Effective Executive Positioning Starts By Answering Two Simple Questions

If you work in communications, and even if you don’t, you may have recently come across the words executive positioning, which is a fancy term for “executive communications,” which is a fancy term for “stuff the CEO says.”

Having written for leaders for more than a decade, I’m well-versed in this area, but many are mystified by the notion of ghostwriting for an executive. How do you know what to say? How do you capture their voice? How do you actually become a ghostwriter?

All great questions, to be sure, but as I tell them, and as I’m telling you, ghostwriting is no miracle. We’re not delivering babies, landing on the moon, or escaping Alcatraz. Ghostwriting is actually quite simple (well, sort of), and every communication—every executive positioning—starts by answering two questions:

What does the leader want or need to say? What does the audience want or need to hear?

By effectively blending the answers to those questions, executive communications can help leaders reach and impact targeted audiences. Internally, that means employees. Externally, that means investors, consumers, community members, and more.

Either way, the goal of most, if not all, leadership messages is to meet a moment—whatever the moment may be. It could be sharing a business update, conveying an internal change, celebrating an accomplishment or milestone, taking a stand on a social issue, indirectly marketing a product or service, leaning into thought leadership—the list goes on.

There’s usually a good bit of overlap between the wants and needs of leaders and their audience, but sometimes ghostwriters need to thread the needle—or create the very fabric the needle threads. This is where ghostwriting gets tricky. Determining messaging is one thing; crafting messaging content is something else entirely. What do you say (and not say)? How do you say it (and not say it)? How do you ensure it is written in the leader’s voice?

Quality ghostwriting requires more than strong writing. It requires you to be a psychologist, brand manager, risk manager, and adept at reading the room—for your leader, yes, but also for your audience. Especially for your audience. Because one sentence—even one word—can drastically impact how people feel about a message or what they take from it.

Executive communications, when done correctly, can achieve Mozart levels of harmony. It can motivate employees, improve culture, attract customers, and strengthen company reputation—all of which help leaders achieve their goals. Executive communications, when done incorrectly, can do the exact opposite. It can hurt morale, kill culture, alienate customers, and damage company reputation. Which is why you, as a ghostwriter, need to ensure that what leaders want to say is what people hear.

There’s a reason ghostwriting, executive communications, executive positioning—whatever you want to call it—is still very niche in the writing world. It’s hard. But by effectively answering two simple questions, you can make life infinitely easier on your leaders and their audiences. That’s executive positioning any leader can get behind.

Tony Meale is a Chicago-based author, ghostwriter, speaker, and coach. He can be reached here.