What CEOs can learn from children’s magazine editors

Highlights for Children has been a staple in my family for generations. I remember my mom patiently reading through the entire magazine front to back multiple times, pausing to let us play the games, find the hidden pictures and see if we recognized any of the kids who submitted photos for the back cover. Now that I have kids of my own, Highlights has become a big part of my life again. Last night, as we were snuggled in bed reading the latest issue, I paused at the message from the editor.

The first page of a book or magazine is too easy to breeze by — a problem we confront in our work with clients writing their annual sustainability reports. But in Highlights, the first words of each magazine deliver something that feels special — a direct message from the editor to the families who are reading the magazine. For example, in the summer 2024 edition, editor Christine French Cully quips, “In this issue, there’s a story about a boy who loses his shoe. In my house, it’s the socks that go missing!” The rest of her brief message is about how perplexing that situation is and how she hopes that the kids find that story as funny as she does. Simple, effective, personal, customized to her audience. Perfection.

ESG reports disclose data and critical information about the risk profile of a company that impacts stakeholders. While the audiences for corporate reports are decidedly not the same as Highlights readers, there are a few key principles that can make CEO letters and other leadership messages more engaging and memorable, setting up the reader so they are excited to turn the page and read the rest of the report. To increase the odds that readers engage with the information you’ve painstakingly collected, apply Highlights principles to your next CEO message.

Here are three ways to increase reader engagement:

Add, don’t summarize.

One of the most tempting and all-too-common approaches to the CEO letter is to summarize the key achievements contained throughout the rest of the report. The problem is that most reports also have an overview page that provides that same content through bullet points or an infographic, and those points are also covered in their respective chapters inside the report. As a result, the CEO message does not deliver anything new or unique.

Instead, steal an idea from Highlights and choose one thing that will be covered in the report and make a personal connection to it. Call out an interesting example or story that didn’t make it into the chapter highlight list but still encompasses the spirit of your commitments and progress. Or use the letter as an opportunity to explain the business purpose behind your ESG efforts in a way that adds context and color and helps the reader understand the rest of the content to come.

Make your message relatable by making it specific.

I read a lot of reports from all different types of companies, led by all different kinds of people, yet it often seems like we could swap in a different name and headshot and the message wouldn’t need to change at all. But in Highlights, a brief story draws us closer to the editor — she’s sharing a story about what happens in her home, but it’s so relatable that we feel she must understand our home.

Consider taking the opportunity to contextualize the efforts the reader will read about later. Is there something the CEO is particularly proud of given how much of a challenge it initially presented? Something from their own personal experience that gave them insight on an issue you face or an affinity for a group you serve? How are your leader’s passions, interests, or concerns aligned with those of your stakeholders? Was there a volunteer event or employee town hall that they participated in this past year that made them feel proud? A personal story can go a long way.

Keep it brief.

There’s a natural inclination to include everything so as to not leave any department, leader or stakeholder out. But as we learn from the materiality process as well as from the example of Highlights, if everything is important, nothing is. The CEO message is a great opportunity to be strategic and selective, identifying a true theme or aspiration over a long list of accomplishments. Report readers are managing innumerable pulls on their limited time and attention, and clear and concise takeaways will help them better absorb your ideas.

Never underestimate the power of a good story.

Whether you’re writing for an audience of sophisticated investors or young children, basic principles of communication — like intrigue, humanity, and brevity — remain the same. Just as there are real people behind all the efforts communicated in an ESG report, your readers are human, too. Good stories help all types of readers connect, so let’s embrace what works and improve all our communications in the process.