Paul Levy, President and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston (the Harvard Medical School teaching hospital) started his own blog (Running A Hospital) because “he believes in transparency for everything we do,” Senior VP of Communications, Judy Glasser, told me during a phone interview last week.
Not only does the community learn about the medical center, she said, but all internal stakeholders — including the Board, senior management, employees and vendors — know what they need to do to be part of the team. It’s a very powerful example of effective leadership communications.
Glasser adds, “This form of communications helps us stay ahead of the pack in clinical quality, nursing care and other aspects of medical care in a very competitive market.” See what she means in this Wall Street Journal article.
Here’s a list of titles from his recent posts:
Soliciting organ donations
There is no mystery in Mystery Shoppers
This new media stuff is getting me dizzy!
Dear Mr. Levy, My husband was a patient in your hospital…
I can’t paper over this story any longer
On-line checkups
Levy is obviously not the only CEO who blogs. A fairly comprehensive list is here. But he writes one of the most candid blogs out there.
Using the examples of candor in these posts, you can teach your CEO to blog in a meanful way. As Seth Godiin warned back in 2004 http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2004/10/beware_the_ceo_.html, we do not need CEO blogs if they lack openness. He instructs CEOs to save the fluff for the annual report.
What other CEO blogs do you think offer a fine example of corporate blogging?
Roy, great example. This mode of communication is especially advantageous for the nonprofit sector where stakeholders can keep abreast of the organization’s activities, challenges and accomplishments.
Wow, what a nice change in a time when we feel like things are being hidden from us. Maybe by allowing us to see the in’s and out’s of a hospital, we will better understand what we can do help change the health care process.
Hi Roy, let me throw out a divergent opinion. Whether CEO blogging is a good idea is probably made on a case by case and company by company basis. Overall, I think executive level blogging is a good idea, not sure however it’s the best use of the CEO’s time to blog. I would imagine, blogging done by SVP’s in critical and outward facing business functions (R&D, services marketing, product management, etc–) makes more sense. I suppose it also highly depends on how large your company is and whether or not it is public. As you know public company officers, moreso than others need to be VERY careful what they say externally.
Relevant and thoughtful blogging takes time. Now, if you argue that 50% of a CEO’s time should be spent doing PR and the like, then I’d be wrong, however I think CEO’s should be focused on higher value add items like corporate strategy.
Just my two cents…
Paul B – whose to say this blog isn’t part of BIDMC’s corporate strategy? Perhaps this is a vital portion of Levy’s day. I’ve been following his blog for several months now and it’s enlightening not only for his immediate community, but for all of us who are employed in the healthcare industry. it provides a forum of open discussion for improvement of the system. Which, IMO, is a *very* good use of a CEO’s time.
It strikes me that blogging is actually a pretty good use of a CEO’s time — in as much as a CEO is the public face of a company, and the blog is another vehicle. Levy is unusual in that he blogs almost daily… but there are plenty of other CEOs or chairmen who blog far less frequently or briefly (GM’s Bob Lutz, Marriott’s Bill Marriott, Jupiter’s Alan Meckler…) — some, once or twice a month.
I also would add that the best corporate-penned blogs are written by those who genuinely enjoy writing. My guess is that Levy is one of those sorts. If he didn’t have a blog, he’s probably the sort who would keep a diary.
I argued in a previous post that blogging was NOT a good use of a CMO’s time. CMO’s must generate cash flow. However, as Paul Levy, the CEO of a prestigious hospital has shown, blogging can be a very powerful communications tool for the leader of an organization. He connects instantaneously in a very human and open way with the many constituencies of the medical center, including the Board, senior management, physicians, employees, community leaders, the media and ultimately customers. He puts a human face on a giant medical center that can be so impersonal and bureacratic. Doing so immediately differentiates the medical center in a highly competitive market. I can think of no better communications tool in his arsenal to lead the organization.
As Ann notes: “It strikes me that blogging is actually a pretty good use of a CEO’s time — in as much as a CEO is the public face of a company, and the blog is another vehicle.”
It can be excellent for investor and press relations. The obstacles have been fear and legal exposure as while CEOs are mega-busy they can pen 1 post a week…they can make the time for their shareholders (and get it passed through legal). I’d love to see a CEO run a blog that solicits questions from students (college or MBA) and then he/she answers one a week.
A great idea, CK! I’m on it. Check my blog.
I was totally impressed when I learned that Paul Levy of the very prestigious Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center was blogging. But now I am even more impressed that Mr. Levy is listening in on the conversation and open to implementing even more creative ideas in his social media strategy. Rather makes me proud to be a “BI bebe.” CK as always you rock!
I applaud the CEO’s transparency in his blogs.