In an era where authenticity holds immense value, fostering and sustaining a positive online reputation for CEOs is essential for long-term success. This also applies to professionals, including lawyers reputation, who must carefully manage their reputations in the digital landscape.
No CEO can exist in PR plastic. The only way that company executives can protect themselves and their companies from digital harm is to be like a real, tangible, and trustworthy character whose positive online presence speaks far more strongly than a few negative articles that sometimes appear on Google results.
Negative Articles Are Inevitable for Modern CEOs
While commenting on non-business matters was once taboo for corporate leaders, modern trends in leadership compel CEOs to be more outspoken and authentic than they ever have been before. Analysts for Weber Shandwick recently found that CEOs have begun taking a more significant role in moral leadership. Moreover, younger workers expect their leaders to be vocal in contentious matters; according to Weber Shandwick’s research, “twice as many Millennials said they would feel increased loyalty (rather than decreased loyalty) toward their own CEO, if he or she took a stand on a hotly debated issue (44% vs. 19%, respectively).”
The benefits of increased loyalty, however, come with a catch. In taking a stand, CEOs open themselves up to criticism and public lambasting by those who disagree with their viewpoints. The potential for negative press online is considerably more present, as is the risk to a leader’s business reputation.
That said, even those CEOs who choose not to take moral stands are at reputation risk. Today, business leaders are encouraged to be more authentic, raw, and straightforward with their consumers and employees than in years past. They are encouraged to cut past the conventional hedging and PR babble and be “real;” popular leadership advice books today include titles like Chris Hirst’s No Bullsh*t Leadership: Why the World Needs More Everyday Leaders and Why That Leader Is You, and David Rowan’s Non-Bullshit Innovation: Radical Ideas from the World’s Smartest Minds. The tone taken is clear: people want authenticity and directness from company leaders, not the plastic-perfect ones of yesterday.
For CEOs, Reputation is All About Public Perception
Having a well-defined online reputation strategy is more important than leaders might think. When employees, consumers, and stakeholders find negative articles online and have no character insights to countermand or contextualize the smears they see, the CEO’s character is at risk. Perceived honesty is already something that CEOs struggle with; according to Gallup, business executives tend to rank near the bottom on lists of professions by ethics. Thus, it may not matter to rank-and-file employees or clients that a CEO accomplished a great deal behind closed company doors — if that positive perception is not also evident online, their trust and approval will begin to erode.
This loss of trust can have significant repercussions for a company, as well. One 2015 study from Interaction Associates found that high-trust companies “are more than 2½ times more likely to be high performing revenue organizations” than low-trust companies. High-profile CEOs need to maintain positive reputations and put time into their personal reputation management — not only for themselves, but also for their company’s well-being.
Read the full article on CEOWorld Magazine to understand why negative press is inevitable and how that’s not a bad thing!
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