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Torod B. Neptune: Unlearn The Habits That Hold Communications Leaders Back
Unlearn the Habits That Hold Communications Leaders Back
Communications leaders used to see themselves as the conscience of their organizations. You don't hear that as much anymore. What happened? Is it a failure of individual courage, or did something structural change about the role that made conscience a liability?
In this episode of The Piar Podcast, host Tan Sukhera sits down with Torod Neptune, a former CCO with more than 25 years of executive experience across Medtronic, Lenovo, Verizon, Bank of America, and major global agencies where he advised brands like Nike, MasterCard, and Delta. Named one of the most influential executives in corporate America by Savoy magazine and inducted into the North Carolina Media and Journalism Hall of Fame, Torod now teaches communications management and strategic leadership at UNC Hussman, examining the profession from outside of the machine with the freedom to say exactly what he thinks.
What You'll Learn:
Pragmatism Has a Consequence - The instinct to avoid the limelight, to not be the tallest blade of grass, makes strategic sense. But there's a cost. If communicators still believe their most significant value is being the conscience of their organizations, then pulling back from that role under pressure doesn't just hurt the publics they serve. It erodes the long-term justification for having a CCO in leadership circles at all.
Hunches Can Be Dangerous - Communications professionals have grown up relying on their hunches. After decades, those instincts are often sharp. But hunches also close you off to thinking about problems differently. Torod describes a specific scenario where every data point said to stay silent, but judgment said to show up as a human organization, be humble, and trust that the stakeholders who matter would give them the benefit of the doubt. The data was wrong. The judgment held.
The Acceptance of a Sharp Pointy Perspective - How do you know you've moved beyond being a press release department? When your voice on a business issue is just as credible as the P&L owner's. When you offer an uninvited perspective on something outside the traditional communications box and the room not only tolerates it but receives it. That acceptance is the real signal.
AI Eliminated a Layer, Not Just Tasks - The entry-level skill set that used to take three to five years to build has been largely removed by AI. That layer represented roughly 85 percent of what academia still teaches. What remains is strategic thinking, critical reasoning, foundational business acumen, and the ability to synthesize complex issues into compelling strategic ideas that solve business problems. The 2020 syllabus is training people for jobs that will not exist.
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By Tan SukheraUnlearn the Habits That Hold Communications Leaders Back
Communications leaders used to see themselves as the conscience of their organizations. You don't hear that as much anymore. What happened? Is it a failure of individual courage, or did something structural change about the role that made conscience a liability?
In this episode of The Piar Podcast, host Tan Sukhera sits down with Torod Neptune, a former CCO with more than 25 years of executive experience across Medtronic, Lenovo, Verizon, Bank of America, and major global agencies where he advised brands like Nike, MasterCard, and Delta. Named one of the most influential executives in corporate America by Savoy magazine and inducted into the North Carolina Media and Journalism Hall of Fame, Torod now teaches communications management and strategic leadership at UNC Hussman, examining the profession from outside of the machine with the freedom to say exactly what he thinks.
What You'll Learn:
Pragmatism Has a Consequence - The instinct to avoid the limelight, to not be the tallest blade of grass, makes strategic sense. But there's a cost. If communicators still believe their most significant value is being the conscience of their organizations, then pulling back from that role under pressure doesn't just hurt the publics they serve. It erodes the long-term justification for having a CCO in leadership circles at all.
Hunches Can Be Dangerous - Communications professionals have grown up relying on their hunches. After decades, those instincts are often sharp. But hunches also close you off to thinking about problems differently. Torod describes a specific scenario where every data point said to stay silent, but judgment said to show up as a human organization, be humble, and trust that the stakeholders who matter would give them the benefit of the doubt. The data was wrong. The judgment held.
The Acceptance of a Sharp Pointy Perspective - How do you know you've moved beyond being a press release department? When your voice on a business issue is just as credible as the P&L owner's. When you offer an uninvited perspective on something outside the traditional communications box and the room not only tolerates it but receives it. That acceptance is the real signal.
AI Eliminated a Layer, Not Just Tasks - The entry-level skill set that used to take three to five years to build has been largely removed by AI. That layer represented roughly 85 percent of what academia still teaches. What remains is strategic thinking, critical reasoning, foundational business acumen, and the ability to synthesize complex issues into compelling strategic ideas that solve business problems. The 2020 syllabus is training people for jobs that will not exist.