Why Many CEOs Aren’t on the Social Media Train

There are a few CEOs who seem to be poster boys for Social Media. For the most part, however, most CEOs seem to still be sitting on the sidelines. The question is, “Why are they so slow to embrace the future?” My answer starts with two key factors…

1. They are managers of time as much as money. Most CEOs are hyper-sensitive to their time. Because there are just too many major decisions they must make on any given day, they must often show a key sense of where to focus their time (and the time of their employees) to gain the highest rewards. To take time each day to Twitter, to answer questions on Linkedin, or to update their company profile on Facebook, may just not (at first glance) pass the “Time vs. ROI” test.

2. An instinctive pride in being a “late adaptor”. Many of today’s CEOs were early in their careers during the dot-com bubble. Billions of dollars and millions of hours of time were wasted while businesses figured out the correct internet return-on-investment model. (Some would say lessons still being learned.) They are happy to sit on the sidelines while others figure out how to create that same ROI in regard to Social Media.

Who’s taking the correct approach is a great debate and a question we may not truly have the answer to for some time.

Sean Halter

Note: Are you finding a financial ROI for your Social Media involvement? If so, we’d love to share your story.