Letter from Delahaye President
by Mark Weiner, President, Delahaye
One of a CEO's chief responsibilities is to shape the organizational character of his or her enterprise. Character is the personification of an organization's reputation and for the CEO, personal character and organizational reputation are deeply and inevitably linked. Strategy, execution and performance are the abilities of a successful CEO, but the manner in which the customers, employees, analysts and the media perceive a CEO also has a tremendous influence on a company's success.
In this issue, image consultant Virgil Scudder describes in practical terms the strategies to follow and the traps to avoid when establishing and enhancing a CEO's reputation. Based on the findings of the Delahaye Index of Corporate Reputation, I'm happy to contribute CEO as Chief Reputation Officer, which provides insight on how individual CEOs affect the media's treatment of their company and, by so doing, adding to or detracting from the reputation of their company.
CEOs are often brought in as agents of change. At such times, methodical, time- consuming approaches to change may not be enough as circumstances sometimes dictate a more rapid transformation. In this issue's measurement spotlight, communications consultant Fraser Likely teaches us how one can measure public relations and corporate communication to achieve transformational rather than incremental improvement.
In closing, let me invite you to join Delahaye and the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) at our fourth annual Research and Measurement Conference, November 9-11 in New York. The line-up of speakers is exceptional, including executives from such leading organizations as FedEx, General Electric, Texas Instruments, Procter & Gamble, and Volvo (Sweden).
Happy Reading,
Mark
