Executive Blogs Don't Need to be Difficult

 When I meet with executives I often ask if they blog and the answer is often no - followed by a variety of reasons, some valid, some questionable. But one thing is often true: blogging can take a lot of time. Some executives get around this by having someone in their communications group write their blog posts.  Not really ideal and probably less than authentic.

Jeff Schick - IBM's VP of Social Computing - has come up with an ingenious solution. He blogs internally to his team but his posts are simply his daily schedule (most of it anyway) followed by a couple of lines about his impression of the meetings or the outcomes.  This gets him out of the endless cycle of "What am I going to write about today" and gives his team some interesting reading.

I like this approach for two reasons: One - what a great tacit training tool.  Ambitious employees who want to move up have a great way of seeing what an executive really does all day and of understanding what they might want to start paying attention to within the company.  Two - large teams often rarely see their executives and have no idea what they are doing until they show up, ask some questions, and go away again. That can lead to a lot of speculation and even resentment if employees feel like they can't get the attention they need to solve problems.  Jeff admitted that since he started publishing his schedule publicly he actually now gets sympathy from many people on his team.  That sympathy helps a lot when you've got to turn around and ask the team to do something hard.

Simple. Brilliant. Easy.  I like it.

Flickr image by Arthaey

Comments

[Phil Grove]

I like the best practice. It shows us how the simple things can fill the big ideas of #E20; not everything needs be overwhelming.

[Rachel Happe]

Indeed - I think some of the simplest ideas, quickly executed can be some of the most engaging. Too often we get bogged down thinking about the 'grand scheme' and then by asking for permission. I'm a big fan of 'Just Do It' in this case, particularly if companies are in the experimentation/evaluation stage.

[Jon Strande]

Again, great meeting you and thank you so much for posting this! I'm sending to my boss right now!

BTW: I chuckled just a little as I twittered my morning beverage from Logan airport... I knew everyone would enjoy reading about my selection! LOL!!!

[Rachel Happe]

Hi Jon -

Thanks for stopping by - great meeting you at E2.0 as well. Hope you got back to the land of chocolate OK!

[joseph karwat]

I think the real issue is that Executive Blogs do not currently have the functionality that most business people need. Since one's blog ends up being a goto site to communicate with the executive, more functionality geared to how execs communicate and exchange information is needed.

[Rachel Happe]

Hi Joseph -

Thanks for stopping by - it's a great point, there are not a lot of social media technologies geared toward executives specifically - and many executives are making due with consumer apps. Tools are starting to emerge and features like Blackberry/iPhone apps are helping.

[Sarah]

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Sarah

http://www.craigslistdecoded.info

[Sarah]

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Sarah

http://www.craigslistdecoded.info

[Rachel Happe]

Hi Sarah -

Thanks for stopping by and leaving the nice note.

Rachel