“'Time Leadership' is my philosphies and musings on leading SYNNEX Canada, a billion dollar wholesaler of computer equipment,” says SYNNEX Canada CEO Jim Estill when describing his blog. “I call it CEO Blog - Time Leadership because of my keen interest in time.”

Recently the author of a book and audio CD called Time Leadership Audio, Estill writes about many subjects as it relates to his work and days. Personal subjects are not taboo on his blog and he in fact talks very little talking about his company (a home page disclaimer reads: “This blog represents my personal views and not those of SYNNEX or any other company”).

Estill’s most recent postings include:

• Managers and Leaders - Are They Different?
• The Importance of Sleep
• The Perfect Day
• Inventoritis - Don't love your Baby Too Much.
• More on Success Habits
• Lunch with Tony Blair and Time Vs Energy

Though he clearly is not a shy leader and communicator Estill decided he needed to communicate more with his constituency – including staff, customers and vendors. Authoring a blog is but one tool Estill has seized in enhancing these communications. Today, he communicates with all of those constituencies and more through his CEO blog that he’s authored since the Spring of 2005 (he presents this case study at the upcoming 2008 Social Media Summit Canada Conference in Toronto, ON from March 31 - April 2, 2008).

Broken down by percentages, Estill’s CEO blog audience is comprised of:

• 25% staff
• 50% suppliers/customers/industry
• 15% personal development/bloggers
• 10% friends/contacts

Though the blog is an external one on the public Internet (at http://www.jimestill.com), a principal audience of the blog are SYNNEX employees (up to 25% of the readers).  Estill says that the blog is of interest to employees because it “humanizes” him as CEO and provides a forum for 2-way communications (that isn’t always possible given the demands on the time and schedule of a busy CEO).

At the ripe age of 19, Estill started a computer distribution company - EMJ Data “from the trunk of his car” in 1979. The company grew to $350,000,000 in sales and then sold to SYNNEX in Sept 2004. Estill remains as CEO of the company that now sells  about a $1 billion in computer products in Canada.

“We sell all the brands you would recognize like HP, Apple, Intel, Lexmark, Acer, Sony, Microsoft etc through computer resellers and retailers from Future shop and Zellers to Bob's computer store.”

Among the reasons Estill cites for starting a blog:

• To keep in touch with:
• Staff
• Vendors
• Customers
• It will get read by your staff
• It helps personalize you
• It adds to your influence
• Good for laying out strategy
• To dispel mystery
• To share opinion

Estill dedicates about 2 hours per week to blogging and admits, “It requires commitment and thought.” Though he points to his own success and recommends blogging to others, he does suggest that blogging is not for everyone and shouldn’t be undertaken “if you do not like to write.”

Estill offers a number of tips for blogging:

• Have a few “in the can”
• Use other people’s material
• Use guest bloggers
• “Not perfect is good”
• “Careful of being too safe, but legal is real”
• Keep a paper archive
• Learn how to write an article in 20 minutes
• Use or cite book reports
• Re-use your past material including your blog material
• Post by email
• Keep posts short (400-500 words) or even a paragraph
• Avoid politics, religion and ghost-written articles

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Learn more about this case study and other social media / Web 2.0 case studies at the upcoming 2008 Social Media Summit Canada Conference (hosted by the Advanced Learning Institute) in Toronto, ON from March 31 - April 2, 2008). Three days of Web 2.0 best practices, case studies and learnings for which you can Register Online.