Did you see what new Telstra CEO Vicki Brady did on LinkedIn recently?
It was the first time she shared a personal photo of herself on LinkedIn: a young schoolgirl from Holbrook, New South Wales. Why is that significant? It was her very first post as CEO.
Her example is one of a growing trend among leaders. The digital tide is turning when a former CFO (who only posted twice on LinkedIn before being announced as Andrew Penn’s successor) shows by example how much more powerful it is to share your story online – and connect with audiences – than it is to hide from view.
This sits at the core of digital reputation. When it comes to social media for leadership, the real risk is avoidance, not participation.
But participation does not mean copy-pasting messages from other channels. For leaders, meaningful online participation today is personal and purposeful. In Martin Stewart-Weeks’ words, being personal and purposeful online offers leaders an “intimacy at scale” that is simply not possible via any other channel.
So, what’s actually changed on Vicki’s approach?
The video shows the evolution in tone and style over the past three years, but for me the key observations are these:
- First LinkedIn post in August 2019;
- Second post in March 2021;
- Third post in March 2022 – announcement re future CEO; and
- Then 10 more posts in five months, prior to becoming CEO on 1 September 2022. Each one with a corporate focus and an average of ~1,000 reactions per post.
Finally, her first post as CEO shows the human behind the leader, connecting her past journey to her present passions. Personal and purposeful. Generating ~7,000 reactions and ~400 comments.
We’ve seen this power of sharing the ‘human behind the leader’ for a while through our studies of leaders like Premier Daniel Andrews’ efforts during the pandemic. We’ve seen leaders in issues-rich environments like Bernard Looney not be afraid to share their origin stories in their bio.
We’ve seen leaders like Amanda Yeates, CEO @ SunCentral and William Cox, CEO @ Aurecon pull back the polish avoid the corporate script and speak from the heart on issues that matter.
Quick note: hear more about William Cox and the Aurecon team’s social media strategy in this great Your Digital Reputation podcast episode with Aurecon’s Group Director – Brand, Marketing & Communications, Danielle Bond.
Alongside these leaders, we’ve seen data from market leaders like Edelman and Brunswick Group showing us people want to connect with the human, not the faceless entity. In Brunswick’s Craig Mullaney’s words:
Vicki Brady sets a powerful example of this 👆, and one I’m sure she felt uncomfortable sharing. But the personal, purposeful stories are what resonate, inspire and connect with audiences today. Staff, candidates, partners, investors – they want to get to know leaders as human beings. It pays to let your guard down every now and then. Here’s hoping others are inspired to follow suit.
