The Lastest New Media Movement

Quantum Leap #8: Communicate in 12-D

Leading at Light Speed is a must-have leadership book by Eric Douglas highlighting the 10 Quantum Leaps to build trust, spark innovation, and create a high-performing organization.

From Eric's Communicate in 12-D, chapter 8 discusses Mobilizing the "New" Media.

If you did a Google search for "GM Bailout" during 2009 when rumors were swirling that the U.S. might force the once-mighty automaker into bankruptcy, you would have gotten two million hits. Two million. To put it in perspective, in 2000, when the dot com bubble was bursting, you would have found slightly more than two hundred references online to "dot com bubble." That's how explosively our media world has changed.

Pretend you are GM's vice preseident of global communications. You will be responsible for two million media press statements, blogs, press releases, YouTube presentations, financial statements, academic reports, tweets and other media propogada. Think about it. What would be the details of your vision? How would you respond?

Obviously, the correct strategy is not to mimic the one that GM selected. GM had not adapted to a light speed world. It continued to manage its communications with an eye toward control rather than leveraging the tools of social marketing and social networks. It provided selective press interviews; it sent reassuring letters to shareholders; it made an unsuccessful appeal to Washington for help. GM had the potential to unite hundreds of thousands of current and former customers and shareholders to assist with its plea in Washington had it been ready to lead at light speed. But it was not. It had not been prepared for years.

In a light speed world, your organization needs to lead the conversation, because that's how you build trust with customers, shareholders, employees, suppliers, regulators and all the other people who care about you and your organization. You accomplish that by structuring your message box, embarking on new media, and sharing in so many public forums that your voice is the one being heard by many people.

What do I want to convey by referring to "mobilize new media"? Every form of media can be your friend or your foe, depending on how well you understand the media's versatility and potential. The opportunity exists for you to mobilize, whether you utilize social marketing, web pages, email mediums, blogs, e-newletter, or tweets. The bridge between "new media" and "old media" is slowing diminishing. The investment of energy and resources into interactive media for newspaper and magazines is comparable to that of traditional ink and paper. The lines may disappear altogether as all forms of media become more interactive, searchable, and customizable.

If used smartly, you can mobilize tens of thousands of people to your cause. The revolutionary change - the one thing to recognize - is that the new media are within your control. You no longer have to convince an editor or reporter that your message is interesting. Through the Internet, you can connect to millions of people. In order to mobilize the media, you can use your web page to express your message. A way to leverage new media is to transmit consistent e-newsletters to your clients, shareholder, and employees. If you are taking advantage of social marketing to outreach to groups of customers and prospective customers, then you're assertively bring about the media. If you're combining social networks with text messaging to lobby Congress, you're in the game. If you're sharing your expert views via blogs and tweets, you're mobilizing the media. In short, mobilizing the media hinges on leveraging all the different forms of media to lead the conversation and establish relationships with different groups in ways that build trust, generate engagement and ultimately advance your goals.

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Leading at Light Speed is a new leadership book detailing the 10 Quantum Leaps of high-performing organizations. Are you leading at light speed? Take this free work survey to assess your organizational strengths and weaknesses.