Leading by Example on social
Given that my job requires my team to be responsible for interacting with a community (developers) that is social savvy, I have been wondering the implications of the same on my personal participation in social media.
The recent 1000 heads article (Leading by example) provided some serious food for thought.
Clearly, we “listen” to the social media. As a company, we do respond too. So, then it is about personal involvement.
The article discusses the pros and cons pretty well. Personally, I think the final decsion is going to be based on whether I add value to the conversation. Not all topics that I am interested in following are necessarily my area of expertise. So I would not join in based on my “role”, but much rather on whether my expertise is in line with the topic.
While it is not possible to totally disregard the company/role dimension, joining in only in specific areas of expertise makes it more personal than corporate.
April 11th, 2011 at 1:36 pm
Hi Shankar, I’m glad the post resonated and I think your point is spot on. A leader needs to really define *what* they are talking about in social – is it the industry they are passionate about (say, sustainability), their own company (GreenCorp) or even the idea of social business itself? And how does this determine who/how they engage? It is so important to stay relevant – but also curious, and to value the eclectic. If the CEO also loves cats, well let him connect with people about cats too. That keeps the conversation authentic, human and quirky – and will motivate you to keep engaging as it incorporates your wider, genuine interests. But stay aware why people are following you – what you have defined your expertise/interest area as – and remember that that needs to make up the bulk of the conversation…