Chapter 5 | Voice of the CEO and C-Suite: A Defining Factor in Organizational Performance

“One of the great CEO communicators was Jack Welch, retired business executive and former CEO of General Electric. Like him or hate him, he knew how to convert a message into action.”

James O’Gara — 40 WAYS TO INCREASE ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY, ALIGNMENT AND PERFORMANCE.

“Ask most C-suite executives if their company’s vision, mission, values, strategy and story impact business performance and they are sure to say … ‘Well, of course.’ However, when you look at how these critical dimensions are managed, you would question just how important executives think they are to business success.”

James O’Gara — 40 WAYS TO INCREASE ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY, ALIGNMENT AND PERFORMANCE.

“Maybe there was a day when the CEO or members of the C-suite spoke and those messages were amplified up and down the organization. Well, if there was such a time, those days are long gone. The noise level inside companies today is louder than ever before.”

James O’Gara — 40 WAYS TO INCREASE ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY, ALIGNMENT AND PERFORMANCE.

“Many executives are perplexed when their message doesn’t translate into action. They are dumbfounded by the lack of retention that exists up and down their organization.”

James O’Gara — 40 WAYS TO INCREASE ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY, ALIGNMENT AND PERFORMANCE.

“If you’re like most executives, you gathered top-tier leaders from across your organization and shared this message with them at an event or meeting. From there, you assumed leaders would passionately and consistently share that message throughout their area of the business. Maybe you even sent out a company-wide email. Well, having worked with large, complex organizations for almost two decades, we can tell you … this doesn’t cut it.”

James O’Gara — 40 WAYS TO INCREASE ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY, ALIGNMENT AND PERFORMANCE.

“So, if you want strategic messages to get across and your corporate initiatives to be a success, you need to have a pull-through and activation strategy in place.”

James O’Gara — 40 WAYS TO INCREASE ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY, ALIGNMENT AND PERFORMANCE.