“The communications director has to be your alter ego; somebody in whom you can have blind trust – in their ability to unpack both the company and your personal vision. It should be a person you can fully trust and who deepens your capabilities; who advises and reviews your ideas and opinions – and, overall, who gives you the feeling that there is someone you can always rely upon.”

This quote is from one of 40 CEOs we interviewed about the role of communications within leadership and reputation for our report Beyond communications: a CEO perspective of reputation leadership. From our research, we found that the modern CEO is looking for strong commercial understanding; a strategic business leader who sits at the inner core of the organisation and proactively connects, coordinates, and facilita