We love reading the nominations for #SocialCEOs every year. Zoe recently wrote a great article with tips from past winners – but in this post we’d like to share some quotes from last year’s nominations, to show you what past nominators had to say about their chosen social superstars.
Authenticity is crucial
So many of the nominations highlighted the blending of personal and professional as a big positive, and we completely agree that to have a really successful presence on social media, it’s important to show a bit of yourself. Here are some examples:
“He mixes his personal views with his professional life in a way that strikes a great balance.”
“Because he’s tweeting from the heart he has far more impact on the issues that are close to the charity. His tweets can be both amusing and deeply sad.”
“She is also smart and funny and blends personal tweets – about running, for example, in with the rest. She’s not afraid to use her own voice.”
“She helps present a very human face of the charity.”
“When you look at her profile, you know there’s been zero input from a social media strategist.”
Demystify your role
Twitter, used well, can be a great way to demonstrate more about what a CEO actually does all day. We all know they are busy and important people, but if asked to describe what they do, how many of us could do a reasonable job? Thanks to Twitter, we can see this much more clearly, and our nominators think this is a real benefit.
“Brings to life her day-to-day role.”
“Following her on social media gives a real insight into the varied role of a CEO.”
“She shows her human side, displays leadership, and provides a fascinating insight into the life of a charity Chief Exec.”
Be brave
Social media can be a minefield; many people are lurking just waiting to take offence or twist what someone says. So even having a presence and putting themselves on the map can be a brave decision. We saw bravery highlighted in quite a few of last year’s nominations:
“(He) uses social media to ask difficult questions.”
“(She) is not afraid to be brave and bold. She will share her opinion, challenge others and put herself out there.”
“He displays leadership in our field by not being shy of issues which can be tough to deal with.”
Let digital shape your work and culture
Our nominees were praised for how their overall approach to social and digital represent the broader ways they work, and how they bring digital into the day-to-day.
“(She) is a champion for empowering colleagues, other CEOs and leaders in the public and third sector to embrace social media to become closer to the people they serve.”
“(She) has worked hard to build genuine, long-term relationships with a broad range of people through daily interactions. She uses these conversations to inform the work of the charity.”
“(She) is a staunch champion of social media as an effective dissemination tool for our work.”
“Her enthusiasm, passion and commitment to (the organisation’s) mission is infectious.”
“Since (she) started, the culture has changed. Everything we planned or wanted to do has now been sped up.”
“She sees social not as an add on to work but an important space to engage and exist as a leader in the third sector.”
“(He) is incredibly enthusiastic about the power of social media and digital, at both an organisational level and more broadly in terms of the influence it’s having on society.”
And finally…
Here are a few of the random bits that made us smile:
“I’m not quite sure how (he) has the time to juggle a demanding job, a young family, an unruly dog, a football habit as well as his constant Twitter feed but he does it. We can only imagine that he tweets in his sleep.”
“All in all she’s a wonderful person that embodies what it means to be a social leader inside and outside the limit of 140* characters. *She’ll be pimp at 280 as well” (This was just ahead of this crucial change to Twitter character limits!)
“He really should change his Twitter handle. It’s weird.”
“(His) tweets may also contain dogs”
And very lastly – in the “anything else you’d like to tell us” box, we had this lovely polite closing remark: “Thank you.”
Nominations are open until 28th September for this year’s #SocialCEOs – so tell us today who you think deserves recognition!