The 7 Attributes of CEOs Who Get Social Media<\/h1>\n\n\n- Ted Coin\u00e9<\/a><\/li>\n
- Mark Babbitt<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\nDECEMBER 3, 2014<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n![\"DEC14_02_11_166272377\"](\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/resources\/images\/article_assets\/2014\/12\/DEC14_02_11_166272377.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
\n\n\nPeter Aceto, the CEO of Tangerine, recently said in The Globe and Mail<\/em><\/a>, \u201cI would rather engage in a Twitter conversation with a single customer than see our company attempt to attract the attention of millions in a coveted Superbowl commercial.\u201d<\/p>\nThis is the preference of a truly social CEO. Unfortunately, chief executives that embrace and understand the promise of social media are rare, so rare that we call them \u201cblue unicorns\u201d in our book, A World Gone Social<\/em><\/a>. Why blue unicorns? Because CEOs that embrace social as much as leaders like Aceto are still so uncommon that we aren\u2019t just looking for any<\/em> unicorn, we\u2019re looking for a specific color<\/em> of unicorn.<\/p>\nFive years ago, when boards were searching for a leader, social media competency wasn\u2019t even on the radar. Now, according to the board members and CEOs we interviewed for our book, a strong social presence is often high on the list of factors they consider when vetting CEO candidates.<\/p>\n
And five years from now? With the positive aspects of being a social CEO<\/a>routinely splashed across the business pages, social fluency will likely be on almost every board\u2019s list of must-have leadership skills. Already, given a choice between similarly strong candidates \u2014 one with an impressive social presence, the other without \u2013 the choice is easy: boards increasingly prefer the modern leader.<\/p>\nAccording to recent research conducted by Domo<\/a>, 30% of Fortune 500 CEOs have a presence on at least one social channel. And on paper, especially considering the Social Age is only six years old, 3 in 10 may not seem too bad a ratio. But even these so-called \u201csocial CEOs\u201d aren\u2019t that social.<\/p>\nA quick glance at their activity on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter shows:<\/p>\n
\n- The vast majority is using social media as a broadcast channel \u2014 a digital billboard to hawk their company\u2019s products and services \u2014 not as a way to connect.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- For those who appear to be attempting to engage, their social activity feels impersonal and generic, as if a junior member of the marketing team is managing their social accounts and speaking for them. Of course, the CEOs who approach social in this manner are missing the point entirely.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
So how do we know that a CEO is actually \u2014 personally \u2014 engaging on social media? What attributes do we recognize in truly social CEOs like Richard Branson, Pete Cashmore, Arianna Huffington and Peter Aceto? Here are the top seven traits we\u2019ve observed over the five years we spent trend-watching and interviewing leaders:<\/p>\n
\n- They Have an Insatiable Curiosity<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Truly social CEOs are deeply curious. And that curiosity leads them to wonder, \u201cWhat are people saying about our company? Our competitors? About their wants, needs, and aspirations that no one is fulfilling right now?\u201d Many social CEOs are first drawn to social to listen. After all, there is no better way than social to collect real-time market intelligence, both through social monitoring and engaging followers.<\/p>\n
\n- They Have a DIY Mindset<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n
The same CEOs who look up information on Google rather than asking an assistant to do it are flocking to social. They don\u2019t want to hear input from customers filtered through 13 layers of management. They don\u2019t want to see a summary report on employee morale or customer satisfaction. They want their input raw and without any manipulation.<\/p>\n
\n- They Have a \u201cBias for Action\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
In 1982, we learned from Tom Peters and Robert Waterman in their book, In Search of Excellence<\/em><\/a>, about how the best leaders had \u201ca bias for action.\u201d They live by a \u201cready, fire, aim\u201d mentality and in the Social Age, this has never been more necessary \u2013 the 24\/7 social conversation waits for no focus group or budget cycle. Sure, the marketing team supports their activity; they may even have a person dedicated to social monitoring of their accounts. But when the situation or sense of urgency dictates, they aren\u2019t afraid of getting their hands dirty. Just watch truly social CEOs like Basecamp\u2019s Jason Fried<\/a> and Havas Media\u2019s Paul Frampton<\/a>: they\u2019re often online, live, in the moment, and thus ready to respond and engage in real time.