OK, your CTO Greg just finished an industry panel and is feeling pretty delighted by the groundbreaking ideas he brainstormed on stage in front of 10,000 people.
Meanwhile, during the panel, you, the PR person staffing your CTO’s appearance, got six furious texts from Cyrus, the CPO, who is like, “What the hell does Greg’s bulls**t have to do with our product roadmap?”
What do you do? Let’s imagine the twenty seconds after Greg bounces off stage and finds you:
Exuberant CTO Greg: “How did I do?”
You, holding up your phone: “Well, here are the text messages Cyrus sent.”
But you also have to say this part: “Greg, we talked about this. You agreed to stick to the 12-month roadmap. When you don’t do what we agreed, it doesn’t just cause internal damage, it causes external confusion too. Your relationship with Cyrus isn’t my job, but the company’s reputation is. Let’s meet about the boundaries of your message next week.”
It doesn’t matter if you’re six levels below Greg on the org chart. It’s your role to represent the whole communications team and to speak truth to “power.” AND the time to say it is right when it happens, not six months later in a team review.
Immediate, clear, actionable feedback matters! Deliver it! And then, when you get back to the office, rush to get backup so you aren’t standing alone against the CTO’s ego when he wants to misbehave again!
Take the risk out of being in the spotlight! I can prepare you, your teams and your leaders to tell your company’s story with confidence, shape the industry and maybe even change the world.
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