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In an earlier post, “Building brands in a downturn”, I referred to the term CEO being increasingly used as an acronym for “Chief Engagement Officer”.

It is generally well-accepted that one of the most important roles of a CEO is to inspire the troops. Stacks of management literature have been written about the importance of engagement in leadership and an entire industry has sprung up to help senior managers build their skills and become better at communicating and creating “buy in”.

Interestingly, if you Google “CEO”, you turn up around 150.000.000 hits. Doing the same with “Chief Engagement Officer” results in a “mere” 8.340.000. At first sight, a nonsensical comparison – but it does help drive home a point: should the CEO really the “hero communicator” when it comes to engaging people ? Or are we putting too much weight on his shoulders, continuing to put our trust in an increasingly outdated model of top-down communication ?

One can wonder whether this is sustainable towards the future: in a society that is becoming increasingly dominated by the power of connection, why do so many of our organisations stick to basic top-down models of leadership and communication ?

A recent survey by Chief Executive Officer revealed some interesting facts.

Out of all Fortune-1000 CEOs:

• 775 are over 50 (77%);
• Those 775 control over 85% of the total market capitalization of the Fortune-1000;
• The average age for a Fortune-1000 is 55;
• The tech industry features 33% of CEOs under-50s;
• In wholesale and general merchandise, entertainment and leisure, paper and printing, insurance, and auto services and parts the average number of CEOs under 50 is zero;
• 24 of 1000 CEOs are female;

Could it be that such a homogenous audience has similarities in beliefs, style, convictions and values that make it difficult to reach at least part of their constituency ? Could it be that companies need a more diverse approach to ensure all stakeholders are reached in a way that is in line with their needs and values ?

According to Chief Executive Officer, “taken together, the various findings show a new generation of executives making CEO earlier than their predecessors and demonstrating capable performance once in the job. Interestingly, the youngest CEOs in the world, based on average age, come from China, the emerging economic superpower, as CEO magazine’s Global CEO survey in 2007 revealed.

Maybe the global economy that we operate in today and China’s willingness to allow executives aged 50 and under to run major corporations has set an example that other nations, including the US, are now beginning to follow.”

In order to help their organisations transition and keep up with the increasing pace of change that marks society as a whole, business leaders and internal communicators could start asking themselves the following questions:

• What other models are out there we can emulate to improve the communications flow ? Think social media, guerrilla marketing or even grassroots activism;
• How can we get true buy-in across target audiences that are different in terms of beliefs, values, goals and motivations ? Think in terms of aspirations and ambitions rather than the usual differentiators of sex, age and race;
• How can we ensure we are truly authentic, not only in terms of what we say but also how we say it ? Think about the ways in which you deliver the message rather than the actual message you bring – being authentic, open and bringing your sense of empathy usually carries a lot further than reading off a carefully crafted script;
• How can we enlist input from a wide base across the organisation rather than bombarding them with top-down messages that come out of an opaque decision-making process ? Think political rally rather than boardroom closed-door decision making;
• Finally, how can we make sure the goals of the organisation are aligned with the goals of each individual that is part of it ? We seem to have lost sight of the fact that the principal goal of organisations is to serve people, and not the other way around.

The world has recently witnessed a seismic shift in politics when Barack Obama was elected. In line with changing times, his victory was accredited to underlying changes in society with younger, more educated and racially varied groups exerting their influence in the election process. Not to mention his excellent communication skills and his ability to connect up close and personal with his electorate.

Barack Obama, aged 47, will be the 5^th youngest president in US history.