Great article on reputation and transparency
Wow.
Wired’s story on the see-through CEO is just great. It lays out exactly what everyone ought to be thinking about - not just in the world of PR but in a general sense. I’ve been writing about the merging of the personal and the professional and the roles of identity, reputation and transparency - but Clive Thompson has laid it out with great examples that show what the future.
One can imagine how the twin engines of reputation and transparency will warp every corner of life in years to come, for good and ill.
Wired 15.04: The See-Through CEO
People can try to ignore this reality - and they’ll be able to for a while; but over time, as access to more and more information becomes commonplace, the willingness to contextually (and by this I mean providing context rather than in certain contexts) share information is going to become critical.
Describing what you’ve done, why you did it, how it worked, what you learned and what you’ll do differently in the future makes sense in a world awash in information. People will uncover what you’ve done and how it worked - the opportunity lies in explaining the rationale, the results and the lessons. Being able to do those things well are what will set people and organizations apart.
In the PR community there have been questions (and it is alluded to in this article as well) as to the role of PR in the world of social media and transparency. Helping clients consider and communicate the rationale, results and lessons effectively will become increasingly important. These are also not things that many organizations (including most PR firms) are not especially comfortable with. Helping clients navigate this evolution is a key service that communications professionals need to be prepared to provide.
Technorati Tags: Transparency, Identity, reputation, Wired, Clive Thompson, PR, rationale, results, lessons, social media
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on March 28th, 2007 at 11:23 am
Hi Greg,
“been writing about the merging of the personal and the professional and the roles of identity, reputation and transparency”
– Now I see the convergence on those two posts. And you’ve summed it up very nicely in this one.
I’ve got a gripe about Clive’s sub-head though - “Fire the publicist. Go off message. Let all your employees blab and blog. In the new world of radical transparency, the path to business success is clear.”
He’s obviously got a wrong impression of what PR really is, and what it can/should do in today’s business landscape. Well that’s another story/blog post altogether.
Meanwhile, I’ve enjoyed reading your posts. And thanks for pointing out other worthy readings online.
on March 28th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Thanks Melvin -
I agree that the sub-head is off target. Being transparent doesn’t mean being stupid or sloppy. There is still a place for communication council in the world of the see-through CEO.
GPC
on March 28th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Good post Greg. It got me thinking, which profession in the past was best at transparency?
Plus, maybe blogging is the profession of transparency?
on March 28th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
[…] the need for honesty and transparency in his article on “The See-Through CEO”. I agree with Greg that this is a pretty good piece, but I’m appalled by Clive’s sub-headline – “Fire the […]
on March 28th, 2007 at 11:18 pm
“Being transparent doesn’t mean being stupid or sloppy”
Greg, you’ve inspired the title of my post on this topic. Thanks!
http://thepr2.0universe.com/2007/03/29/being-transparent-doesn%e2%80%99t-mean-being-stupid-or-sloppy/
on March 29th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Glad to help Melvin. I think you did a good job addressing many of the questionable points made in the article in your post.
on March 30th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
[…] the need for honesty and transparency in his article on “The See-Through CEO”. I agree with Greg that this is a pretty good piece, but I’m appalled by Clive’s sub-headline – “Fire the […]