Good luck trying to get most executives to seriously scrutinize blogging. Where am I going to find the time? Isn't that what I pay my Pr group to do?
Despite such protestations, some of the biggest names in corporate America are bloggers.
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Consider this quotation from Cisco Systems Ceo John Chambers:
"If you had told me I was going to [be blogging] three or four years ago I would have said, 'Not a chance.' Blogging is now the way I retell with our employees, roughly all video."
Chambers' remark came while an enlightening interview on a McKinsey regular Podcast. His statement is celebrated for three reasons that I'll retell and then discuss in a wee more detail.
- Chambers extraction and eventual embrace of blogging.
- His use of video recordings rather than written content.
- His decision to blog internally rather than externally.
Let's take point No. 1. If you currently see no value or payback in blogging, there are examples beyond John Chambers to consider - other chief executives who have found blogging a key communications tool. Among them are Virgin Cos. Ceo Richard Branson, tech entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Sun Microsystems Ceo Jonathan Schwartz and management legend and previous Ge chief menagerial Jack Welch.
All of them have blogs. Whether they administrate those blogs or have them ghost written is immaterial. They still control the message. And take into inventory that these are not men who trifle with time-wasting activities. There must be something to blogging if individuals of their power and note are committing their time and energy.
Point No. 2, Chambers chose to use video rather than the written word to retell with his people. It's very common, albeit unfortunate, for executives to struggle with the written word. Video is a handy alternative for those who would rather speak than write.
I have no doubt many enterprise habitancy nix the idea of blogging because writing is plainly unmanageable for them. Too time consuming. Too difficult. Most of them probably never considered that blogging can be done by video. (Note that blogging done by video is sometimes referred to as vlogging.)
Take a episode from John Chambers and factor the video choice into your thinking. Remember that it's not unusual for bloggers to use a composition of writing and video, depending on the nature of the data they have to retell in that single post. Just remember that even speaking requires some writing. You wouldn't want your video statement to be extemporized from start to halt unless you're an extraordinary speaker.
Jonathan Schwartz uses both video and written text on all of his blog posts. Subscribers have the choice of watching and listening to Schwartz on video or reading the written text of his postings, which appears below the video window.
Point No. 3 is Chambers' decision to blog internally. Much hoopla has been made about the power of blogging for external marketing purposes and integrating those postings with communal Media networks. This is supposed to be the brave new world of marketing. With all due respect to those aspirations, Web 2.0 technologies often pay off faster and bigger when used internally - especially at mid-size and large fellowships with hundreds or thousands of employees, vendors, investors and so on.
Many executives are flatly intimidated by the plan of airing their thoughts in communal - Whether by text or video. Such communication tends to last forever, including the contretemps. Fair enough. But if you're not communicating internally with your own employees in some fashion, you might want to consider your suitability for the role you've been given. Blogging - in writing or by video - is an excellent choice for internal communications.
On the other hand, blogging externally to customers and other audiences gives you an opening to play a role that extends beyond being a mostly anonymous internal decision maker. Rather than the man or woman behind the curtain, the communicative menagerial can better shape enterprise culture - or even become the emotional or spiritual leader of their enterprise.
Not all leaders are cut out for a communal role. It takes a definite type with a deft touch. Still, could you dream Apple being the enterprise it is without Steve Jobs very communal leadership? Would anyone other than financial managers and investors know Berkshire Hathaway if not for a homespun personality like Warren Buffett? Would Ge be the icon it is today without the fierce and charismatic leadership style of Jack Welch?
The list goes on and on. The quiz, is, will it consist of you?
Blogging With Cisco Systems Ceo John Chambers
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