Recording ahead of a packed October of conferences and speaking events, Chuck Gose and Jenni Field dig into Axios reporting on chief communications officers absorbing ever more corporate functions, LinkedIn data showing fewer workers want to become managers, Gen Z’s shrinking entry-level job market, and TIME’s case for teaching leaders real emotion regulation.
Discussing Axios reporting on the sharp rise of “CCO+” roles — comms leaders who’ve also picked up marketing, HR, ESG, or corporate-affairs remits — Chuck and Jenni debate whether this expansion represents real power, with budget and decision rights attached, or scope creep that leaves comms teams absorbing everyone else’s problems without the authority to actually fix them.
A LinkedIn News piece reports only about three in ten non-managers want to step into people leadership, even though most workers say a bad boss would be enough to make them quit. Layered against Gallup data showing U.S. engagement at a ten-year low, Chuck and Jenni debate whether organizations should redesign the manager role itself — span of control, admin load, tools, pay — or build more prestigious individual-contributor career paths as an alternative to management.
Discussing another LinkedIn News piece on Gen Z’s “employability problem,” the hosts examine how AI and automation are eroding entry-level work, shrinking the very roles that build experience and judgment. They discuss what internal comms and HR can realistically build in response — structured apprenticeships, rotational programs, or validated skills portfolios — to create fair, visible on-ramps that don’t just privilege candidates who already have access.
Closing on TIME‘s reporting on what it calls an “overreaction epidemic,” Chuck and Jenni discuss Yale’s Marc Brackett and his argument that emotion regulation is a trainable, practical skill — naming emotions precisely, buying time before reacting, reframing triggers, and separating feelings from facts — and what role internal communicators can play in helping leaders build this skill, especially when news breaks or a rumor spreads quickly through Slack.
Are “CCO+” roles a sign of real influence for comms, or scope creep without authority? It’s genuinely unclear, Chuck and Jenni conclude — discussing Axios reporting on the rise of “CCO+” roles (comms leaders who’ve also picked up marketing, HR, ESG, or corporate-affairs remits), they debate whether this represents real power with budget and decision rights attached, or scope creep that leaves comms teams absorbing everyone else’s problems without the authority to fix them.
Why don’t more workers want to become managers, and what should organizations do about it? Only about three in ten non-managers want to step into people leadership, per LinkedIn News reporting, even though most workers say a bad boss would be enough to make them quit — Chuck and Jenni debate whether organizations should redesign the manager role itself (span of control, admin load, tools, pay) or build more prestigious individual-contributor career paths instead.
Why is Gen Z struggling to gain entry-level experience, and what can comms and HR build to help? AI and automation are eroding entry-level work, shrinking the roles that build experience and judgment, according to a LinkedIn News piece on Gen Z’s “employability problem” — the hosts discuss structured apprenticeships, rotational programs, and validated skills portfolios as fairer, more visible on-ramps.
What is the “overreaction epidemic,” and how can leaders learn real emotion regulation? TIME’s reporting on an “overreaction epidemic” cites Yale’s Marc Brackett, who argues emotion regulation is a trainable, practical skill — naming emotions precisely, buying time before reacting, reframing triggers, and separating feelings from facts — something internal communicators can help leaders build, especially when news breaks or a rumor spreads quickly through Slack.
Chuck: Welcome to Frequency, I’m Chuck Gose.
Jenni: I’m Jenni Field. Frequency is your go-to for real talk about comms, culture and employee experience — beyond the buzzwords and straight to what matters. What matters this week is season three of The Summer I Turned Pretty — have you watched it, Chuck?
Chuck: I have not — hasn’t made my list, though I did see on Instagram you were binging it.
Jenni: I came across the show in January with a friend in Spain and didn’t realize what a phenomenon it had become. We got a load of Marks & Spencer picky bits, had a floor picnic in my lounge, and watched the entire new season in one sitting as two mid-forties women. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I can’t ask if you’re team Conrad or team Jeremiah since you haven’t watched it.
Chuck: I’ve heard those terms but genuinely didn’t know what they related to — thought it might be a Love Island thing.
Jenni: If anyone listening has an opinion, let me know — I’m team Conrad, and I’ve only ever met one person who’s team Jeremiah. Complete trash, but I loved it. The other thing on my mind is that it’s already October, and the year is whizzing by — we’ve both got a lot on this month.
Chuck: Looking at my board here — by the time this airs, I’ll have done the Firstup Frontline Summit in Philadelphia, then we’ll be at Unite in Nashville together, then an event called “Who Owns Employee Experience” with Hebba Yousef from I Hate It Here, then a webinar on why comms needs to be more strategic on the 15th, and more after that. Living day to day at this point. What have you got?
Jenni: I’ve already done ContactMonkey’s Comms Connect in the first week of October. At Unite, alongside Frequency Live, I’m doing a session with Advita Patel on how to be a Chief Communications Officer. Then my own Quarterly Workplace Huddle on the 14th, and Leaders Reboot in London on the 21st. It’s officially conference season for both of us.
