CEO's & Blogging--2nd Try

A whole lot of people have taken me to task for my recent post about CEOs and blogging, including Andy Beal, Ross Mayfield and Jim Estill, the latter two being blogging CEOs whose work I admire.

I spent a part of yesterday fuming that I was being misquoted and misrepresented, scattering testy comments on other people's blogs. But, when this many people take me to task for saying something I didn't think I said, I have to believe that the mistake is with the sender (me) not the receivers (everyone else).

Let me try again.  I hope it is clearer this time:

1. There are a good number of CEO bloggers, but not nearly as many as I thought there would be back when the book project was started.  We discussed several in the book.  Some are among my personal favorite bloggers.  I am glad they blog.  I hope they continue to blog and I hope other CEOs step up and start blogging.  If a CEO does start blogging I hope he or she is wise enough to do it in an authentic voice and with passion for the subject matter.
2. I am being asked with increasing frequency by corporate employees how they can get their CEOs to blog. My advice is "don't." I did not mean that CEOs should not blog.  I meant don't try to coerce, entice, nag or campaign a CEO into blogging. You probably won't succeed.  If you do succeed, the resulting blog is likely to be as exciting as cold oatmeal. You also are likely to succeed in annoying your boss, and that is usually an unwise course of action.
3. A great many CEOs do not blog because they fear regulatory curtailments.  They yield to the voices of risk-avoidant attorneys, whispering in their ear. They see stock performance as a bigger part of their job than customer satisfaction ( a strategic error if you ask me). They cannot speak without media training and a marketing manager advising on the three key talking points.  Such CEOs should not blog.  They will not help their causes or their companies. They will be perceived as talking suits using that foreign language we call Corpspeak.
4. If you are a CEO and do not have that urge or that comfort with transparency, you will likely come across the way I describe in the above point.  In that case, I urge you to encourage others in your organization to blog. product managers seem to do an outstanding job of it, because they are passionate about products and can be made wiser by listening to the collective wisdom of customers.

I hope this is at least a little clearer than my previous post.

Comments

[Jeremiah Owyang]

You've refined your points Shel, and they all make sense.

I may add however that there is a unique role between a product manager and a CEO that can fit the bill as well.

For technology or product type companies, A CTO (Chief Technology Officer) is an individual that understands product strategy, helps to define the direction, vists with customers, and works BOTH with the CEO and Product Managers.

Further selection of corporate blogger should include: talent, time, passion, ability.

(By the way, I've met Andy Beale, and he's a cool guy, as are you)

[Andy Beal]

Shel, thanks for helping us understand your comments.

I'll be happy to update my original post to reflect this new post from you.

Andy
^CEO Blogger who hopes one day to be on the list of those you admire. :-)

[Jane Genova]

It's clear your point is that, in general, it isn't useful for the CEO to become a blogger. But it can occur and, if done well, can be useful. Makes sense.

If I were a shareholder, I might raise an issue at the annual meeting about the CEO's high-profile blog and how many hours it was consuming. During the 2001 recession the same issue was raised about CEOs' speechgiving. You can bet my business as a speechwriter fell off. But, now the economy is stronger CEOs are "allowed" to give speeches again. A CEO blogger might not be so easily acceptable with the econmy stronger but still dicey.

[Shel Israel]

Andy,

Thanks for you comment. Please leave your posting as you wrote it. A blog laid is a blog played. This conversation has been helpful to me in clarifying my own thoughts and my ability to articulate them.

Good luck with your new CEO blog.

[Andy Beal]

I added a new post instead.

All the best.

[Jack Krupansky]

Just a couple of modest clarification questions...

1) I'm assuming that when you guys say "CEO" that you really mean "CxO" or any "C-level" executives or members of the upper management team. That would include COO, CTO, CIO, VPs of Sales, Marketing, Engineering, Manufacturing, Customer Service, HR, etc. All the people with executive level responsibility as opposed to people with true "line" responsibilities, like product managers, regional sales managers, product development managers, etc.

2) When we talk about whether a CEO (or upper management) should "blog", are you guys referring to a dedicated blog with frequent (e.g., daily) posts, or merely that the CEO will *occasionally* chime in on a group corporate blog? I would advocate the latter, especially if you're talking about a non-small business. We shouldn't frighten corporate executives away from blogging by making it seem like its a full-time or specialized job.

