Why CEOs need a Critical Friend


No matter how confident you are at doing your job and no matter how high level that role is, it is natural to feel apprehensive about doing media interviews.
Even if you, as a CEO, have done dozens of interviews, there will still be an adrenaline rush once the camera/radio microphone is switched on. If there isn’t – that is the time to worry.
 It’s the same for reporters. If we didn’t get that buzz there is every chance our own performance – and it is a performance – may come across as flat and disinterested. The audience will miss the important points because our tone and body language isn’t telling them what matters most.
The same for CEOs. If you stroll into an interview, taking it for granted that you know the answers, there is every chance your complacency will show through. You may have all the right words and in the right order but come across as arrogant and uncaring.
Often people think doing a good interview is about knowing the answers to the questions. No. You do need to know what you are talking about. But you don’t get scored by the journalist or the audience for getting it “right.”
It is much more about how you come across and how the audience feel about what you say. For example, in a situation like a product recall or a cyber attack, does the viewer, listener, reader believe you really care about them and will rectify the situation or that you are more concerned about the impact on your business?
Its amazing how uncaring interviewees can appear because their focus is on their own concerns and not that of the users of the product. Even if you think the fears of your customers are unnecessary or over the top, you cannot dismiss them.
This is where all CEOs need strong PR support. Someone with whom you have an honest and open relationship which is built on mutual respect and not on band or grading. If your PR manager is afraid to tell you what he/she really thinks of the message you want to get across then you need to take a long hard look at the culture of your company.
Of course this means employing robust and experienced PR support which won’t come cheap. You want people who will tell you the Emperor isn’t wearing any clothes. You want people who will help you understand how you, as an individual, will come across in the media and if necessary suggest someone else!
Its all very well sitting round the board and deciding what you want to say while everybody nods in agreement. Run that message past an experienced PR professional who deals with the media and understands how the story will pan out.
I’ve worked with in house PR teams during media training sessions and they have said they have been trying to tell the senior managers that xyz won’t work but it is only when a seasoned outsider comes along, do they actually take it on board.
If you are the CEO, your PR should have as close a relationship with you as your PA. You don’t have to agree with what your PR is saying but understand that they will have a stronger understanding of how the media will react than you do.  After all that is their job – particularly PRs who have worked as journalists at a national level.

A strong, robust and experienced PR professional can’t stop the media giving you a hard time. But they can help you understand how to react to that. By letting them in as a critical friend you are getting the best advice money can buy. After all a real friend will tell you the ugly truth and not pretty lies.

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