The CEO²

When the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is also the Community Executive Officer (CEO).

What do we mean by The CEO²?

In the community world, we often explore the idea of what community leadership may look like. Often, it is spoken in terms of being "community-led". Or in terms of the role of "Community Executive Officer" or "Chief Community Officer".

Community leadership roles have dwindled in the past couple of years. Alongside this, as tough decisions need to be made, there has also been a trend of cost-cutting on many community commitments.

The idea of CEO² is that community can't be cut out. This is because it comes from the leader of the company. By leading with community at the heart, then community is the culture. Stopping community means changing the essence of the company that has been built.

Of course, we may not be able to avoid cost-cutting, but when it does happen with a CEO² led company, community is considered an essential part to keep alive. It's not just a nice to have.

Tell me more...

• CEO x CEO = CEO²: An equation to help us see that community is what we do and does not necessarily exist within the boundary of a specific community role.
• Community at the heart: community starts from within and echoes out across the company. We don't seek permission to be community-led. It is expected.
• Community is culture: When community is led by the CEO² it means that community is a natural part of the company culture. Every day decisions are made with community in mind. Community is not a tick-box exercise.
• Learning to see in systems: The role of a CEO² is to look at the company as a system and to enable community at every possible node.
• Win-win-win: The CEO² looks for the win-win-win. Of course they want to win, but they cannot win if the people and ecosystem win too.

Why is CEO² so good?

The CEO² role is empowering. Not only is it an efficient way towards building community, it is also one that involves looking at the organisation as a system and a creative entity. Communities are magical when we get to be creative with all the moving parts.

We know that not one singular person or group of people can be responsible for community. The CEO² strategy takes this to heart by empowering everyone to practice making good community decisions.

Learn more

The win-win-win

How we function as society needs to be balanced, we’ve gone on far too long without paying attention to the bigger picture. I used to look for a win-win when building community. To me this means that I look for something that both our people and the organisation will benefit

RosielandRosie Sherry

Care as a community strategy

I keep going back on forth on thoughts about community structure and strategy. As with all these things, every organisation should look at how to implement their own community thinking differently. There is no wrong or right, but I increasingly feel inclined to take an edge towards a more integrated

RosielandRosie Sherry

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