<\/p>\n\n- They Are Relentless Givers<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Many social CEOs aren\u2019t social just because they have a company to run; they see value in being social in every aspect of their lives. They care about more than the bottom line. They give back, they mentor, and they care about real <\/em>social issues that have nothing to do with Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. We refer to those who act consistently in a collaborative, generous way as \u201crelentless givers.\u201d They constantly share what they know, connect others and \u2014 often for no other reason than because it is the right thing to do \u2014 they do good. One standout example isOCLC\u2019s Skip Prichard<\/a>, who blogs on leadership and shares insights from his favorite authors \u2013 often with no direct benefit to him or his organization.<\/p>\n\n- They Connect Instead of Promote<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Want to spot an antisocial CEO? Read what they\u2019re sharing on social media. Are they spreading the good word about their company while also interacting with others, from famous influencers to humble social newcomers? Or is their feed clearly a spigot of self-promotion? Are they answering questions from concerned stakeholders? Or are they only saying what investors want to hear? Social CEOs put down the digital megaphone and they build relationships.<\/p>\n
\n- They\u2019re the Company\u2019s No. 1 Brand Ambassador<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
We have always looked to the boss as the face of the company. We admire the leaders whose brands, both personal and corporate, are led responsibly \u2013 and revile those whose company is seen as autocratic, self-serving and non-caring. As goes the personal brand of a CEO, so goes the brand. A study by Weber Shandwick<\/a> backs up this observation: About two-thirds of customers say their perception of a CEO directly impacts their perception of the company. Social CEOs are building their personal brand whenever they engage on social media, and when they do it in an authentic and generous way, they\u2019re also improving the company brand.<\/p>\n\n- They Lead with an OPEN Mindset<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\u201cOPEN\u201d \u2013 short for Ordinary People, Extraordinary Network \u2013 means that no one person, even the highest-level leader, can have all the answers. Instead, we deliberately build personal relationships with those willing to help us discover the answers, together. Whether it\u2019s managing a crisis, or rising up to meet an opportunity, a social CEO taps into her network\u2019s combined expertise. Embracing the concept of OPEN is perhaps the purest indicator that a leader is truly social.<\/p>\n
Writer Kare Anderson takes OPEN to the next level as she talks routinely of mutuality and deliberately becoming an opportunity maker. She said in herrecent TED talk,<\/a> \u201cEach one of us is better than anybody else at something\u2026 which disproves the popular notion that if you\u2019re the smartest person in the room, you\u2019re in the wrong room.\u201d<\/p>\nNo leader can afford to lead as they did in the Industrial Age. This is a new era with new rules. All around us, the entire world is flattening, democratizing, andsocializing<\/em>. It\u2019s quite possible that as the social age matures, there will be only two types of business leaders: social \u2026 and retired.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/resources\/images\/article_assets\/2014\/12\/110-Ted_Coine.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Ted Coin\u00e9 is a serial business founder and CEO, among Inc.\u2019s Top 100 Leadership and Management Experts and Forbes\u2019 Top 10 Social Media Influencers. His latest book,\u00a0A World Gone Social: How Companies Must Adapt to Survive<\/i><\/a>, <\/i>is about leading in the Social Age.<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/resources\/images\/article_assets\/2014\/12\/110-Mark_Babbitt.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Mark Babbitt<\/a> is co-author of A World Gone Social: How Companies Must Adapt to Survive<\/em><\/a> (AMACOM), a keynote speaker, and prolific blogger. He serves as CEO and founder of YouTern, president of Switch and Shift and is a co-founder of ForwardHeroes.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" https:\/\/hbr.org\/2014\/12\/the-7-attributes-of-ceos-who-get-social-media\/ The 7 Attributes of CEOs Who Get Social Media Ted Coin\u00e9 Mark Babbitt DECEMBER 3, 2014 Peter Aceto, the CEO of Tangerine, recently said in The Globe and Mail, \u201cI would rather engage in a Twitter conversation with a single customer than see our company attempt to attract the attention of millions in … Continue reading HBR Blog: Social CEOs<\/span>
- \n
- Ted Coin\u00e9<\/a><\/li>\n
- Mark Babbitt<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
