Blogging is not for every leader

An article posted today on www.Ragan.com almost challenges communicators to get their CEOs to blog. The information about Bill Marriott is charming – his style is very conducive to blogging – and I especially like the note that his posts are edited by the communication team. A necessity with some executive bloggers.

What I think is important to point out, however, is that not every leader will be good at blogging. Style is a big issue. I’ve worked with one senior leader in particular, whose style is not at all conducive to blogging. 

Time and commitment to doing frequent posts is the other, perhaps more important issue. A team of senior leaders blogging ensures you get at least two new posts each week – three if you are really lucky. If you are relying on that one busy executive, you may be disappointed. I find it difficult to blog as regularly as I should, so how can we expect the busy executive to stay on top of the blog?

Finally, it concerns me that we look to an external executive blog to meet the needs of an internal stakeholder group – employees. The Ragan article indicates the Marriott blog is directed to both customers and employees. Blogging for employees should be a different experience with a different set of goals. Trying to get your external blog to fulfill the needs of employees doesn’t make good strategic sense to me.