‘Sound Helps People See’ (and Other Artistic Insights Into Exec Comms)

Following last year’s series of Standard Practice articles delving into the foundational elements of executive communications, I wondered how best to build on these basics with the next series. My mind kept coming back to a fairly standard set of questions we exec communicators tend to ask each other whenever we talk. How did you end up in exec comms? What is your team structure? What is your scope of work? Who do you report into? What are the swim lanes between your team and other teams within Comms?

I find the responses fascinating and quite varied across every sector and size of organization. So instead of each of us holding this information individually, we’re rolling out this year’s series, The Executive Communications Executive. Each article profiles an executive communication leader, garnering their personal responses to a standard set of queries.

Looking across all of the profiles, we see many things in common: abandoned college law studies, strong writing skills, endless curiosity, superpowers in collaboration and relative comfort in offering candid counsel to powerful leaders. Although reporting structures and team composition can be wildly different, these leaders earn and maintain their seat at the table amongst their executive’s closest business partners. Here’s a peek into how they do it. —KM

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Tony Telschow

Senior Director, Executive and Board Communication, Target; Founding Member, Executive Communications Council

How did Tony get here?

Tony comes from the creative and entrepreneurial side of the tracks. When most executive communicators were starting their careers, Tony was starting indy bands and small publishing ventures. 

“Writing and rhythm are the through-lines to all of it,” Tony says. 

Effective exec comms requires skill in deciding not just what information to present, but how to present it. The taste and judgment that requires sit at the heart of “rhetorical perspective,” a concept that fellow ECC Founding Member Boe Workman has described so well. 

“Sound helps people see,” Tony says. “If you’re trying to persuade or inform, tone is so important.”

Tony studied Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, getting a degree in English; he particularly enjoyed writing, research, and engaging with centuries of thought and applying them to current circumstances. He started his communications career in small agencies that specialized in intensive media relations. Framing, persistence and persuasion were essential. Speechwriting was a small part of the portfolio, but one that combined the skills of case-making and conversational expression. He was hooked.  

For about eight years, he ran an independent editorial business, cultivating a mix of trade journalism and corporate communications through long-term clients in the publishing and retail sectors, including Target’s department store division. His work as a business columnist helped him develop and convey a clear point of view and put him in touch with scores of CEOs, which turned out to be a master class in executive voice. 

In 2009, Tony was asked to write a commencement address for Target’s incoming CEO on a freelance basis. He didn’t know it was a trial-run for a staff role as CEO speechwriter, which he accepted in 2010. He has worked with two more Target CEOs since then and has led the executive communications team for several years. 

Who does Tony report to and how is his team structured?

• Tony reports into Chief Communications Officer Katie Boylan, a key leader on Target’s recently formed Corporate Affairs team. Both the CCO and head of corporate affairs are members of CEO Brian Cornell’s leadership team.
• Reporting to Tony are 7 directors. 
• Together they support the CEO, the leadership team and select senior vice presidents in a roughly 3-to-1 ratio organized by business area.
• The broader Communications function is set up by specialization: Media Relations, Editorial and Creative Production, Crisis Comms and Exec Comms. The leaders of those capabilities report to the Chief Communications Officer.

The scope of executive communications at Target

• The exec comms team drives anything going out in the executive’s voice, both internal and external.
• They also co-lead all positioning and strategy for the executives themselves, building a point of view that is aligned with the distinct business initiatives originating in the organization that each executive leads.
• When it comes to CEO communications, Tony and his team lead strategy and planning, turning to longstanding agencies for consultation, vetting and logistical support. They plan for roughly 80% proactive communications, and about 20% reactive. Tony’s team also collaborates with internal partners across the enterprise on planning and execution.
• Tony has oversight and input on, if not a direct hand, materials prepared for the CEO. The CEO does not have a chief of staff, but other Target executives have chiefs of staff who are close partners for exec comms.
• Communications at Target is highly valued and has a seat at the table. Executives provide the needed access to Comms and align easily on the individual roles they play in broader communications efforts.

Tony’s guiding principle for success in exec comms

Executive communications has a unique role in creating the meaning between messages and putting business initiatives in context. “All of my incremental energy goes into in-depth reading and understanding the world we live in,” Tony says. “Not just Target, but how our city, country and industry have developed. So hopefully when you’re speaking in an enterprise and societal voice, you’re aware of what has come before.” 

“Having this knowledge and experience also helps with making it up from scratch when needed. Especially when doing this on someone else’s behalf—you have to be credible, confident and conversant, not just within the business but the broader context it operates in.” 

What does Tony want to know from other executive communicators when he meets them?

“How can we collectively keep pushing to make exec comms a career destination versus a stop on the path to another role? Executives value good exec comms, and they notice when it’s not there. The professionals who love this work really love it, and there needn’t be a ceiling on what or how they contribute.”