DECEMBER 3, 2014<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n \n\n\n\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\nPeter Aceto, the CEO of Tangerine, recently said in The Globe and Mail<\/em><\/a>, \u201cI would rather engage in a Twitter conversation with a single customer than see our company attempt to attract the attention of millions in a coveted Superbowl commercial.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is the preference of a truly social CEO. Unfortunately, chief executives that embrace and understand the promise of social media are rare, so rare that we call them \u201cblue unicorns\u201d in our book, A World Gone Social<\/em><\/a>. Why blue unicorns? Because CEOs that embrace social as much as leaders like Aceto are still so uncommon that we aren\u2019t just looking for any<\/em> unicorn, we\u2019re looking for a specific color<\/em> of unicorn.<\/p>\n
Five years ago, when boards were searching for a leader, social media competency wasn\u2019t even on the radar. Now, according to the board members and CEOs we interviewed for our book, a strong social presence is often high on the list of factors they consider when vetting CEO candidates.<\/p>\n
And five years from now? With the positive aspects of being a social CEO<\/a>routinely splashed across the business pages, social fluency will likely be on almost every board\u2019s list of must-have leadership skills. Already, given a choice between similarly strong candidates \u2014 one with an impressive social presence, the other without \u2013 the choice is easy: boards increasingly prefer the modern leader.<\/p>\n
According to recent research conducted by Domo<\/a>, 30% of Fortune 500 CEOs have a presence on at least one social channel. And on paper, especially considering the Social Age is only six years old, 3 in 10 may not seem too bad a ratio. But even these so-called \u201csocial CEOs\u201d aren\u2019t that social.<\/p>\n
A quick glance at their activity on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter shows:<\/p>\n
- \n
- The vast majority is using social media as a broadcast channel \u2014 a digital billboard to hawk their company\u2019s products and services \u2014 not as a way to connect.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- For those who appear to be attempting to engage, their social activity feels impersonal and generic, as if a junior member of the marketing team is managing their social accounts and speaking for them. Of course, the CEOs who approach social in this manner are missing the point entirely.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
So how do we know that a CEO is actually \u2014 personally \u2014 engaging on social media? What attributes do we recognize in truly social CEOs like Richard Branson, Pete Cashmore, Arianna Huffington and Peter Aceto? Here are the top seven traits we\u2019ve observed over the five years we spent trend-watching and interviewing leaders:<\/p>\n
- \n
- They Have an Insatiable Curiosity<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Truly social CEOs are deeply curious. And that curiosity leads them to wonder, \u201cWhat are people saying about our company? Our competitors? About their wants, needs, and aspirations that no one is fulfilling right now?\u201d Many social CEOs are first drawn to social to listen. After all, there is no better way than social to collect real-time market intelligence, both through social monitoring and engaging followers.<\/p>\n
- \n
- They Have a DIY Mindset<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n
The same CEOs who look up information on Google rather than asking an assistant to do it are flocking to social. They don\u2019t want to hear input from customers filtered through 13 layers of management. They don\u2019t want to see a summary report on employee morale or customer satisfaction. They want their input raw and without any manipulation.<\/p>\n
- \n
- They Have a \u201cBias for Action\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
In 1982, we learned from Tom Peters and Robert Waterman in their book, In Search of Excellence<\/em><\/a>, about how the best leaders had \u201ca bias for action.\u201d They live by a \u201cready, fire, aim\u201d mentality and in the Social Age, this has never been more necessary \u2013 the 24\/7 social conversation waits for no focus group or budget cycle. Sure, the marketing team supports their activity; they may even have a person dedicated to social monitoring of their accounts. But when the situation or sense of urgency dictates, they aren\u2019t afraid of getting their hands dirty. Just watch truly social CEOs like Basecamp\u2019s Jason Fried<\/a> and Havas Media\u2019s Paul Frampton<\/a>: they\u2019re often online, live, in the moment, and thus ready to respond and engage in real time.<\/p>\n
- \n
- They Are Relentless Givers<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Many social CEOs aren\u2019t social just because they have a company to run; they see value in being social in every aspect of their lives. They care about more than the bottom line. They give back, they mentor, and they care about real <\/em>social issues that have nothing to do with Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. We refer to those who act consistently in a collaborative, generous way as \u201crelentless givers.\u201d They constantly share what they know, connect others and \u2014 often for no other reason than because it is the right thing to do \u2014 they do good. One standout example isOCLC\u2019s Skip Prichard<\/a>, who blogs on leadership and shares insights from his favorite authors \u2013 often with no direct benefit to him or his organization.<\/p>\n