I would prefer to see *both* executives and line managers out in the blogging "trenches". The precise mix doesn't matter as long as customers and other stakeholders *feel* like the company is engaging them in meaningful "naked conversations".

As long as line managers, or even lower-level "grunts", are fielding customer and stakeholder comments in a meaningful manner, it's okay if the C-level dudes only make guest appearances.

The more it seems like a "total team" effort, the better the odds of success.

-- Jack Krupansky

[Jim Grisanzio]

Good points, Shel. Totally agree. Especially with point #2. But I didn't have a problem with your first blog. :)

[Jeffrey Treem]

Shel,

Spectacular clarification. I have updated my post.

I hope more CEOs would grow a pair and get over the issues you raise in point #3. That being said, getting people to communicate in any medium when they don't want to rarely works well.

I also think it is our job as communicators to prove the bottom-line return on blogging (or other more inclusive forms of communication). This will become easier as measurement becomes more sophisticated.

I'm glad to see so many people interested in this discussion.

Cheers,
Jeffrey

[Phil Wolff]

Blogging is writing in a specific form, like poetry or resumes or grant applications. The rules call for writing in the first person, expressing your point of view, writing regularly, and being more or less authentic.

Not everyone can do this, and I think that was Shel's point.

But communication is more a prerequisite to leadership than ever. You can't execute the greatest strategy without effective communication, and boards of directors know this.

That's not say that you must blog to be a great communicator. This is just one channel. Blogging may not be your medium. Maybe you're better off vlogging, wandering the plant with a webcam and sharing your customer visits. Or podcasting roundtables of your leadership team and staff. Or a weekly memo posted on an intranet bulletin board. Or a call-in show ("Mike from Sales on line 2. Mike you're on the air."). I keep hoping for CEO interpretive dance ("This is our pas de deux for the 3rd quarter joint venture results").

The benefits of blogging don't flow to those who blog poorly. The exception to this are bloggers who treat their blogging as a craft, learning and becoming better writers and communicators over time, through practice and feedback and introspection. I had the great pleasure of learning to blog with fairly low visibility. You learn more if you're free to make mistakes and being at the helm of a large organization probably doesn't feel that way. That's why one good practice is to start your blogging in private and gradually extend the circle of readers as your confidence grows.

Forcing someone to blog is as effective as requiring they communicate in mime. It may work once in a while, but don't count on it.

Shel, is it your guess that bloggers will be promoted more than non-bloggers? Can you see a blogging track record being the difference between getting the nod for a Fortune 3000 CEO job, or getting passed over?

[Josh Warner]

It's hard to have a successful blog if there's no real passion from the founders of the company. http://www.37signals.com/svn/ is a great example of this -- you can feel that the founders of 37Signals have something to say, whether a blog was the available forum or not.

[Ed Terpening]

When our COO opened our blog, Guided by History, I have to say I was a bit nervous. It seems to me that CXO-level executives are at a disadvantage before they write a word. Reader skepticism over intention and authenticity seem to be more prevelant the higher-level your are. I've recieved negative feedback from our COO's post, even thought it is heart-felt, completely non-salesy, and personable. Rank-and-file employees are presumed to have less of an agenda, perhaps less at stake. I understand that. Although we didn't get "slammed" by the blogosphere for our COO's post (just some), I think we're going to remain very careful about how/when they do.

[Shel Israel]

Ed,
Nice to hear from you again. Personally, I thought he did a credible--if not extrardinary job. I advise you to worry les about some of the criticism he received. The Liliputans will always find you. The observer will know they are the words of dwarves and it is different than legitimate criticism ver compant wrong doing.

[Eric Kintz]

Great comments, Shel, I definitely agree. I think your comments apply to all executives, not just CEOs. At HP, our blogging policy is that all executives have to write their own blogs and we make sure through a selection process that they have the right passion and comfort with transparency.
I thought I would also share the blog I recently started. I hope you will find it insightful and I welcome your feedback and comments
Eric

http://h20325.www2.hp.com/blogs/kintz/