The Social CEO

The following is taken from a portion of Clara Shih’s recently released book, The Social Business Imperative. I was honored to be asked to contribute, as the topic is extremely important.

Like any busy CEO, I was initially hesitant to get on social media due to the time commitment and compliance concerns. And while there was no question that the brand as well as my client-facing employees should be on social media, I wondered whether I as CEO also needed to have a presence.

My conversations with leaders inside and outside the company persuaded me that there is unquestionable value for organizational leaders to be present and to engage. In 2012, I joined Twitter and also really began investing in my LinkedIn presence. My experience has validated that there is immeasurable value to the brand, employees, customers and partners when leaders personally engage that far outweighs the time and compliance investment.

I do all of my own tweets and am connected to thousands of my employees, customers, and partners. I have learned that people are constantly “listening” to social and engaging through social media – social media is an important part of how many of our customers and employees experience the world and, as such, represents a highly efficient channel for messaging leadership, success stories, and company vision and direction.

In particular, the real-time insights, direct feedback, and conversational nature of social media have been priceless. Leaders of large organizations never want to be far removed from their front-line employees and their customers. Social media can be a powerful and direct channel to both.

Above all, CEOs should be on social media because it’s on us to lead by example. We can ask our people to embrace innovation and the social customer journey, but the greater credibility comes when we ourselves do so through our actions in addition to our words. I have encouraged my senior management team to do the same, as I have seen no greater, more effective, or dynamic means of communicating our company’s vision and mission. Social media allows my management team and me to interact with our people and our customers in an informal and authentic way. When done well and truly invested in, social media can be a priceless marketing, public relations, and relationship-building tool.

Your existing customers, and more broadly, the vast majority of consumers today, are using social media to discover, educate themselves, and aid their purchase decisions. Prospective employees and partners are doing the same. Part of this investigation entails researching the organizations with which they are considering doing business. A CEO who is active and authentically sharing on social media can help “seal the deal” by conveying the message that the business is a progressive, transparent, customer-focused organization.

I truly believe that social CEOs are viewed as more forward-looking, effective accessible, and inspiring. This perception helps build brand loyalty, supports employee acquisition and retention, and contributes to a virtuous circle of customer engagement and connection, making social media well worth the couple hours a week on average I spend on this effort. It may sound like a lot of time, but in my experience, it has been easy to engage whenever I have a few extra moments – waiting in line, in transit, after reading the morning news. Social media has become an important part of any business’s strategy and deserves our focus.

I thank Clara for allowing me to set forth my thoughts in her book.