- \n
- They Connect Instead of Promote<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Want to spot an antisocial CEO? Read what they\u2019re sharing on social media. Are they spreading the good word about their company while also interacting with others, from famous influencers to humble social newcomers? Or is their feed clearly a spigot of self-promotion? Are they answering questions from concerned stakeholders? Or are they only saying what investors want to hear? Social CEOs put down the digital megaphone and they build relationships.<\/p>\n
- \n
- They\u2019re the Company\u2019s No. 1 Brand Ambassador<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
We have always looked to the boss as the face of the company. We admire the leaders whose brands, both personal and corporate, are led responsibly \u2013 and revile those whose company is seen as autocratic, self-serving and non-caring. As goes the personal brand of a CEO, so goes the brand. A study by Weber Shandwick<\/a> backs up this observation: About two-thirds of customers say their perception of a CEO directly impacts their perception of the company. Social CEOs are building their personal brand whenever they engage on social media, and when they do it in an authentic and generous way, they\u2019re also improving the company brand.<\/p>\n
- \n
- They Lead with an OPEN Mindset<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\u201cOPEN\u201d \u2013 short for Ordinary People, Extraordinary Network \u2013 means that no one person, even the highest-level leader, can have all the answers. Instead, we deliberately build personal relationships with those willing to help us discover the answers, together. Whether it\u2019s managing a crisis, or rising up to meet an opportunity, a social CEO taps into her network\u2019s combined expertise. Embracing the concept of OPEN is perhaps the purest indicator that a leader is truly social.<\/p>\n
Writer Kare Anderson takes OPEN to the next level as she talks routinely of mutuality and deliberately becoming an opportunity maker. She said in herrecent TED talk,<\/a> \u201cEach one of us is better than anybody else at something\u2026 which disproves the popular notion that if you\u2019re the smartest person in the room, you\u2019re in the wrong room.\u201d<\/p>\n
No leader can afford to lead as they did in the Industrial Age. This is a new era with new rules. All around us, the entire world is flattening, democratizing, andsocializing<\/em>. It\u2019s quite possible that as the social age matures, there will be only two types of business leaders: social \u2026 and retired.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n \n\n
\n<\/p>\nTed Coin\u00e9 is a serial business founder and CEO, among Inc.\u2019s Top 100 Leadership and Management Experts and Forbes\u2019 Top 10 Social Media Influencers. His latest book,\u00a0A World Gone Social: How Companies Must Adapt to Survive<\/i><\/a>, <\/i>is about leading in the Social Age.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\nMark Babbitt<\/a> is co-author of A World Gone Social: How Companies Must Adapt to Survive<\/em><\/a> (AMACOM), a keynote speaker, and prolific blogger. He serves as CEO and founder of YouTern, president of Switch and Shift and is a co-founder of ForwardHeroes.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
https:\/\/hbr.org\/2014\/12\/the-7-attributes-of-ceos-who-get-social-media\/ The 7 Attributes of CEOs Who Get Social Media Ted Coin\u00e9 Mark Babbitt DECEMBER 3, 2014 Peter Aceto, the CEO of Tangerine, recently said in The Globe and Mail, \u201cI would rather engage in a Twitter conversation with a single customer than see our company attempt to attract the attention of millions in … Continue reading HBR Blog: Social CEOs<\/span>
- They Lead with an OPEN Mindset<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- They\u2019re the Company\u2019s No. 1 Brand Ambassador<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- They Connect Instead of Promote<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- They Are Relentless Givers<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- They Have a \u201cBias for Action\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- They Have a DIY Mindset<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- They Have an Insatiable Curiosity<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- For those who appear to be attempting to engage, their social activity feels impersonal and generic, as if a junior member of the marketing team is managing their social accounts and speaking for them. Of course, the CEOs who approach social in this manner are missing the point entirely.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Mark Babbitt<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n