1.1 Visit FastLane online to identify the blog’s various communication channels and their channel richness. Whether it’s the no-nonsense directness of legendary CEO Jack Welch, or the change-the-world idealism of Apple’s Steve Jobs, effective communicators exhibit powerful mastery over their messages. Yet in the age of new media and the Internet, getting one’s point across requires mastery of both the message and medium. Thanks to blogs, texting, instant messaging and social networking websites, leaders have more options than ever before for reaching large audiences.

Who exactly are the grand communicators of the digital age? The pimple-faced founders of Facebook? The 30-something search-engine geniuses at Google? Try Bob Lutz, the 77-year-old vice chairman of global product development at General Motors (GM). Lutz stunned the business community in 2005 when he ventured out into the blogosphere, exchanging his podium for podcasts and memoranda for message boards.