As the COO/President of Sun Microsystems, Jonathan Schwartz is one of the more prominent blogging execs. (Wander over to his blog and I’m sure you’ll be impressed with his candour and easy-going blogging style.)
As the COO/President of Sun Microsystems, Jonathan Schwartz is one of the more prominent blogging execs. ( and I’m sure you’ll be impressed with his candour and easy-going blogging style.)
Throughout the recently held BLOGGING ENTERPRISE conference, Jonathan’s blog was mentioned as a benchmark blog for c-level execs. And whattaya know … in the November issue of Harvard Business Review (HBR), Jonathan has written a must-read article for any business wrestling with the idea of starting a company blog.
"We host open letters from the outside, and we openly respond to them. We talk about our successes-and our mistakes, (lf you don't believe me, go to http://www.blogs.sun.com/roller/page/jonathan.) That may seem risky. But it's riskier not to have a blog. Remember when, not long ago, CEOs would ask their assistants to print out their e-mails for them, and they'd dictate responses to be typewritten and sent via snail mail? Where are those leaders now? (The last of my contacts of tbat breed just retired.)
In ten years, most of us will communicate directly with customers, employees, and the broader business community through blogs. For executives, having a blog is not going to be a matter of choice, any more than using e-mail is today. If you're not part of the conversation, others will speak on your behalf - and I'm not talking about your employees."
Because HBR is super-vigilant about copying/posting/distributing their articles, I’m not comfortable setting this article free. (Take a look at the terms & conditions I had to agree to in order to access the article online.)
As John Moore points out one can't have the article for free, so here are some of the highlights he has found.....
"Many Sun Microsystems top-level execs blog. In their blogs, they talk about business strategy, company values, products in the pipeline, successes, and failures. Sun realizes this may seem risky but Sun believes it is riskier not to blog. Sun wants to be a part of the conversation that will go on whether or not Sun participates.
By participating in the blogging conversation, Sun is able to communicate its corporate culture to not only customers but also to current and future Sun employees.
For companies interested in blogging but not knowing where to start, Jonathan recommends first reading Sun’s blogging strategy and guidelines document. He goes on to make more recommendations for blogging companies …
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use an honest, humorous, and open voice
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show respect for the audience
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don’t treat blogging like advertising
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don’t micromanage … communicate the guidelines and let company bloggers loose
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revisit and modify your company’s blogging policy if need be
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listen to feedback
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respond to legitimate feedback
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“Authenticity is paramount.”
This was only an abstract of the worthy read article. My advice too is go to your local bookstore, open up the November issue of Harvard Business Review to page 30, and read the entire one-page article. Good stuff."
If You Want to Lead, Blog | Harvard Business Journal | Jonathan Schwartz
