Leaders in a digital age: How corporations are incorporating non-verbal forms of communication into social media

“The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”

– Theodore Roosevelt

“Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”

– George S. Patton

I thought that I would start off with these two famous quotes that talks about what a leader is.  Today, we are continually looking for leaders to take us into new horizons in business, scientific discoveries, innovations in technology, and building on the body of knowledge.

We are looking for specific characteristics in leaders in real life, but what about leaders that emerge in our new digital society?  Do these same attributes translate over to this new virual world we are practicing and living in?  These are all important questions to be asking, especially for public relations professionals. We need to know how to present ourselves and others proactively and representative of our reputation, as well as looking to see how other elements (ex. non verbal cues) influence what others perceive and feel about us when interacting on social media.  Carol Kinsey Goman recently wrote an article for the Washington Post discussing how corporations and individuals are implementing technology and how non-verbal (ex. body language) into their business practices to establish their reputation and interact with their stakeholders.

From creating very realistic avatars to scientific research on socialmeter, these are all very exciting findings that can definitely help public relations professionals be more strategic and effective in reaching their online audiences in their campaigns, research, and even in crisis situations.

So, as public relations professionals, we have to make sure that we are giving the best guidance for our clients to become leaders in their industries, as well as taking the same advice for ourselves in managing our own reputation as practitioners and scholars in the discipline. These are all very interesting and exciting developments that are happening in the scientific community, and what we as PR professionals need to be aware of is what these emerging trends are, and how we can strategically use them in our profession.

Hope you all are having a great day. 🙂

Best Wishes,

Karen