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Corporate leaders can use Web 2.0 tools not only to communicate but also to learn from employees, suppliers, customers and the public. Many corporations spend large sums trying to find out what people think of them. Plugging into the blogosphere or listening to feedback on Twitter offers a more effective and cost-efficient way of learning how to approach customer relations. Forbes, 2009
For executives, having a blog is not going to be a matter of choice, any more than using e-mail is today. If you’re not part of the conversation, others will speak on your behalf—and I’m not talking about your employees. Harvard Business Review, 2005
My headline paraphrases the HBR 2005 article. Yes, many things have changed, but some things remain the same: leaders of organizations need to communicate about their organizations, about the work they are doing.
This is true of small businesses as much as large business. Who is the best salesperson on the team? My hunch is that it's they man or woman who sits in the CEO seat.
And this is even more true of NGOs. No one is going to build relationships, raise awareness, and motivate collaborations and donations like the Executive Director. That's why you're in the driver's seat: because people trust you to know where the organization is going, because they trust you to steer clear of mishaps, because they trust you to deliver.
Blogging instead of burning out
There's another reason it's critical for NGO leaders to communicate: you don't want to burn out when the team is counting on you to lead. You may have risen to prominence by being an effective "do-er." But you can't keep doing the work, stay healthy, creative, inspired – and inspiring. As CEO of MyStreamIsMyPassion.org you are now required to step back from "doing" and get others to step into your gumboots. How do you do that? One way is to take on the role of Chief Communications Officer – 100%.
That's right: as CEO you need to be telling the story of the organization, your passion for it, inspiring others (staff, donors, partner organizations, volunteers, the media) to become passionate about it by showing them how and why they can be involved. And the easiest way to do this is to blog.
Why blogging?
I'm a strong advocate for having a blog for several reasons.
- A blog is a news stream flowing from your brain (well, sort of). As often as you publish it refreshes – and I encourage you to publish on some kind of more-or-less regular, consistent schedule. Readers witness a newsreel of what's happening in your organization and/or your life as it relates to the organization or business. It's super-simple to setup and publish. [note: I'm not going to get into the details of that here as there are lots of resources on "how-to" a blog. If you've still got questions or you want some individual attention, contact me for an introductory consultation.] And it feeds all the other social media (as well as traditional) media channels. This is where things like Facebook and Twitter fit, but also traditional media like press releases, newsletters, TV and radio spots. The blog is the font from which all else flows... easily. More or less.
- A blog makes it super-simple to archive (and hence, retrieve, re-purpose, and/or recirculate) the communications of the organization or business. That means every press release, program announcement, new service, update to service, staff change, etcetera lives, more-or-less forever, on the blog. This means it has its own URL. It means it's pretty easy to find when you need it. It means that the next time you're asked for bumpf about this or that aspect of what the organization is about, you can point to the relevant URL and the researcher, media outlet, or client is only a click away from what they're wanting. [btw: Having your communications on a blog also means you can get away from the irritating practice of posting PDFs that must be downloaded. The idea is to make it super-simple to get information, not to protect it behind the superficial lock-and-key of a PDF – that can be hacked by any number of PDF editors, not to mention old-style OCR software.]
- Once you've got your material on a blog you can easily reference it using other communications channels. I suggest using a URL shortener service (I now use j.mp / bit.ly, but I still love the analytics feature set at Hootsuite.com). A short URL gives you analytics as well as a more manageable URL. That URL makes it super-simple to circulate the post via Twitter, Facebook – as well as emails and newsletters. Or even Flickr and YouTube and VIMEO, although I'm not going to get into that much here
- Having a blog also works as a way to host rich content. Yes, you've got a VIMEO or YouTube account. And people do find that material. But continue the aggregating you started with the press releases, news updates, and personal blog posts: put your videos, podcasts, slideshows, etc on the blog. There's no special trick to this. Most hosting sites (ie. YouTube.com) provide codes or functions that pretty much walk you through the cut-and-paste of putting the video on the blog (via the HTML edit screen - don't worry: all you have to know how to do is cut-and-paste, seriously - oh yeah, and you also need to know how to toggle the HTML/WYSIWYG views). Again, there is a lot of help online. If you need real-time, human attention there are a growing number of folks (not just me) who are putting the groceries on the table by helping folks like you focus on what's important (hint: it's not learning HTML or drupal or WordPress, or even how to use Twitter).
Gumboots: from now on, pleasure use only
The important thing is that you get "out there" and start blogging about what's important in your week and your work. You may want to leave all the geeky social media re-posting (Facebooking, Tweeting, etc) and the public relations gunk to specialists inside or outside the organization, but your team (staff, the Board, clients, volunteers, etc)
need to hear from you. And the blog is your medium.
There are many kinds of content you can develop and / or draw on, and I've got lots of ways to help you get to that. Right here and now I'm going finish up by paraphrasing the two (excellent, short) articles I quoted at the start:
- use your voice
- use some humour
- read the feedback, listening for insight (and putting your ego aside for just that moment, if only for that moment)
- be the passion for your organization that'll get others passionate
- know that no one can "sell" the merits of what your organization or business is doing better than you.
Whether you're selling boots or the importance of conservation and stewardship, you are the CEO because of what you know, because of what you are
positioned to share and teach. You're not the CEO because the business needs someone to put boots on customers. You're not the Executive Director because the organization needs someone to muck about in the creek. You now do those things only because it's a pleasant change from the critical task at hand: telling the story of your passion for your organization and the work you do.
So whether you're selling them or wading in them, put the gumboots aside and lead – by blogging!
15 December 2010
