See update: Bob Lutz veers close to mentioning earnings drop
Two of the CEO Thought Leadership blogs I feature on this blog (see right-hand column) have neglected to mention the real dirt at their companies recently. Bottom line in blogging… if you don’t “tell it like it is” then effectively you’re stonewalling and “telling it not.” You just can’t leave high profile news about your company out of a corporate blog. New Boeing blogger Randy Baseler (VP Marketing) gets a demerit for skipping right over the recent scandal involving Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher who stepped down March 7, 2005 after admitting an affair with a subordinate. High profile GM blogger Bob Lutz doesn’t say a word about his company’s big news this week: an 80% cut in GM’s earnings forecast for this year. Guys, if you want to play in the blogosphere you gotta play by the rules! Speak the truth or something close to it. As in: “Yeah, I’m down about our earnings forecast but let me tell you what brightens my day: the 93 comments on my post about our new Chevy Cobalt… ” At least say something!! An article on the front page of today’s Washington Post comments on this evasive tendency: More PR Than No-Holds-Barred on Bosses’ Corporate Blogs.