CEO Landmine: “SOCK-PUPPETING”

Sock puppeting is creating a fake online identity to praise, defend or create the illusion of support for one’s self, allies or company. Reference:  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/16/technology/16blog.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

The Federal Trade Commission is now investigating any violations of security laws pertaining to the sock puppeting of John Mackey, CEO Whole Food Markets.  And, in addition to this problem, Whole Food Market’s proposed take over of its competitor Wild Oats has probably fallen through the chairs, with the possibility of law suits by Wild Oats.
It is appears that Mr. Mackey has been anonymously blogging for eight years to not only assail his competition, and promote his company’s stock, but to also post comments about how cute he looks on Yahoo message boards.
At Conrad Black’s recent trial for criminal fraud the prosecution produced evidence of Mr. Black’s attempts to sock puppet on a Yahoo Finance chat room.

Blogger beware, postings under a pseudonym may not be as anonymous as you thoughts. Clearly Mr. Mackey, Mr. Black and others who have been caught red handed were not simply following a strategy to gain competitive advantage, they were driven by ego, by the pursuit of power that blinded them to the error of their ways, and to the danger that they were bringing upon themselves and their organizations.

The temptation to be seduced by one’s ego grows as one reaches the top of the corporate mountain, but with ego come decisions that create a pathway of destruction.  Ego blinds our perceptions; ego also causes one to make decisions that can lead to short term gain and long term pain.

While there are a number of top CEO’s who use their blogs to share information, to create a climate of communication and establish the integrity of their leadership and their organizations; sock puppeteers who have been seduced by ego and arrogance are creating blog postings that are landmines.

Blogger beware, sock puppeting is the latest landmine for CEO’s and others who try to gain unfair advantage or promote themselves and/or their organizations.