Ask a leadership team who is responsible for the CEO’s LinkedIn presence and you’ll often get several answers, or none. Marketing assumes comms has it. Comms assumes it’s personal. The executive assistant schedules things when asked. The CEO assumes someone is on it.

That’s why so many leadership content programs start strong and fade within a quarter. It isn’t a lack of interest. It’s a lack of ownership.

Why it falls between teams

Marketing measures pipeline and brand reach, usually through the company’s own channels. Executive profiles sit outside its systems and goals.

Communications focuses on media, crises and announcements. Day-to-day executive publishing is lower priority than the next press cycle.

HR and employer brand care about talent, but rarely have authority over what senior leaders say.

The leaders themselves have the expertise but not the time, and usually not the craft.

Each group can reasonably argue that it isn’t their job. The result is that nobody plans it, nobody resources it and nobody is accountable when it stalls.

What ownership actually needs

Leadership content touches several functions, so the answer isn’t to dump it on one of them. It needs a clear owner and a clear operating model.

• One accountable owner. Typically the head of communications or a senior marketing leader, with a named budget and goals.

• A defined program. Which leaders, which themes, what cadence, what success looks like.

• A governance policy. What leaders can and can’t discuss, who reviews what, and how fast.

• Production capacity. Strategists and writers, internal or external, who capture and draft.

• Reporting. A regular readout to the leadership team on reach, quality and business impact.

Governance should speed things up, not slow them down

One reason ownership stalls is fear of risk. Legal and compliance want to review everything, which turns a timely post into a three-week process.

The better approach is to agree on rules up front. Define the topics that need review (financial results, customers, regulated claims) and the ones that don’t (lessons learned, industry views, team culture). Then let the clear cases move quickly.

Make it part of how leaders are measured

The programs that last usually have one thing in common: the CEO treats leadership visibility as part of leaders’ jobs, not an optional extra. That doesn’t require mandating posts. It means talking about it in leadership meetings, sharing what’s working and recognizing leaders who show up.

A practical starting point

If leadership content is currently nobody’s job in your company, three steps help:

1. Name an owner this month. One person, with authority to coordinate across marketing, comms and the leaders themselves.

2. Pick the leaders who matter most. Usually two to five, chosen by who buyers, investors and candidates most need to hear from.

3. Set a 90-day plan with simple measures. Cadence, reach among target roles and a qualitative check on quality.

Our Founding Teams program is designed to give that owner a ready-made system: MeridianX for governance, approvals and reporting, and a strategist team so the work never depends on someone’s spare time.

When it’s everyone’s job, it’s nobody’s. Give it a home.