Chuck: It is — a mix of in-person and virtual, and all manageable. That’s what I keep telling myself.
Jenni: All manageable — you’ve got this. We’ll pop links to everything we’re both speaking at into the show notes. What are we covering this week?
Chuck: First, a pulse check on the leadership ladder — fewer people want to be managers, which bends the whole org chart. Then we zoom to the front door of the workforce, where Gen Z is told to gain experience while entry paths keep narrowing. We’ll close with TIME’s mindset reset on the “overreaction epidemic.” First — Axios on how chief comms officers are absorbing more functions, and what that means for IC, HR, and EX. They report a sharp rise in “CCO+” roles — comms leaders also carrying marketing, HR, ESG, or corporate-affairs remits — up roughly 88% since 2019, now outnumbering traditional CCO roles for the first time. The most common add-ons are marketing, then HR and ESG. Is this expansion real power, or scope creep that dilutes comms without giving teams the authority to fix what they’re now asked to own?
Jenni: I think it depends entirely on whether budget and decision rights come attached to the title, or whether it’s just additional responsibility bolted on without either. My instinct is it’s more often the latter — organizations like the idea of a single accountable owner for employee experience, but don’t always follow through with the resources that role actually needs to succeed.
Chuck: That’s the scope-creep risk exactly — you end up holding responsibility for outcomes you don’t have the authority or headcount to actually influence.
Chuck: Next — LinkedIn News reports only about three in ten non-managers actually want to become people leaders, even though most workers say a bad boss would push them to quit. Layer that against Gallup’s finding that U.S. engagement hit a ten-year low in 2024, with managers themselves increasingly disengaged. If only a minority want the job and current managers are burning out, where should companies intervene first — redesigning the role itself, or building a real alternative ladder for individual contributors?
Jenni: I’d push for redesigning the role first — span of control, administrative load, the tools managers are actually given — because that’s the more immediate fix, and it directly addresses why current managers are burning out. But long-term, organizations absolutely need a genuinely prestigious individual-contributor path, not just a consolation title, so people don’t feel management is the only way to advance.
Chuck: Agreed — and I think comms has a real role to play this quarter specifically in helping managers feel supported and equipped, even in small, immediate ways, rather than waiting for a bigger structural fix that might take years.
Chuck: Related — Gen Z’s employability problem. LinkedIn News reports AI and automation are eroding entry-level work, shrinking the very roles that build experience and judgment, while hiring managers respond by demanding “job-ready” proof that’s harder to build when the junior rungs themselves are disappearing. What’s the most credible substitute organizations can build?
Jenni: Structured apprenticeships and rotational programs feel like the most credible option to me, because they create a genuine, visible on-ramp rather than asking young people to somehow arrive already experienced. Comms and HR both have a role in making these pathways visible and trusted across the organization, so they don’t just become another opportunity that only reaches people who already have connections.
Chuck: And there’s a longer-term risk buried in here too — if this generation doesn’t get the same rungs to climb, we’re looking at a weaker manager pipeline down the road, which loops right back to our last story.
Chuck: Let’s close with TIME’s piece on the “overreaction epidemic” — the argument that we’re not more emotional than previous generations, we’ve just failed to teach the trainable skill of emotion regulation. Yale’s Marc Brackett frames it as practical and learnable: naming emotions precisely, buying time before reacting, reframing triggers, and separating feelings from facts before making decisions. What’s comms’ role in helping leaders build this?
Jenni: This resonates strongly with everything we’ve discussed about leaders needing real skills training, not just good intentions. Comms is often the first to see a leader’s raw, unfiltered reaction to breaking news or a fast-moving rumor — we’re well positioned to coach in the moment, encouraging a pause before a message goes out, rather than just executing whatever a leader’s first instinct was.
Chuck: That’s a great, concrete way for comms to add real value here — not just messaging after the fact, but actively building in that pause before a reaction becomes public.
Chuck: That’s this week’s stories. What’s your freak-out?
Jenni: Honestly, just how full October already feels before it’s even properly started — but a good busy, not a bad one.
Chuck: Same here — see everyone in Nashville. Thank you all for joining us this week. All the articles and events we mentioned are in the show notes — rate and review after you’ve listened, subscribe so you don’t miss an episode, and pass this along to someone who’d enjoy it; find us on YouTube too. Thank you to Poet Ali for contributing the music to the show, and we’ll be back next week with more news, insights and opinions about comms and leadership in workplaces today. Keep tuning in and turning up.
Chuck is a US-based internal communications strategist and the founder of ICology – a community and resource hub for IC professionals. He brings a practitioner lens to every conversation. Chuck is a recognised voice in the industry, a regular speaker and event host, and one of the most connected people in the North American IC world.
Jenni is a UK-based leadership and internal communications consultant, author of two best-selling books, and international speaker. She runs Redefining Communications, a consultancy working with organisations around the world to help them communicate better and close the gap between what leaders say and what employees experience.
