I have just discovered that the Waitrose MD, Mark Price has started a blog called 'The Grocer's Blog: Not So Chubby' charting his diet and general business information. It is a great read.

This is how he introduces it on the Waitrose web site...

' I am passionate about quality food and, like all the Partners in Waitrose, I am passionate about my job as a Grocer. Through this blog, I hope to share my thoughts, expectations and experiences as I journey from 'chubby' to 'not so chubby'. I’d love to know what you think too.'

I talk to a lot of senior managers in companies about blogging and social media. Many worry about allowing blogging by employees let alone considering they personally should do so! 

Maybe they should read Marks blog postings and see what comments he is getting back from customers and the public generally. They maybe pleasantly suprised.

Interesting post by Tom Glocer, CEO of Reuters on why he feels that fellow CEO's should be blogging and participating in social media.

To quote from his post

'...I believe that unless one interacts with and plays with the leading technology of the age, it is impossible to dream the big dreams, and difficult to create an environment in which creative individuals will feel at home.  This does not mean that the ceo needs to program a third-party app on Facebook, but I believe it is ultimately more useful in understanding business concepts like viral marketing, crowd-sourcing or federated development to use a live example rather than wait for the Harvard Business Review article to appear in three years time...'

I would also add from personal experience that a CEOs blog keeps them in touch as much with their employees as it does the market place generally.

Look at any report on employee satisfaction at work and you will always see communication is rated poorly. Over 1/3rd of employees feel they are badly managed and motivated. To employees the senior management appears detached from the reality of 'day-to-day' work at the coal face. Decisions, that seem clear in the boardroom are just not understood or are miscommunicated through 'Chinese Whispers' of cascade communication. A blog provides a platform for two way dialogue - management to employees and back again. It allows a CEO (assuming they are not surrounded by corporate communication specialists and legal people who massage every word) to use their own words and express their views of the business and what motivates them.

Look at Tom's blog. Not only do you get to learn about what he thinks and feels about a number of subjects but via his blog we see his taste in music and books. 

A very thought provoking post from Shel Holtz contributing to the ongoing debate on the authenticity of blogs.

Read the comments and you will see the whole issue laid bare.

At its heart is the same issue that faced Monty Python in their 'Crunchy Frog' sketch. Does a blog labelled as being from the CEO or a senior executive have to be penned by them or can it be 'ghost' written by a member of the Corporate Communications team.

I am all for honesty but I think a dose of reality is needed here. We know the Trade Description Act means we have to honest and truthful. Food labelling has to list all the ingredients. As the Monty Python sketch was highlighting sometimes the marketing spin is such that even the public do not expect there to be real frogs in chocolates - even with the bones in to ensure it is really crunchy.

Can a CEO's blog still claim to be from them personally if the Corp Comms team have helped write it or edited it? The answer is yes but then the question is one of degree. Full fat milk contains only 5% fat so at what percentage does a blog become Full CEO? Now that becomes another debate....