in partnership with governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Of the three sectors, business is unique because its economic model is self-sustaining and it is most likely to create innovative new solutions to the world’s problems. We believe business is more likely to play a positive role in society when it has a strong CCO whose focus is on creating a corporate character based on a social-value-creating purpose and an ethical set of values that guide its actions. The CCO is most likely to be focused on stakeholder engagement, which requires listening and responsiveness to the needs of the world. Governments and NGOs also play a key role with each sector holding the others accountable and working cooperatively to create the conditions to advance economic and social value and justice.
As the world evolves and new challenges and opportunities emerge, the role of the CCO will continue to evolve, as well. We predict that corporate communication will continue to be a strategic function within the enterprise and will not return to its more tactical, order-taking role of the past. CCOs will continue to act as senior leaders in the enterprise, sharing responsibility for the strategy and success of the enterprise with their counterparts across the C-Suite. The adaptability and willingness to take on new skills and capabilities that CCOs have shown in the past, while staying focused on the enduring truths expressed in the Page Principles and the Page Model, will benefit both our profession and the enterprises we serve in the days and years to come.
In his foreword, Dave Sampson opens with a quote from the Greek philosopher Heraclitus: “There is nothing permanent, except change.” In this new world where truth is a luxury, stakeholders can activate a movement overnight, and reputations can be lost in seconds, the role of the CCO has become a critical, high-stakes position where change is constant and permanent. The communication function has been permanently reframed. CCOs of today and into the future will need a new level of fortitude, morality, and skills to help their enterprises navigate an extremely complex world. They will need to embrace change and be vigorous with their own continuous learning. They will need to have a higher level of conviction, energy, emotional intelligence, and technical savvy than ever before. The role, for certain, will become more challenging. But, also for certain, the work will be among the most rewarding, important, and impactful of any C-level profession.