Comments on: Disincentives to leadership blogging among public officials

By: Budget cuts: an opportunity for local government to deliver services WITH citizens. Social media can help. « Locally Grown Northfield

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:57:28 +0000

[...] for public officials to meaningfully engage with citizens are strong (see related blog posts here, here, and here) but the financial pain that everyone is about to experience as pubic services are [...]

By: Griff Wigley

Griff Wigley — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 13:44:11 +0000

That’s an aspect that I hadn’t considered, Mark. If you don’t mind, I’ll use that in my presentations — full attribution, of course!

I should note, though, that I still recommend having comments turned off for most leaders when they start blogging. Why? Most need to experience the advantages of blogging as a leadership tool first, and once confident, using it as a tool for interaction comes second.

I draw a parallel to giving a speech… one can give a very effective speech and not take questions afterwards. But in most cases, it’s better if you do as the audience appreciates it. But if you’re not confident of your speaking skills, you’re probably not going to be confident of your skills at handling the rough and tumble Q&A afterwards. And therefore, most leaders will likely want to avoid the whole experience.

By: Mark Stock

Mark Stock — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 13:15:03 +0000

My experience with blogging as a school superintendent has been largely a positive one. The “disincentive” aspect of blogging that leaders seem to fear so much – is largely overblown. Why? Your communities are populated with many good people with common sense and busy lives. Because they are mostly silent (running kids to soccer practice and going to church…) people overlook them.
When the negative flamers, whiners and complainers start in blasting you or your organization on the blog – it tends to bring those quiet folks out of the woodwork. They were there – they were just being shy.

My experience is that the support for the leader who blogs grows and grows right through the negativitiy. Think of it like excercise. You may get a little sore at first – but the healing process makes you more fit then you were before.

By: Andrew Brown

Andrew Brown — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 13:09:46 +0000

I don’t think they’re listening to me any more. But should that change…

By: Griff Wigley

Griff Wigley — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:55:46 +0000

Thanks for that, Andrew. It’s a great example. If the Lewisham Council needs my help, you know where to tell them to find me!

By: Andrew Brown

Andrew Brown — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:20:17 +0000

Unsurprisingly I agree with your conclusions. There's a question about whether jumping in to blogging as a way of defending your position would fly with those taking an interest in that scene. But I've no doubt it can be an effective way of understanding and deflecting criticism. In my community we have a blogger, Kate who is starting to draw attention from the local press and the council. How the council responds will tell a story about the sort of institution it is and what motivates its leaders. Do they ignore it for as long as possible, do they try to make the issues go away by providing her with an individual solution, do they engage in the debate trying to explain the wider position while acknowledging the difficulties for people like Kate? I know which way I'd like to see things happen.