Farther, together: how leaders can work together online

Welcome back to my newsletter, "Connected Leadership", where I spotlight how executives from the C-suite to the Board are using social media to communicate and lead on their most important issues, highlight best-in-class examples and provide practical advice along the way. For this edition, I want to share an excerpt of a conversation I had with an industry colleague, Roger Christie – Managing Director at Propel in Australia, as part of the recent IABC World Conference (#IABC22). Roger and I spoke about a fascinating trend – and best practice approach – where leaders are working in unison online to amplify messages, extend reach and protect reputation.

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you go far, go together.” – African proverb

Industry best practice reveals the benefits of working in unison.

ROGER CHRISTIE (RC): Craig, I want to explore this trend we're seeing emerge where leaders are working together online. At Propel, we talk about a digital coalition, and I know you've talked about the concept of a choir in some of your previous work where C-suite members come together in unison for key moments – like a chorus – but also adding different notes or having solo moments. Increasingly, we’re seeing leaders from different companies team up for bigger causes.   

A wonderful example is the New South Wales Government's Department of Customer Service. The Minister for Customer Service, Victor Dominello – who is also the Minister for Digital - is very active himself. He uses platforms like LinkedIn for feedback as much as for communication to help build community. 

But the real power comes from he and his senior colleagues, Emma Hogan and Damon Rees, working in partnership online. You can see a very public and intentional interplay between those three leaders. It doesn't just reinforce messaging that's going out from the Minister – it also activates and empowers a whole workforce in the traditionally reluctant world of the public service, where people perhaps aren't so comfortable sharing their story. The energy leadership engagement like this generates around the public sector and the work they're doing, I would argue, is second to none. 

Tim H?ttges, the CEO of Deutsche Telekom, is another example of a leader who's quite active, isn't he? Do you know more about him?

CRAIG MULLANEY (CM): He's very active on LinkedIn and Instagram, as well. And something really interesting that he did recently was following the invasion of Ukraine, he gave his account over to the @German Red Cross for a brief “takeover.”

This was paired with a major announcement about providing humanitarian resources to refugees and to people in Ukraine. But first, he used his platform to give visibility to a non-profit organization. That's a pretty creative partnership and one that other CEOs could model. 

This takes the idea of a coalition or a choir to a different dimension. We've seen not just leaders within an organization working collaboratively together, but leaders across organizations collaborating to inform on a common issue, even if in a traditional business sense, for instance, they are competitors. 

Getting started - building a team of digital leaders.

RC: Do you have any practical advice for people looking to extend this across their leadership team? 

CM: First, you are part of a community – don't try to do it alone. Look to others in the advisory space, in the corporate space, in the public sector space, who have taken these steps ahead of you. 

Second, while any leader can be a Connected Leader, can be present online, that's very different from saying it's easy. It takes resources, commitment, and a thoughtful strategy. And in that strategy, you want to be crystal clear about what you're trying to achieve, the audiences and stakeholders that you are prioritizing for engagement, the channels that make the most sense for reaching those audiences, and then a very thoughtful content strategy that maps back to business priorities. 

RC: I completely agree…My advice: we talk about five drivers of digital reputation, and two of those I think are critically important for people starting out. 

One is your purpose: knowing exactly what you're trying to do and what you're trying to get out of it. As you said, 'link it to objectives'. 

And the second is listening. If you do nothing else, or if you are already active but you don't feel you understand your key stakeholders well enough, you must take the time to stop, pause, and listen to your audiences. Immerse yourself in what they think. But not just what they think about you and your leadership team, not just what they think about your organization – plug into those issues they care about, and in the places where they expect you to stand up and have a voice. 

Understanding these attitudes gives leaders a lot of insight and confidence. I’d encourage every single communications or reputation advisor out there: if this is in your remit, at the very least start listening for your leaders.

This interview first appeared as part of the IABC's World Conference in June.

Thanks for reading! I want to hear from you – message me your questions, ideas, and thoughts, and I'll work your suggestions into my future content and research. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, and be sure to subscribe here to receive a notification when the next edition is published.