Blogging For Leaders (BFL) is all about how to use a blog to leverage your influence as a leader. My white paper, webinar, and online course are designed for anyone in a leadership position, including
- business leaders
- non-profit leaders
- government leaders
- education leaders
- civic leaders
- political leaders
The problem
Most every leader is feeling the effects of the waves of social media technologies that are increasingly washing up on the shores of their organizations. It’s been primarily blogs in the past five years but now it’s also Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Leaders cannot help but notice the demands for more organizational transparency, authenticity, responsiveness, and engagement from employees, customers, constituents, members, citizens, and the media–all of whom are increasingly adept at using social media technologies.
While many leaders support the organizational use of social media, most are reluctant to use social media technologies like blogs and Twitter. Here, in no particular order, are the most common objections:
I don’t have time
“My days are packed, and increasingly, work is encroaching on my evenings and weekends. Why would I add regular blogging or tweeting to my to-do list?”
Why increase my flood of electronic messages?
“My email inbox is overflowing. I’ve got umpteen voicemails piled up waiting for me. I’ve got no choice on dealing with the onslaught of text messages on my mobile phone. If I start blogging or tweeting, it will just encourage people I don’t know or care about to contact me.”
The communications and legal staff are against it
“My staff gets freaked when I talk to the media. They want everything filtered through them first. They’ll go nuts if I started blogging or tweeting on my own. I don’t need to be making their lives more difficult. Plus, what if I screw up and write something that increases the risk of litigation, offends a customer, or angers employees or investors?
I don’t know how to interact with people online
“I’ve got no experience with chat rooms, message boards or email discussion groups. And from what I’ve seen, people can be nasty online. Why would I subject myself to that?”
I’m not the literary type
“I can handle giving a speech and being interviewed. But writing isn’t one of my strong suits. I don’t need the aggravation of staring at a blank page, wondering what to blog or tweet about. And I don’t have time to be crafting meaningful stories every week.”
I’m not the techie type
“I’m fine with email and Microsoft Office apps. But I’m no techie and I don’t have the time to learn to blog and tweet and whatever else is the technology du jour, especially when one little screw up can get broadcast to the whole world.”
My musings aren’t important
“Too many people think they’ve got so many important things to say to the world so they decide to become bloggers. Most of it’s drivel. I’ve got no such delusions of grandeur.”
What if I change my mind about an issue?
“If I take a public position now on something that I may change my mind about later, I’ll look like I’ve flip-flopped.”
Once I start, I’ll be pressured to continue
“I’ve thought about blogging or tweeting but I’m not sure I’d be willing or able to keep it up. Having to bail would mean I’d likely let people down who’ve come to expect it. And the dead carcass of my writings would be on the web forever.”
I have answers to all these objections in my white paper. You may be glad to know, for example, that for leaders, some of the ‘social networking’ in social networking technologies is optional. The tools, however, can still be used by a leader in a strategic, authentic, and influential way.
Why use them at all? It’s all about leverage as I explain in this 7-minute video in which I define leadership blogging as the art of strategic, near real-time, short storytelling:
Sign up to receive a free copy of my White Paper:
Guide to Leadership Blogging: Leveraging Your Influence in the Age of Social Media
