Blogging for leaders

Catherine Tilley

Director, Wroclaw Knowledge Centre

20 January 2011

Social Media Day

CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY

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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