In 2018, close to 1,500 CEOs left their jobs, voluntarily or involuntarily. That's the highest number since 2008, according to a report by Challenger, Gray and Christmas. The report cites boards responding to employees and other key stakeholders who now are "strictly enforcing company policies regarding relationship and/or ethics issues." Employees are carefully watching the C-suite and want to know who they can trust. In this new era of leadership, trust is at the foundation of what they can or cannot achieve. Key stakeholders, especially employees, experience the brand through its leaders. You need to build trust through your leadership voice.
Much like internal and external communications, you must plan your social media presence thoughtfully. Today more than ever, every stakeholder looks to the leader as an extension of the brand and the human element of the organization. You are the trust barometer for the company, and what you say matters. So where do you begin? Consider following these steps.
Define The Pillars
Find two to three pillars that represent your personal experience and what you are passionate about. Though they may be aspirational, the pillars should be authentic to you. Whether they have to do with leadership, health, wellness or technology, consider which topics really resonate with you. Avoid political issues, as they can be polarizing to your audience. Once you have your pillars, conduct an audit of your peers to discover how they use their voices and how their content is being shared, leveraged and engaged with. You will find white space in the noise where you can add a unique perspective. Once you have done that, tie your personal pillars back to your broader corporate pillars to help connect you to your brand in an authentic way.
Offer A Unique And Compelling Point Of View
Get bold with your thought leadership. Test drive your ideas with your colleagues, and use what resonates well. You want to get people excited about what you are sharing and position yourself as someone worth following. You also want to comment with your unique perspective on what other influencers in your field are sharing.
You can also share your perspective through curating quality content, but whatever form of communication you are using, be sure to lead with your "pillar perspective" so you are consistently building your reputation around your message. This will reinforce trust in your leadership as a natural extension of who you are, what you believe in and what you do.
Use Many Mediums
Your thought leadership is not only for LinkedIn and Twitter, but also for your intranet, vlogs and more. Being visible across many mediums helps you be perceived as a leader and advances the brand both regionally and globally. Consider repurposing videos of speaking engagements on your website, sharing them across internal communications channels and extending across multiple external channels to reach all your stakeholders. The use of multiple channels gives you the opportunity to cascade your reach and provide for active commentary. Messages are often more effective when repeated, reinforcing the intent of the author. Measure engagement to see which mediums produce the best results.
Trust is the foundation of internal and external engagement, and leaders are the linchpin to cultivating that bond with all stakeholders. When you are actively, consistently and purposefully getting social, you are building a human relationship with your employees and consumers in a way that no brand could build alone. You are the face of your brand, and maximizing that role will help you as a leader and help both the customer and employee experience, further unifying communications, the brand experience and, most important of all, trust.
