CEO Capital: A Guide to Building CEO Reputation and Company Success [Hardcover]

Leslie Gaines-Ross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 20, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0471268070 | ISBN-13: 978-0471268079 | Edition: 1

The reputations of CEOs and the companies they lead are deeply and inextricably linked. The manner in which the media, investors, analysts, employees, and even the general public perceive a chief executive has tremendous influence over the company's prosperity, standing, and destiny.

In CEO Capital, Dr. Gaines-Ross describes in practical terms the strategies to follow--and the obstacles to avoid--so that CEOs can enhance the reputation of their company during the five stages of their tenure.

CEO Capital is the only book that provides these guidelines and isolates best practices for CEOs as they navigate their way through their first 100 days to their last 100 hours.

About the author: Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross is chief knowledge and research officer at Burson-Marsteller, a leading global communications consultancy with more than 1,600 employees worldwide. Previously, she served as Fortune's communications and marketing director.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is an excellent book of dos and don'ts for CEOs, potential CEOs and especially for the PR people who must help them get their message out to their various publics." (Public Relations Quarterly, Summer 2003)

From the Inside Flap

Research confirms what every executive knows to be true: CEO and corporate reputation are inextricably linked and have a proven impact on a company's bottom line. Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross, the pioneer of landmark CEO research and a senior executive at the legendary public relations firm Burson-Marsteller, describes in practical, straightforward terms the successful strategies CEOs can follow to earn and sustain enduring corporate reputations.

Everyone with a stake in executive reputation and leadership-communications professionals, consultants, search committees, corporate boards, shareholders, aspiring leaders and, of course, CEOs themselves-will find CEO Capital to be an invaluable guide to corporate success and a steady compass for navigating the shifting seas of commerce. It isolates best practices for CEOs as they journey through their first 100 days to their last 100 hours.

In her book, Dr. Gaines-Ross:
* Demonstrates the importance of CEO reputation to a company's reputation
* Identifies the elements of CEO reputation
* Establishes a working model for building both CEO and corporate reputation
* Describes how CEOs can master the stages of their tenure to bolster their company's standing and ultimate destiny

Topics addressed include preparing for CEO transition, putting employees first, setting an agenda, declaring what matters, communicating personally and symbolically, planning for the first anniversary, minding all stakeholders, leading with thought, reinventing and executing, and leaving a legacy.

CEO Capital's first section demonstrates why securing CEO reputation demands our undivided attention. Similar to any other wealth-creating asset, CEO reputation needs to be invested in, earned and leveraged over the long term to reap enduring benefits. The next section examines the CEO's mind-set and behavior through the five stages of executive tenure. It explains how each step provides distinct opportunities to build credibility, integrity, and internal communications that lead to long-term viability. The final section discusses corporate trends that will affect chief executives in the twenty-first century. It also addresses how executives can meet the challenges of a society characterized by ever-accelerating change, scrutiny, and demanding constituencies.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (December 20, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471268070
• ISBN-13: 978-0471268079
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,075,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In her role as Chief Reputation Strategist, Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross leads Weber Shandwick's reputation consulting services and proprietary thought leadership development. She is the architect behind ground-breaking, award-winning research into CEO and corporate reputation, executive team reputation, leadership transitions, reputation sustainability and recovery. Dr. Gaines-Ross is based in the New York office and is a member of Weber Shandwick's global senior management team.

She is one of the world's most widely recognized experts on CEO reputation -- how CEO reputations are built, enhanced and protected. Gaines-Ross spearheaded the first comprehensive research on CEO reputation and its impact on corporate reputation and performance. She was the architect of 'On the Minds of CEOs,' an international survey of CEOs that was conducted with Fortune and the creator of www.reputationRx.com, the Web site devoted exclusively to reputation news and information. Her book, CEO Capital: A Guide to Building CEO Reputation and Company Success, was published in 2003 by John Wiley & Sons. She is a monthly columnist for Ethical Corporation's newsletter.

Before joining Weber Shandwick, Dr. Gaines-Ross was Chief Knowledge & Research Officer Worldwide at Burson-Marsteller and Marketing & Communications Director at Fortune. At Fortune, she initiated several groundbreaking research programs including 'Leveraging Corporate Equity' and 'Brands at the Crossroads.' She is also widely recognized for her strategic insights into and analysis of Fortune's Most Admired Companies Survey. Dr. Gaines-Ross was a 1995 winner of Time Inc.'s President's Award. She is also the co-author of FORTUNE Cookies: Management Wit and Wisdom, which was published by Vintage Books.

