In this podcast, Bates talks about what it means to speak like a CEO, what makes President Obama's communications style so effective, how CIOs can use good communications to maintain staff morale, and how gender differences in communications styles can affect your job performance.

What do President Obama and Jack Welch have in common? They're both excellent communicators. Although they have different communications styles, they both know how to command attention and to get results. They also both know how to inspire and to motivate others.

If you want to move up the IT ladder, you, undoubtedly, need to have good technical skills and solid business experience. On the other hand, if you want to earn that CIO seat at the executive table, your better hone your communications skills. You might start by going to amazon.com and ordering either Motivate like a CEO - Communicate Your Strategic Vision and Inspire People to Act! or Speak Like a CEO - Secrets to Commanding Attention and Getting Results. Suzanne Bates, the author, is CEO of Bates Communications, an executive communications consultancy, and a former award-winning television anchor and reporter.

When Jose Alvarez, president and CEO of Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. wanted to improve his communications skills, he turned to Bates Communications, based in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm offers everything from formal strategic communications consulting to executive presence seminars and workshops. Clients include Blue Cross Blue Shield, Dow Chemical, Fidelity, and Mellon/Bank of New York. Bates says that the company's mission is to transform leaders into powerful communicators who get business results.

She says that many leaders get promoted because of their business and technical skills. "When you reach the leadership of a C-level position, your primary role is to communicate the organization's vision, strategy, and values. You need good communication skills if want to inspire, to motivate, and to align the organization with the vision and strategy.  Even middle managers need good communications skills. In many cases, communications is the missing link that holds people back from reaching their full potential."

During her 20-year year in television news reporting, Bates interviewed 1,000 of political leaders, CEOs, experts, authors, and celebrities. She says that some people were better speakers than others. After Suzanne started working with executives at Bates Communications, she realized that good communications skills aren't necessarily an innate ability. "It's something you can learn. Leaders, like Jack Welch and President Obama, have learned to develop their own compelling communications style. All writing and all speaking has to come from inside. Many executives struggle with bringing out their authentic voice. It takes practice."

Bio
For about 20 years, Suzanne Bates was an acclaimed news anchor and news reporter with major television stations: WBZ-TV Boston, WCAU-TV Philadelphia, and WFLA-TV Tampa-St. Petersburg. She won an AP News Award and was nominated for a Columbia DuPont Award.

In 2000, Bates started Bates Communications, an executive communications and executive coaching consultancy. In 2005, her book, CEO-Secrets to Commanding Attention and Getting Results, topped the best-seller's list at amazon.com. The book is in its seventh printing and also has been published in several languages. In February 2009, Bates came out with Motivate like a CEO-Communicate Your Strategic Vision and Inspire People to Act!
Bates has a B.S. in broadcast journalism from the University of Illinois.

Resources
The Benefits of Executive Presence - Bates Communications
How to be Yourself in front of an audience - EmploymentCrossing
Harvard Business School - Suzanne Bates Delivers Message on the Power of Communication

Production Credits
Elizabeth Ferrarini, Executive Producer
Tom Parish, Host and Audio Producer
Audio Editing by Doug Marcis