Paul Blanchard, a media personality, Managing Director of Right Angles, and the host of the Media Masters podcast, has interviewed hundreds of legendary business leaders, including Sir Martin Sorrell, Mark Thompson, and Sir Trevor McDonald. Paul will discuss in a no-holds-barred session the importance of leadership in an age of naked digital transparency. It's very hard to remain calm under pressure when customers and prospects are tweeting insults at you at 3 a.m. - how can leaders make it work?

1. Leadership in an
Age of Full Exposure
Paul Blanchard
paul.blanchard@90degrees.co.uk
www.right-angles.info

2. The good old days…

3. Segmentation of Audiences
• Customers
• Employees
• Media
• Investors
• Regulators
• Competitors!

4. Fast forward to today…

5. Now: One Audience
• New audience: everyone, all at once
• Importance of
– Authenticity
– Mediated accessibility

6. The opportunity

7. CEO as ‘Media Ambassador’
• The role of the modern CEO is changing.
• Even more outward-looking than before
– 24 hour rolling news media, websites, and portals
• Modern media wants high profile CEOs.
• Huge opportunity for CEOs to be ‘out there’ and
lead opinion
…or to totally mess it up

8. Connect Better with Your Team
• Use internal messaging apps like Slack,
Yammer – to build relationships.
• Leverage the platform to better engage –
deeper, more frequently, with more people.
• Let your team see who you are, and that you
see who they are.
– Avoid ‘peacocking.’

9. Thought Leadership ‘Collateral’
• Social media
• Blogging and podcasting
• Media appearances/articles
• Speaking opportunities around the world
• Networking and ‘door opening’
• Writing a book

10. Authenticity

11. Authenticity
• It’s everything.
– “If you can fake that, you have it made.”
• People do not want a robot.
– Repeating the corporate line
– Humanity and ‘personableness’

12. Do You Be ‘Yourself’?
• Question:
– Does the CEO tweet “as a human being”
– Or “as the CEO”?
• We all have many ‘sides’ – which one do you
show to everyone?
• People want to communicate with, and have a
sense of, the real person.

13. The threat

14. The threat
• Crisis situation - badly handled and made worse
– Example: United Airlines
• Trolls
• Complaining customers now bypass customer
services and just tweet directly at the CEO.

15. Trolls!

16. Only Question: Are They Being Nice?
• Welcome criticism!
– Can you learn from this?
– Have a ‘chin-based’ criticism policy.
• Not everyone likes you.
– ‘Personal but not personal’

17. Trolls
• The RHA test: rude, hostile, annoying
• Don’t engage.
• Hard block, soft block, or mute
– Everyone differs on the best method.
• Watch your own tone online.
– Careful you aren’t mistaken for a troll yourself

18. Crises!

19. Face a Crisis…Having Prepared
• Act fast.
• Decide who is making the decisions.
– Can’t deal with a crisis by committee
– Often it’s the lack of decision which creates crisis.

20. Face a Crisis…Having Prepared
• Get the facts straight.
– Keep people informed, no ‘info vacuum’
• Never say ‘no comment.’
• Tone is everything.
– Empathizing is not an admission of guilt.

21. Key lessons…

22. Summary
• Be yourself.
• Actively engage.
• Use tech to build and deepen relationships, not
brick-wall yourself.