Answering Amber’s Call to Action!

As the New Year dawned Amber Naslund @Ambercadabra threw down the gauntlet with a challenge to the dwellers of this social media swamp to bring more solid business skills to the social media table.

The vast majority of business people out there still don’t understand what’s really going on here yet, they think Twitter and social media are just some new advertising flash in the pan that will just come and go in a New York minute.

As with everything new the first step is education, education and more education and beyond that when you’re talking to business leaders they want to see some results, results and more results before commiting resources to exploring new business methods and paths to socially sustainable profits.

Generally speaking, marketers have been the first to jump on the SM bandwagon, albeit there are still a number of fencesitters and of course the contrarians are still holding their noses hoping it might all go away.

As stated in our Social Capital post, the genie is now fully out of the bottle and this is more than a good thing because social media is going to positively impact much more than simply advertising. It will in our opinion literally create a sea change in how businesses are organized and run, the role and power of the individual within the firm and even has the potential to also permanently alter the fabric of society.

But so much for the big picture vision, because @Ambercadabra has already heard too many presentations on visions of sugar plums, she wants to know “Where’s the beef?” and how will we get from here to there?

The current power in organizations of course still comes from the top down, and in many ways results in the unresponsive corporate behemoths we all must deal with and most work for from day to day.

The hyperpersonal micro communication social media can facilitate will give all actors in companies the ability to have a voice and put forward ideas that will be both peer and management reviewed for merit. For examples of this new model or the emerging “leading from the middle” style of management, look no further than these two videos from Cisco and Best Buy, who are already both on their way to the promised land.

But not only does social media provide better two way communication for both listening and sharing channels, the capability for these entities to also become fully functional learning organizations is greatly enhanced.

So how do we get from here to there, the answer is we must first educate and engage the current functional leaders across all organizations on the potentials described above with concrete examples including the results of what others have already accomplished.

At the same time, in order to attain maximum effectiveness this information and these examples must also be tailored, delivered and defined as specifically relevant to their position by peer functional practitioners who are already achieving these successes.

Our answer to accomplish this is C-Level Social, the first manifestation of which is The Social CMO blog you are currently reading, where to date a dozen bold CMO types from a multitude of backgrounds and industries have now banded together to start this process.

Already underway are similar efforts under The Social CHRO, The Social CIO and The Social CFO banners with still others for CEO, CPO, CSCO and CLO also emerging.

So no matter where you fit into the organizational mosaic there is already a real opportunity for you to participate in a concrete manner today first by listening, then through learning, participation and finally implementation.

And in answer to your questions Amber, yes we do see something bigger and yes we are with you!

@JeffAshcroft