The Economist doesn’t get it when it comes to CEO blogs (aka senior executive blogs). Blogging Bosses, an article in the Jan. 23, 2007 issue (behind a firewall; apologies), is irritatingly dismissive:
“A few chief executives have started blogs, but fewer have kept up the
pace for long, and fewer still seem to have placed all that much trust
in the medium…At Davos, the willingness of bosses to blog may depend on how excited
they get about the subjects under discussion. So far it is hard to see
what will set pulses racing.” – The Economist (Jan. 23, 2007)
Blogging & video interviews galore over at Davos Conversation
Note: I’m pretty sure a handful of CEOs are blogging the WEF over at Davos Conversation. It’s a little hard to tell as the aggregator site is jammed with links to video interviews, to the BBC, to Daylife, to Jeff Jarvis’s Buzz Machine, to the Guardian Unlimited, to the Huffington Post, to the WEF blog, etc. A rich smorgasbord but needs a bit more organization.
The Economist’s lame article about Blogging Bosses
The writer dutifully quotes Seth Godin’s dismissive riff: “Beware the CEO blog” (from Oct. 2004 so kinda dated). And mentions Jonathan Schwartz (“perhaps the most dedicated blogger boss”), dismissing him as well (“even his online scribblings are sporadic”).
And IMHO misses the point that *any* attempt by execs at the top of big organizations to think out loud and to listen to feedback from employees and others is… well, laudable. Nortel CTO John Roese started a blog a few days ago and has gotten a good bit of response so far (much of it from employees). In his first post he writes at length about his “philosophy and approach to telcom and technology.” I find it pretty interesting.
Sour grapes on the part of business journalists?
Hundreds of CEOs and senior execs are continuing to blog about stuff that’s important to them (often related to company strategy, industry trends, etc.). Ya know… it strikes me that perhaps some business writers are feeling a bit threatened. If a CEO can articulately explain complex issues or trends related to his or her sector, then why do we need the “journalist as translator”?
Tell me what to cover in my CEO Bloggers workshop
As to how well a particular exec or CEO can master blogging as an ongoing communications channel, that’s another question. And one I’ll be tackling in a half-day workshop on CEO blogging on Feb. 9, 2007 here in D.C. at Ragan’s Annual Speechwriters Conference.
I welcome any suggestions of CEO bloggers you think I should profile (in addition to the usual suspects), issues I should cover, Do’s and Don’ts, cautionary tales, etc. Leave a Comment below or email me at wordbiz(at)gmail(dot)com. I’d love to hear from you.