Gaines-Ross's work has been featured in Financial Times, The Times (London), The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Economist, Fortune, BusinessWeek, Advertising Age, PRWeek, Forbes, The Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, Chief Executive, Business 2.0, Across The Board and in many other publications around the world. She has also appeared on CNN and CNBC. Dr. Gaines-Ross is a frequent public speaker on CEO and corporate reputation management. She has lectured at The Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA, USC, Wharton School of Business, New York University and Columbia University. Gaines-Ross was also a speaker at the 2003 World Economic Forum Governor's Meeting. She serves on the Executive Advisory Panel of Corporate Reputation Review and was inducted into the Academy of Women Achievers of the YWCA of the City of New York in 2000.

Dr. Gaines-Ross' blog can be found at www.reputationXchange.blogspot.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Build your CEO Capital, May 14, 2003

By 

Naomi Moneypenny "Executive Editor at ManyWor... - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: CEO Capital: A Guide to Building CEO Reputation and Company Success (Hardcover)

In CEO Capital, Leslie Gaines-Ross has written an insightful and enlightening book for those who want to increase the positive visibility and reputation of their CEO. It is a surprise to this reviewer that more books have not been written on the subject of how to master the art of building your reputation when both your own personal future and corporate future may be resting on it.

The celebrity hungry society of today looks to corporate movers and shakers especially the CEO as icons of a particular company. Think about Lee Iacocca, Jack Welch, Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs to mention just a few. How much of your opinion of these companies (and notice I don't even have to mention which companies they run/ran) is based on your perceived image of the CEO? The phrase `you are your company' has never been more true, especially in the post Enron & Arthur Anderson world. How has your opinion of Enron changed now that you know more about Jeff Skilling and Andrew Fastow? Despite any fraud at Enron being committed by the few and not the masses of the organization, our entire perception of Enron has shifted to the iconic few.

Part I of CEO Capital is a contextual look at CEO capital: what it is, where it comes from and how it can be built. Gaines-Ross draws us in by looking at the CEO Effect by citing some examples as far back as 1985 starting with Roberto Goizueta, then CEO of Coca-Cola and the whole `New Coke' revolt, that could have been a fatal disaster for the company. But Goizueta, trading on his CEO capital, not only avoided being removed but was able to bring the company back even stronger.

Part II is most interesting and is centered on the five stages postulated in the CEO capital model which take you by the hand, and step by step go through best practices (ed: hate that term but in this situation it is apt), principles and linkages to factors affecting the building of CEO capital. As the book says, `the reader may be left with the impression that the stages read almost like a manual on how to lead a company. This perception is quite acceptable and entirely reasonable because nothing is more conducive to building CEO capital than building a strong, high-performing company. Any similarity between the two is entirely intentional.' Which is indeed how it reads, but in doing so, broadens the scope of the content to be relevant to a wider audience of business managers and executives who may not be leading Fortune 500 type companies (yet!). In fact, they may be the very leaders who will gain most from this book, since they are not too arrogant to learn and may gain the most from any capital building opportunities presented to them.

Chapters in the book include guidance on the Countdown (the time before the CEO-elect takes office), the First One Hundred days and the First Year, and then of course the second year in office which is always much harder than the first.

Gaines-Ross has written a truly pioneering work - overall an excellent book on a little-written about subject. The book is practically written and you should not let its somewhat `user manual' style detract you from putting its advice into action. Recommended for CEOs and CEOs to-be of all sized companies, as well as other corporate officers and marketing/PR professionals who may guide along the process.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chief Executive and Communication Officer, January 17, 2003

By 

Idil Cakim - See all my reviews

This review is from: CEO Capital: A Guide to Building CEO Reputation and Company Success (Hardcover)

Until I read this book I did not realize the importance of communicating the 'how','why', 'when' of each executive decision. Given the crisis environment dominating corporate America today, I think CEOs need to add another word to their title and become chief executive and communications officers. Without communicating and finding their voice as leaders, I think CEOs will have a hard time earning public trust. This book provides a great blue print for understanding the commotion we read about in the papers.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Much-Needed Resource for Corporate Leadership, December 30, 2002

By 

Martin Bounds (Charlotte, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: CEO Capital: A Guide to Building CEO Reputation and Company Success (Hardcover)

With the collapse of the "celebrity CEO" currency it was perhaps inevitable and certainly necessary that someone should examine what value, if any, the public reputation of a CEO carries. In CEO Capital, Dr. Gaines-Ross ably dismantles many of the existing myths of CEO reputation and presents a well-researched, clearly organized guide to corporate leadership. As it turns out, CEO reputation does matter, but not in the ways that we have become accustomed to think about it in the recent past. CEO Capital provides measurable proof of the considerable market impact of a positive CEO reputation and how that reputation is built through, integrity, communication, team building, planning and vision. The tenure of every CEO is new and uncharted territory. For the talented few who make it there and for the teams they rely on to support them - board members, search committees, top level executives, marketing and communications officers - CEO Capital is a much needed handbook for survival and success.