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Medill Executive Education at Northwestern University has released its Medill 2026 CCO Monitor Survey Results, “The Medill CCO Monitor: Defining the Competencies of C-Suite Success.”

Conducted between September and November 2025, the survey features responses and insights from 125 senior communications executives from across industries.

Participants shared insights into the modern chief communications officer role, including the importance of being a business leader first, a comms leader second; developing leadership, judgement, and influence; and maintaining curiosity and learning.

Key survey findings include:

• Respondents ranked strategic business thinking and financial acumen (66 per cent), executive presence and ability to counsel C-suite leaders (66 per cent), and mastery of the communications craft (53 per cent) as the three most important skills for success as a CCO.
• Business and financial acumen (24 per cent) and executive presence(24 per cent) were also selected as the top skills CCOs needed to develop on the job most after becoming a senior communications leader, followed by cross-functional leadership; influencing without authority (19 per cent).
• Respondents ranked the same three qualities as the top skills that the senior leaders on their current team need for the CCO role: business and financial acumen (76 per cent), executive presence (64 per cent), and cross-functional leadership (56 per cent).
• In response to the most important professional development experiences for future CCOs, 91 per cent of participants selected working across comms disciplines as the most critical, followed by managing teams (68 per cent) and crisis management (55 per cent).
• AI and automation (66 per cent), growth of misinformation (38 per cent), and political and social polarisation (30 per cent) topped the list of external forces CCOs expect to shape their role over the next three to five years.

Peter Jean has commenced a media and communications role at the Australian National University. In 2025, he wrapped up six and a half years at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare as Media and Communications Manager and spent several months undertaking freelance communications and editing work. Prior to this, Peter was a journalist at The Advertiser, The Canberra Times, The Herald-Sun and AAP, mainly covering politics and health.  

Natalie Tan has been elevated to Marketing and Communications Manager at EU-ASEAN Business Council. Based in Singapore, she is responsible for the council's external communications strategy, including press relations, narrative development, crisis communications, reputation management, social media, and events.

Natalie had previously worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she handled media relations, strategic communications, and social media activities.