Balancing Personal and Organizational Brand: Networked Leadership

[slideshare id=35006384&doc=knight-new-jersey-final-140522105151-phpapp01]
Earlier this month, I facilitated a workshop for leaders of community foundations in New Jersey for the Knight Digital Media Center on the topic of practical network leadership skills. The workshop covers several topics including:

• Understanding the networked mindset
• Visualizing professional and organizational networks and understanding how to leverage for organizational goals
• Applying these techniques to social platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn for thought leadership, influence, and professional learning.

I often use Carolyn Miles, CEO of Save the Children as an example and like to share some of the insights we discussed at the AFP conference in March about the whys and hows of social CEOs in the social change sector.      We had a “teachable moment” in the workshop, when one participant, Erin Kelly from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, tweeted a photo and a comment.   The group was amazed that Save the Children responded to Erin’s comment.    The group had just asked what happens when the CEO can’t respond immediately.   So, in this example, the branded account responded as Carolyn was on an airplane.    Later, once Carolyn was back online,  she responded to the questions about CEOs and tweeting as you can in the transcript below.
Erin also shared that she tweeted the photo and comment because many staff members at RWJF are on twitter and they follow one another as part of their “learning the new,” especially when someone is attending a convening, conference, or workshop.   She also added that personal branding for staff is an intentional part of their networked strategy.