Don't Go It Alone - A True Story

A new CEO was sitting in the audience of a presentation, listening to Dheeraj Pandey, CEO of the software company Nutanix, as he discussed his plans for his company’s future and how these plans would impact the AI industry. It was an excellent talk, and at one point, Dheeraj referenced the social conversations he had participated in online.?

Out of curiosity, the new CEO Googled Pandey, whose social media accounts quickly popped up. He had an impressive number of followers—14,000 on LinkedIn, along with another 19,000 on Twitter.?

Many of the ideas he touched upon during the presentation were echoed through his content and interactions on LinkedIn and Twitter, extending the conversation far beyond the stage where he was currently speaking and signaling that this was more than just a single speech—it was part of his overall brand.?

The newly minted CEO wondered how the speaker could do all of this alone.

Curious about their own presence, the new CEO looked themselves up.?

On LinkedIn, they only had a few hundred connections; Facebook and Twitter weren’t any better.?

They had been in the industry for decades and had a wide global network and across multiple industries. Yet, if someone were to Google them, that experience and network would not be reflected in their digital presence.?

They barely existed online, unconnected to the greater ecosystem of conversations and engagement. They decided it was time for a serious change. Just like Pandey, they wanted to ensure they had a relevant voice and the ability to share their vision for the company's future far and wide. And it wasn’t a moment too soon.

Once the CEO started paying attention to LinkedIn and Twitter, they discovered that even though they hadn’t personally been active on social media, people were out there talking about them as a leader.

In one case, a prominent journalist called them out the new CEO for their approach to a product announcement, saying the CEO had “phoned it in” and that they could “do better than that.”?

The CEO was shocked and a bit confused that they hadn’t seen the post, or at least been made aware of it. They had been unable to respond to a major industry pundit’s critique because they didn’t even know it existed, something they had assumed their team would be on top of.?

But at that time, neither they nor their immediate team had been paying attention to the nuances of the online community, and they had failed to see the issue.

The CEO reached out to me, and we began working closely with a team within the company that had been specifically created to support their social media efforts.

Together, they developed a system to better track these types of social conversations, which helped the CEO participate. The resulting interactions reflected positively on both the CEO and the company overall.?

The CEO also reached out to a set of journalists, including the one who had called them out, ensuring they could begin building a personal relationship beyond a press release or briefing.

This wasn’t an attempt to “play favorites” or manipulate influential individuals; it was a genuine effort to connect with their audience, including the media, so they could engage with it first-hand. Going forward, these journalists had direct access to the CEO.

Shortly after, the CEO’s company had a data breach that was big enough to make international news. It was reported that hundreds of millions of people’s sensitive information had been hacked. Tens of thousands of customers and employees witnessed the disaster, and competitors pounced, attempting to exploit the bad press being heaped on the company.?

In reality, the number of people’s accounts and the nature of the information hacked had been wildly exaggerated in the press, but the damage had been done. Luckily, the company had a powerful weapon to combat the bad publicity: the authentic voice of the CEO, who’s online audience now measured in the thousands.

Though the company put together a standard press release, the CEO consulted their social media team, then posted a series of statements on social media explaining what had happened.

Next, he communicated directly with the audience using follow-up tweets, responding to questions and comments by journalists and the public alike.?

He explained to them the measures being taken to address the breach. Lastly, in a rare moment of vulnerability, the CEO gave a post-mortem explanation of what they had discovered and why the breach had taken place. All this communication online came from them, in their own words—they had a voice and they used it.

The CEO was able to shift the conversation to explain how their company was handling the situation in a clear and accessible way.?

Rather than allow the competitors and detractors to run free with half-truths, misinformation, and conjecture, the CEO took ownership of the narrative and held the attention of the industry.

Within a matter of days, the discussion was over, and the industry moved on without any serious repercussions to the company. Many journalists privately reached out to the CEO in appreciation for the open and immediate response to their questions. The CEO had been part of the conversation, was known to them, and used the trust they had built up to avert a crisis.

This situation could have never been handled with such care, immediacy, and attention without, first, getting online, and second, working with the support of a team. As all good leaders recognize, we can’t go it alone.

Your role as a leader is the greatest resource your organization has. Turn to your team and other resources to prepare yourself for the next opportunity or crisis before they happen.

This story is an excerpt from my book, Digital-First Leadership.

DigitalFirst Leadership is available in hardback, paperback, Kindle, and as an audiobook on Amazon: https://blisspoint.pub/DigitalFirstLeadership

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About the Author

Richard Bliss is the founder and president of BlissPoint, a social media consulting company that helps improve executives’ online communications and sales teams’ social selling behaviors. Richard, a LinkedIn Top Voices Influencer, experienced executive communications manager, and social media coach, has helped thousands of people master social media tools and become fluent in social conversations, building their platforms and confidence to reach their audience and define their brand effectively.