Blogging for leaders
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Transcript of Blogging for leaders
Blogging for leaders
Catherine Tilley
Director, Wroclaw Knowledge Centre
20 January 2011
Social Media Day
CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY
Any use of this material without specific permission of McKinsey & Company is strictly prohibited
McKinsey & Company | 1
Who I am, and what I’m going to talk about
Catherine Tilley
Director of the McKinsey Knowledge Centre,
Wroclaw
Blogging for 1 year about the Centre and life
in Wroclaw
I’m going to talk about
Blogging in an ‘interesting’ leadership
situation
What I’ve learned from the experience
McKinsey & Company | 2
Why McKinsey is a great environment for the corporate blogger
▪ International, but highly co-
operative
▪ Very strong emphasis on
knowledge
▪ Young demographic
▪ Technological infrastructure
▪ Need for community
▪ Blogging is an ideal way to keep
in touch across time/space
▪ People actively persue content,
and are curious
▪ Blogs are ‘normal’ (inc.
microblogging and wikis)
▪ Easy for authors and navigable
for readers
▪ Blogs provide connection
McKinsey & Company | 3
The problem I faced in January 2010
▪ Suspicion: are these people taking my job?
▪ Ignorance: few people could find Wroclaw
on the map. Fewer still could say it.
▪ Large audience: 1,500 with an immediate
interest, plus a further 14,000 who might be
interested
▪ Communications fatigue
My
community
Me ▪ Needed advice on a big project
▪ Wanted to rebuild commitment and support
▪ Needed a community
McKinsey & Company | 4
Why I decided to start blogging
▪ It was speedy, and unobtrusive
▪ It looked easy!
▪ I needed feedback on our plans
▪ I wanted to record the journey and build interest
McKinsey & Company | 5
What I’ve learned along the way
▪ This doesn’t come
naturally
▪ most people who are old enough to be
running a business did not grow up with the
internet, and so we have to learn the rules
▪ The rules of communi-
cation still apply
▪ be clear about the role your blog plays, who
you are writing for, and why
▪ There’s no point in lying ▪ people can tell
▪ No detail is too small ▪ People were surprisingly excited when I
wrote about choosing the office carpet
▪ Reliability matters ▪ Posting reasonably frequently, with reliable
information is important
▪ Write from the heart ▪ People responded to things that touched me
▪ You will change … ▪ Writing authentically for a big audience who
can answer back, or ignore you, will change
you as a leader. That could be a good thing