Is it my imagination, or are CEO columns—and maybe CEO communication in general—getting a whole hell of a lot better all of a sudden?

I’d like to think I’m right . . . but it may just be wishful thinking on my part.

See, when I started in this business 15 years ago, my main job, as an assistant editor at Ragan Report, was to go through employee publications. And the one thing most of them had in common was some kind of “Executive Letter,” or CEO column.

Actually, the one thing most of them had in common was a lousy “Executive Letter,” or CEO column.

They were all so similar, and so bad, that I thought there was a secret company out there that had cornered the market on writing CEO columns, and was secretly churning out generic columns for companies all over the world.

I imagined it working like this:

A communicator would call the company, and the conversation would go something like this:

Frazzled Communicator: Hi, I work for XYZ Corporation in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Our monthly publication, Vision, is about to go to press, and I still don’t have the CEO column written yet. He won’t return any of my calls, and his admin just called to tell me to stop bothering him. The same thing happened last month, but I was able to fill the space with a picture of the CEO handing over one of those big oversized checks to a local charity. But I don’t have any pictures like that this month. I’m screwed.

CEO Columns-R-Us: Well, we can certainly help. Do you have a topic in mind?

Frazzled Communicator: Uh . . . no. Not really.”

CEO Columns-R-Us: No problem. We’ve got a bunch of standards you can choose from. Let’s see here . . . have you written about Synergy lately?

Frazzled Communicator: Yes, we did that in January. And in March. And again in June. Synergy’s real big around here. We’ve also written about Empowerment and Global Competition recently, so those are out, too.

CEO Columns-R-Us: No problemo. We’ve got a whole list here. What about World Class Service?

Frazzled Communicator: Did it for the Holiday issue. We compared our service to that of Santa Clause, and talked about how the elves are Santa’s greatest assets, and without them, he couldn’t deliver on his global commitments to customers. We tied it into the Employee Opinion Survey.

CEO Columns-R-Us: Nice. Very nice. Let’s see . . . when was the last time you did a sports analogy? You know, a ‘there is no I in Team’ sort of thing that talks about how a chain is only as good as its weakest link? Maybe tie it into the Olympics?

Frazzled Communicator: Did it last August.

CEO Columns-R-Us: Okay. What about a ‘Customer is The Boss’ column?

Frazzled Communicator: Last July.

CEO Columns-R-Us: Okay, give me a minute. I’ve got to go into the older files. Hey! What about Diversity, with a capital D?

Frazzled Communicator: We haven’t done that one in almost two years!

CEO Columns-R-Us: Bingo! Let’s hit this son of a bitch again, then. You got a pen?

Frazzled Communicator: Yep. Fire away.

CEO Columns-R-Us: Okay, here’s your head: “ABC Corp. Values Diversity.”

Frazzled Communicator: I like it . . .but our company is XYZ, not ABC.

CEO Columns-R-Us: Whatever. Just get “Values Diversity” in there, okay? Now, for your lead, we’ve got several options. We can put you into a nice little melting pot metaphor for the standard price . . . but if you want to pay a little extra, we’ve got a whole new thing we’re doing. It’s a multiple metaphor lead that involves a fruit bowl, an orchestra, and a tossed salad. It costs a little more, but it’s really cutting-edge stuff.

Frazzled Communicator: I guess we should go whole hog, huh? Let’s do it! Give me the big boy.

CEO Columns-R-Us: Now you’re talking! And I’ll tell you what. With the multiple metaphor lead, I’m even going to throw in a free “Diversity is a business initiative that makes financial sense for this organization” nut graph, and a bonus quote from your CEO on how the more diverse your workforce is, the better equipped you’ll be to deal with the diverse marketplace. How does that sound?

Frazzled Communicator: Terrific! I’m so glad I called!

And so on. I imagined that this secret firm would provide you with everything you need for your CEO column—right down to the fake signature at the bottom. If your CEO wasn't very photogenic, or didn’t want his picture taken, CEO Columns-R-Us could even provide you with a mug-shot photo of a pudgy white guy in a suit with a serious look on his face, to put in the upper left-hand corner of the page.

But . . . not anymore. It may be my imagination, but I think CEO Columns-R-Us may be going out of business. I’m seeing more and more CEO columns—both in print and online—that are willing to deal with real issues. I’m seeing CEOs tackle bad news head-on. I’ve actually seen a couple of CEO blogs that are conversational—rather than “corporate”—in tone.

I’m seeing more and more CEOs willing to answer real questions from employees. I’m seeing CEO columns that work harder to tie the big picture down to individual employees.

In short, I’m seeing some damn good CEO communications lately. But I want to ask you: Are you experiencing the same thing?

See, I worry because so much of what I see is sent to me by communicators. And people tend to send stuff that they are proud of. So there’s a chance I may be only seeing the best of the best.

So let me put the question to you: Are YOUR CEO communications getting any better? Or are you still just churning out the corporate boilerplate? Are the old dinosaurs dying and being replaced by young guns who understand the power of communications?

If you’re doing something great, I’d love to see it. You can even e-mail me privately at steve@crescenzocommunications.com. Maybe if I get enough good samples, I can put together a little book and post it to the blog.

So let me know!