Dear CEO… Why Are You Frightened Of Social Media?

Dear CEO,

Come on admit it, you are terrified!

It is not a lip quivering, trembling kind of fear that you exhibit, instead it is much more insidious type of fear that lurks beneath the white knuckled control that you so skillfully use to keep your hundreds or thousands of sub-ordinates in check.

You probably don't call it fear, you probably think of it as common sense or an imperative role that you are called to play to protect the way that your brand is perceived in the digital space.

Fear In The Social Space:

Do you believe in your heart that the image of your brand could be severely tarnished by a rogue employee who goes AWOL on Twitter or Facebook?

After all social media gives your people power and with this power they could do irreparable damage. So as a result they must be controlled and their expression must be limited right? The responsibility of representing the voice of your organization to the public must only be conveyed upon a trusted few. It is simply too dangerous to consider the alternative.

Welcome to Authoritarianism in the social space.

This is not a new thing, it is not even related to the technological developments (advent o social media) that have occurred in the last few years. For far too long now people have been asked to come to work, to do their jobs, to stay within the confines of their cubicle and to never cross the arbitrary boundaries that have defined their roles and their personhood between the hours of 8AM to 6PM.

Listen now! A new wind is blowing, and it blows where-ever it wishes and you cannot control it or chase it away with charisma or will power. The moment you close one door another one will open. Your people will talk, your people will share, your people will be the voice of organization in the social space whether you like it or not.

Perhaps it is time to quit with the white knuckles and to consider a more open handed approach?

The Value Of Human Equity

The true wealth of any organization always lies in the hearts and minds of their people --- so what if you began opening doors instead of closing them?

There is so much creativity, so much passion, so much goodwill and loyalty, a magnificent mountain of human equity that is not currently being harnessed, instead it's being suppressed, chained up and left to die inside those cubicle.

What if you guided and amplified the collective and diverse voice of your people in the social space instead of controlling it and suppressing it?

Is it time you threw away that 50-page policy that every employee must read before they tweet on behalf of your company? Is it time that you created a strategy that engaged your employees and encouraged them to speak personally about their experiences at work?

A policy that polices OR a strategy that engages and releases? Your choice is really that simple.

The Way The Future Looks

Fear will always hurts your brand (Tweet this), so when your organization only delivers controlled policy adhering messages in the digital space, what is perceived by your market is not safety but fear. In other words, it smells like it is.

Fundamentally if you want this to change then you as the leader of your organization must also change.

You can no longer pretend to value people, you can no longer state that they are your greatest asset in one breath and then control what they say, tweet or photograph in the next.

This may sound revolutionary (I hope not) but I am going to suggest something else, I am going to suggest that you trust them, that you engage them and that you empower them; that you make your organizations voice in the social space about the collective and not solely about your leadership.

If you can do this your organizations future is as limitless and as infinite as the creativity of your people. If you don't do this you may end up squeezing the life out of your organization and your brand.

You will live or die by your choices.

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