In this chapter, the author describes the roles of the CCO: what they do, how they do it, and the choices they face. The CCO is responsible for strategic communications, the process by which a company aligns its communication with the company's strategy to enhance its strategic positioning and thereby better serve its customers.

The CCO's job is to orchestrate all the instruments in the company's communication battery (written and spoken media, symbols, and behaviour of members) to build competitive advantage for the firm. The technical heart of the job is managing an integrated communication system and being the in-house communications expert, but business skills such as project management, analysis and conceptualization also matter. Functional mastery, an understanding of strategy and change, and influence skills are vital for success.

The role of the chief communications officer

The profile of corporate communications has risen over the last decade. The spread of new technology and the speed of business change have made corporate communications a front-line position. The ‘communications people’ need to be able to react quickly to the latest crisis or opportunity. Gone are the days when time was a commodity. There is little time to prepare the latest CEO speech, the CFO's financial report or the latest corporate press release. The company's employees, shareholders, the media, governments and, most important, the customers are more impatient than ever – they want to hear the latest official company response to the company news of the moment, whatever it may be, whether financial results, a merger or acquisition, new product release, safety recall, competitors' actions, executive misconduct.