No! And that's the exact reason I run in the opposite direction when I see the gleam of blogging in my CEO's eyes.

No one fully understands the commitment to make a worthy blog. Even at the end of 2007 blogs are still shrouded in mystery.

Corporations will always be risk adverse and as such corporate blogs will remain squarely in the realm of rhetoric.

Truth! Corporations can't handle the truth.

It's the ultimate "catch-22", isn't it? Technically, a CEO is embracing blogging, but maybe he isn't good at it (I don't know as I've never read his blog).

Many of us would be ecstatic just to have our CEO say "Hello" to people in the hallways (when he is actually in the building), much less actually communicate with employees regarding company business.

This leads me to the same answer as Rob Patey, "No, I have never seen a successful or good CEO communication piece, much less a blog". There may be a few out there and if so, I'd be happy to read them. However, I think CEO's are human and fall into the same traps as many people do; they believe they have to write in a certain manner or they will not be a good CEO.

I'm encouraging our CEO to switch from a weekly email to everyone in the company in favor of using a blog format, but my reason isn't that I think his weekly email is getting more interesting by the day. I want employees to have the opportunity to respond and open dialogue, to begin making this a two-way conversation instead of a chromed pronouncement. I'd like to hear people's thoughts--am I mistaken? Fatuous?

When my mind isn't full of anything else, this is the topic I usually chew on: what do we non-CEOs think makes a good CEO, and why do there seem to be so many who fall short of our expectations?

Are they damned if they do and damned if they don't? A few of the poor chumps "blog" because they think their employees expect it of them, and we nuke them because they don't do it right. Yet as Susan Cellura says, what most of us would respect the most is a nod, smile, and correct use of our names as they pass us in the halls. Does anyone ever TELL these guys that the only way they can stop being perceived as arrogant bastards is to stop ACTING like arrogant bastards? Most workers have no more respect or--God forbid--affection for the head cheese than our counterparts did in Dickens' day.

A CEO's thinking SHOULD be abstract, David. That's his job--that and hiring others who will successfully make his abstract thoughts concrete. A little bit of abstract thought in a blog might be refreshing in a world where most posts and comments contain little but personal examples. But no one will read it if they know the guy believes he's better than they are--if he believes that he can do without them much more easily than they can do without him (which is manifestly NOT true).

That's my fascination these days: that corporate America has never outgrown the "if you don't like it here, there's the door" mentality.

Jane, great points and you're absolutely right, CEOs are damned either way, partly because it's lonely at the top, partly because they act like they're better than us and partly because lots of us below demand that the bastard PROVE he's better than us (so we understand why he has the big job and we don't).

That said, I think what we want—and it's a shit load—is a CEO who can tell us where the company's going, discuss how we're doing against the competition, keep us posted on our progress and occasionally touch us with an in-touch reflection on what it's like, for ALL of us, to work for this company.

It's a lot, lot, lot to ask—and that's just of an internal blog (for which, Joan, I see much more potential than external blogs, which have to be all of the above PLUS as entertaining as P.J. O'Rourke.

But it's also kind of the bare minimum, isn't it? Why do a weekly blog if you can't truly please or even interest your readers?

Dave said, "Why do a weekly blog if you can't truly please or even interest your readers?"

Dave therein lies the rub.

The reason that there are a million blog posts out there about Lindsey Lohan is unfortunately because that's what people are interested in.

The average CEO thinks that his or her workforce is just as engaged in the happenings of the C suite as they are.

I have a million employee engagement surveys that say otherwise. Should these guys be pontificating? Absolutely, it's their job. Should they be taking the 30,000 foot view on topics? Again, yes. But on the same token they need to find a way to relate those topics to the little people.

I always like to use an example from my Unisys days to show how detached these folks are from reality.

The CEO wanted to launch a new program, which was boat themed. OK while not my cup of tea, I know many folks enjoy the water. When they did the kick off video the CEO was standing behind the wheel of his yacht wearing an outfit that would make Thurston Howell III giggle. He looked right at the camera and said, "I'm sure many of you like myself, enjoy yachting."

WHAT!!!!!

You refused to give raises last year and the year before that, even top performers didn't scrape past the 2% mark. With the state of the organization people would have been afraid to invest in a dingy for fear they would have to chop into firewood when the company did their annual massive layoff. How many of us do you see hanging around the Philadelphia yacht club sir.

It was a stupid idea exacerbated by his complete detachment from his employees.

Many CEOs are making the same mistakes with their blogs.

Rob, that's like when Harvey Firestone objected back in the 1960s to the old, boring Firestone variety show being moved to Sunday afternoons. "I know what people are doing on Sunday afternoons, and it's not watching television," he bellowed. "They're playing POLO!"

omg, it pays to go back a day or two and check for new comments. These last two were true gems. I really did laugh out loud, at both your examples. Yachting and polo! Precisely what I do with MY spare time! God I love this blog.

I WORKED FOR ALABBAR FOR 5 YEARS, and recently resigned as CEO of one of his companies.

I have visited Phoenix with him repeatedly, his private aircraft’s tail number is VP-BEN and its a global express registered in the Bahamas so that he can hide the travel bills from Emaars shareholders. Which he also ripped off, to the tune of $400M in a deal in Egypt.

He’s the most arrogant, worst chip-on-the-shoulder, leader you’ll ever meet. For all the responsibility he has, which he wrongly thinks of as power, to get a decision on anything out of him you have to call a battery of far too beautiful to be functional assistants (although I must say that some of them are super hard working) and it will probably take 6-8 months to get an answer. He the kind of guy who skips board meetings to play golf.

Selling anything to this man is like tying yourself to a snail, he can’t decisions, he’s never available, he great at talking the talk but pathetic at walking the walk. He has no respect for people, people in Dubai no longer respect him thats why he’s in places like phoenix. He actually believes what his PR agents publish about him.

A great leader listens, after listening, makes up his mind, makes one killer point, gives direction and leaves people to achieve their full potential. Not this guy, he talks doesn’t listen, his points are often fuzzy and incomprehensible, he gives directions not direction, and if it works he takes credit for it. All this guy has is money in cash, but thats not what america is all about, its about ideas, which are always more valuable than all the money in the world. The idea is the capital, the rest is just money. So what’s the big idea Mr.Alabbar? or is it just money your bring?

His son went to college in san diego, he’s obsessed with the number 8, he spends most of his lime between LA and Vegas these days. Definateley the wrong stuff, always happy to take credit for other people’s work.

I got a seven figure settlement so the name here is not real, everything else is.