What CEOs really think about Social Media

2,700 CEO subscribers to SmartBrief on Leadership (you can register for free) participated in a recent survey on how their companies are involved in social media and what their perceptions are. Here are some of the data:

• 75% indicate they were knowledgeable or actively learning about social media
• 51% say their companies are actively using and exploring social media, with another 30% piloting or considering social media
• 83% recognize that social media is a way to learn what customers are saying about them
• 40% think they are behind their competition in using social media

All this paints the picture that social media is growing in use and will continue to do so, and that leadership is supportive. Social media provides a new, and probably important, way to listen to your customers and other stakeholders, engage with them, raise awareness, and build relationships. Several Baldrige Award recipients are using social media tools like Twitter, Facebook, blogs, Flikr, and YouTube in various ways to do just that. Examples, just to name a few, include: Monfort Institute's Sustainable Transformation blog, Sharp HealthCare's Twitter feed and Facebook page, SSM Health Care's Twitter feed, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company's YouTube channel, and Poudre Valley Health System's Visionary Healthcare blog. It's no wonder then, that at the closing of the Quest for Excellence Conference two weeks ago, Baldrige Director (and Cheermudgeon) Harry Hertz, hinted at Web 2.0 in the next version of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. Social media and customer engagement go hand-in-hand.

Read the rest of the CEO SmartBrief survey responses here. Let us know your thoughts on social media and how your organizaiton is using or plans to use these new tools.