Why every brand needs a connected leader who inspires trust

Think for a moment about the leaders who inspire you the most, perhaps those who inform your own leadership style.

Whether they come from the worlds of business, politics, sport or entertainment, there’s one thing that they all have in common: they are incredible communicators.

And they need to be too. They are often reaching out to a complex set of audiences, and there will be subtle nuances required to inspire the people they lead.

We live in an attention economy, with thousands of brands and people competing for a sliver of our time and focus. It’s noisy, with relatively little of what we see and hear sinking in.

What’s more brands face a trust issue. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, only one in three consumers in the UK trust most of the brands they buy from.

There’s never been a more important time for leaders to take centre stage in communications and be a focal point for building trust. 

The challenge for brands is humanising their persona. The reality is that audiences want to deal with a real human being. After all, people buy from people.

This is where I believe social media comes in to play.

Research from DDI shows that CEOs who are active on social media are seen as being 46% more influential than those that aren’t. What is more, companies with social CEOs are perceived 23% more positively, according to Hootsuite research.

Employees too rate the importance of good social media communications from CEOs; 71% believe it can make a positive impact on a company’s reputation, according to the Brunswick Connected Leadership Index.

It’s not just about reputation either, but talent acquisition and retention, sales and customer service.

You would have thought that every leader understood this, wouldn’t you? But it transpires that only 48% of the top UK and US business leaders are using social media, according to the Brunswick study.

This is a massive opportunity for leaders in every sector.

The million dollar question about social media

So, if social media is so effective, why aren’t more leaders using it?

Everyone has their own particular answer to this. But when we’ve spoken to business leaders and comms directors, the most common concerns are around the time commitment, not having the necessary skills, lack of control and risk management.

These are all good reasons to be cautious. Which is why it’s so important to have a focus and methodology.

I have to confess, for years I struggled to get across the importance of social media to leaders. I think the main reasons were not addressing those concerns and not giving them a reason to do it.

Now, I find the conversation much easier.

That’s because, instead of framing it around the idea of content marketing or PR, it’s actually a conversation about leadership.

It’s about understanding the key challenge for leaders and then thinking about it from the audience perspective.

From here it’s simply a process. Getting the story right and building a framework that doesn’t put all the onus on the individual, but still allows room to be authentic and inspiring.

It feels to me that many leaders are at a crossroads.

I was shocked to read last week that, according to PwC research, almost half of UK CEOs are scaling back their digital activity, with many deleting social media accounts due to concerns about cyber attacks.

I understand the need to assess risks properly, but if this is true, it’s worrying for brands and leaders.

It hasn’t stopped the likes of new BP CEO Bernard Looney really embracing social media as a communications tool.

Or new McDonalds CEO Chris Kempczinski setting up a personal Instagram account to talk about what the business is up to. 

Closer to home, Sarah Wood is a leader who has always known exactly how to communicate clearly, in an authentic manner.

I don’t know any leader who doesn’t want to come across as authentic, trustworthy and inspiring. It’s simply a question of putting that into practice.

And harnessing social media to deliver your message directly to audiences – with the ability to open a two-way dialogue – is a powerful tool that can help do just that.

If you’re interested in finding out how Brightside can help you harness the potential of social media to become a connected leader, drop me an email (phil@brightside.digital) or send a DM.