Why do we continue to waste our executives' time?
Sometimes I have to wonder if communicators realize what an honor it is to get time with a top executive. Because it seems to me that, while communicators love to complain about a lack of access to company leadership, too often when they do get that access, they waste it.
One great example of this that I see time and time again is the 'New Leader Interview,' where a corporate editor welcomes a new senior executive to the company by running a Q&A interview with him. The problem is, 90 percent of 'New Leader Interview' stories I see are pure fluff.
In my recent Ragan Report front-page column, I wrote about one of these puff pieces. The 'interview' (and I use that word very lightly) is in a global energy company's publication, and it is welcoming a man who is taking over the presidency of the company's South American operations.
The editor somehow got on the new executive's schedule, and then wasted his time with the following questions. These appear in the exact order they appeared in the article; my comments appear in italics:
What did you want to be when you were 10 years old?
Huh? Who the hell cares? An informal poll of people I know revealed that, when we were 10 years old, we wanted to be cowboys, spacemen, ballerinas, spies, and baseball players. But what the hell does that have to do with the price of beef in South America? In case you were wondering, Mr. Executive said he wanted to be a diplomat. Really? At the age of 10 he knew that? He knew what a diplomat even was? He's either a liar, or he has been an ass kisser his entire life.
What are your hobbies?
Here's a rule of thumb: Hobbies, unless they are your own, are boring to other people. Especially the hobbies of tight-assed executives who have wanted to be 'diplomats' since they were 10 years old. And sure enough, this guy's hobbies would put an insomniac to sleep: 'I used to play soccer, not very well, and swim. In fact, I participated in college in some swimming competitions but performed better as a student.' Whoooeeeee! You've met this guy before. We all have. In grammar school, he was the kid in the back of the room eating paste and constantly sniffing his fingers.
What is your favorite dessert?
I am not making this up. I wish I was. And you're not going to believe his answer: 'My favorite dessert is plain vanilla ice cream.' Well of course it is. A professional screenwriter could not create a more boring person than this man. But you know what? He's probably not that boring when he talks about what he's good at—his business. But they don't ask him about that.
What is your favorite time of day?
How could this answer ever possibly be interesting to readers? Do you think the new executive is going to say, 'About nine o'clock at night, when my wife breaks out the cocaine and the Taiwanese swinging basket.' Probably not. And you'll never guess what Mr. Excitement really does say: 'I like the early morning time.' Big surprise.
Please please please: For the sake of the communication industry, if you do land time with a major executive, don't drag our entire industry down by asking these kinds of garbage questions.
Ask him about the business: what he thinks of it, how he plans to run it, what he expects from his employees, and what he sees coming up in the future.
Comments (11)
Steve, but your questions were safe. How about asking the questions that everyone really wants answered? Why did we not perform as well as we could have? Why have we seen so many top executives leaving? In your opinion, is it time to redefine our company's direction? What's being done to motivate the lower levels?
If we ask the real questions, we'll be booted out and not invited back, so we remain safe and p.c.
Posted by Marcie Montague | March 14, 2005 10:03 AM
Posted on March 14, 2005 10:03
I actually think that only your second question crosses the inappropriate line - and is one that any single given individual cannot fairly answer ("Objection your Honor! The question expects the witness to know the motivations of other people!").
The others seem reasonable (and rather interesting) to me. Not that all of the answers will be particularly forthcoming (and there may be details not appropriate to share), but they are certianly fair game.
If you feel that you cannot ask those, I would think that is indicative of a trust or credibility issue. We always hope that those questions will be asked by some brave soul in a Town Hall meeting, but we have to be willing to ask them ourselves given the opportunity.
Steve N
Posted by Steve Neruda | March 14, 2005 10:44 AM
Posted on March 14, 2005 10:44
One question I like to ask in these types of profiles is, "Tell me one thing people don't know about you." That helps make them human, but only after you've asked all the business-related Qs.
Posted by Shari S | March 14, 2005 10:55 AM
Posted on March 14, 2005 10:55
DATE: 03/10/2005 13:61:9P PM
Amen Steve. It's hard to believe that this person was even allowed to run such fluff. I would be embarassed to put my name on it. I am lucky enough to meet with our executives often and when I do, we discuss the business and the issues that employees will want to hear about. I do use the "Q &A" format often, but I am somewhat limited in that online is my only medium. The Q&A seems to work well for that.
Posted by Mark | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 03/10/2005 18:44:6P PM
Here's what I am asking our exec team for our intranet:
What inspires you as a leader?
What will be the biggest challenge for your team in the upcoming year?
What are you most proud of?
How do you define success?
What books are you currently reading and why?
Have received pretty good stuff so far, esp. the book choices. What do you think of these?
Posted by Michelle Riggen-Ransom | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 03/10/2005 23:70:4P PM
Michelle:
I think those are all good . . . .. the book one, while different, DOES always seem to generate good responses . . . .usually because the executives talk about books that relate to the business, or the industry, or business in general.
Mark: I think the Q&A format is PERFECT for online reading, especially if you bold-face the questions. Each question then becomes an entry point for the eye, and makes it easy to scan the article looking for stuff you care about.
Steve
Posted by steve C. | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 03/11/2005 28:45:8P PM
I do believe this is your best blog to date. Spot-on relevant and very, very funny. So, a refreshing lack of snide comments from me on this one.... just a well deserved tip of the hat!
SN
Posted by Steve Neruda | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 03/11/2005 32:01:3P PM
Stevo:
Please never stop with the snide comments!!! I won't know how to deal with you if you get all warm and fuzzy on me . . . .
Steve C.
Posted by steve C. | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 03/11/2005 70:45:5A PM
Taiwanese Swinging Basket? LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Darin | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 03/13/2005 68:72:2A PM
While I would hardly recommend asking a "what time of day is your favorite time of day" question to an executive, I will be on the side of the coin that I believe it helps when we make our execs sound human. If you are answering the "where is the business going" question with the same blah-blah-blah corporate response, that's just as bad as the fluff question.
And while I agree these Q&A's should be business-focused, I also advocate that sometimes you mix in personal information with the business questions. So if Mr. CEO also is putting out a rock CD on the side, then, yea, I'm interested in that. As one exec said to me, it's tough to show your personal side to the employee population. But it's our job as communicators to make these guys human, not just walking corporate pancakes.
Posted by Sharon | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30
DATE: 03/13/2005 70:02:5A PM
Sharon:
I couldn't agree more . . . but this interview had not ONE business question AND all the "human" questions were SO boring. I think it's perfectly fine to try and show the human side. But that means doing a little digging and doing a little work in the interview to find some interesting tidbits . . .and then mixing those tidbits in with NON-JARGON, NON-CORPORATE SPEAK business talk.
This writer took the easy way out and just asked generic questions that are of interest to nobody . . . . and rather than make the guy look human, the article makes him look like a drip.
Steve
Posted by steve C. | October 16, 2006 4:30 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 16:30