Book review: Chief Communications Officers at Work
Tabita Andersson's book offers practical insights from senior communications leaders, capturing a discipline in the midst of significant transition.
There are no shortage of books about why communications and publice relations practitioners deserve a seat at the management table, but few explain what it takes to successfully make the journey. Tabita Andersson's Chief Communications Officers at Work aims to fill this gap.
Drawing on interviews with 23 chief communications officers (CCOs) from organisations including Honeywell, Forbes, Intel, HPE, and the International Paralympic Committee, it maps the landscape of senior communications management through first-hand accounts. The premise is straightforward: if you want to understand what it takes to reach the C-suite in communications, ask people who have done it.
Andersson is a CCO herself and conceived the project to help others navigate the journey to senior leadership that she knows first-hand is opaque. The book speaks to two audiences: practitioners aspiring to senior communications roles, and the CEOs and executives who need to understand the potential of the high-functioning corporate communications or public relations team.
What CCOs actually do
The book's strength lies in its practicality. The CCOs interviewed are candid about career paths, relationships with CEOs, and the messy reality of proving value in organisations that often view communications as an operational function rather than part of management.
One notable thread is how few of these leaders set out to work in communications. Many describe falling into the corporate communications and public relations rather than choosing it deliberately. This accidental entry point is worth reflecting on both as a strength, notably diverse perspectives; and a weakness, lack of formal entry routes and talent pipeline.
Three themes recur: critical thinking, courage, and curiosity. Andersson roots these in specific examples.
The discussion of crisis management, including the observation that the best crisis communications is when a crisis is averted, usefully addresses the tendency to celebrate response over prevention. The opportunity to capture and report on this value was highlighed in my recent report for the PR Network.
A discipline finding its footing
What makes this book timely is how clearly it captures a discipline working through fundamental questions about its identity.
Andersson captures how the CCOs interviewed navigate a productive tension. On one hand, they are encouraged to speak the language of finance and strategy, to prove value through data. On the other, several emphasise intuition, relationship-building, and the unquantifiable nature of reputation. Senior practitioners grappling openly with both issues suggests a discipline that is maturing.
The geographic range hints at how differently this transition is playing out. European CCOs describe regulatory complexity as accelerating their strategic positioning. The UK appears to lag in areas like executive communications infrastructure.
Artificial intelligence features throughout, though the treatment reflects an industry still finding its footing. The book captures practitioners at the point of experimentation rather than mastery.
Recommended reading
Chief Communications Officers at Work offers mid-career practitioners concrete examples of what senior leadership in communication management looks like and gives executives a clearer picture of the strategic value the role can deliver.
Its greater contribution is as a snapshot of practice at a pivotal moment. The questions running through these interviews (proving value, building trust, balancing data with intuition) are signs of a discipline asking the right questions.
The transition is far from complete. But Andersson and the 23 practitioners that she interviewed show that it is well underway. It’s a brilliant and timely project.
Chief Communications Officers at Work
Apress
Tabita Andersson
£45
