Social Leadership in the age of Social Media

Leadership, as we know, is often a over glorified thing! You ask any primary grade student about leadership and its traits- you have a list of such attributes as charismatic, influential, authorita…

Source: Social Leadership in the age of Social Media

Social Leadership in the age of Social Media

Leadership, as we know, is often a over glorified thing!

You ask any primary grade student about leadership and its traits- you have a list of such attributes as charismatic, influential, authoritative, decision-maker, over-the-top etc. thrown on to you in no time. Since the pre-historic ages, leadership has always been associated with the notion of power, command and influence and the one who had a band of followers. This model worked fine for many centuries. But, over the past two decades the rules of the game are being re-written, boundaries re-drawn and personalities being re-cast!

So, what changed fundamentally? Err… What transformed fundamentally?

The transformation is all about the ‘shift in power-balance’ in the backdrop of emerging (emerged?) social technologies read, Twitter and its ilks! Who can easily forget the upheavals and revolution unleashed by Twitter, Facebook and YouTube in such phenomena viz. Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street (OWS)? The emergence of such social networking platforms has given a new meaning to ‘Social Leadership’! Fundamentally speaking, Social leaders have followers because of their ability to bring people together, facilitate agreements and drive efforts in the same direction. Nelson Mandela can be seen as the prototype of a social leader.(Source: http://lexicon.ft.com/Term?term=social-leader).

According to The Center for Social Leadership, Social leaders serve and bless others. They create beauty in the world, lift the vision of mankind, broaden our possibilities, and deepen our life experience. They protect freedom, preserve peace, and ensure prosperity for as many people as possible. There are six pillars of Social Leadership

S ubmission
O penness
C alling
I ntegral Education
A ction
L iberty

In the following paragraphs, I will try to explain how these six pillars of social leadership are getting galvanized with the explosion of of social media .

Submission: Traditionally, Social leaders believe in and submit to a Higher Power, by whatever name and through whichever means they choose. They find inspiration, guidance, and stability from a source higher than themselves. Submission is the source of motivation and vision and ensures humility. In changed era of social media, this means social leaders would give in to the ‘Collective wisdom’ of netizens- they will ‘listen through their eyes’ as Charlene Li, the CEO & founder of Altimeter Groupcaptured so succinctly in her latest book ‘The Engaged Leader’. An example of submission is well chronicled by Charlene in her another book ‘Open Leadership’ where she explains how American Red Cross Society submitted to the collective wisdom of Citizen’s (Netizen’s) in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Initially they wished to control people’s negative comments about the society’s work but they soon realized that instead they should submit to their critiques and try bolster their good work rather than focusing on damage control.

Openness: Social leaders feel an abiding sense of openness in their conduct and dealing with their followers, society, institutions, and the universe at large. They know their thoughts, habits, and actions directly result in societal consequences. These leaders often lead a life that is an open book for the masses to gloss over and get inspired from. In today’s world of YouTube & Facebook, CXOs can’t afford to turn a blind eye to platforms such as Glassdoor. It’s true that the burden of expectations in social economy could be unnerving to many leaders, but there are more benefits to be reaped than to brood over. Millennials and Gen-Z put a premium to openness while selecting companies. Employee/ customer engagement has assumed a new dimension of openness in the face of social media. The unconventional CEO of Aetna, the largest American insurer, Mark Bertolini, connected personally with a terminally ill pancreatic cancer patient Arijit Guha and helped him secure the best treatment even when Guha had exhausted all his coverage- thanks to Twitter posts by Guha. This kind of openness is unprecedented before and takes the meaning of the word to a new level.

Calling: Social leaders traditionally have risen to the greater calling of the masses be it MLK or Nelson Mandela. They know with certainty that they were born for something great, unique, and specific. Furthermore, it is to know that if they don’t live up to their mission, the world suffers. In the age of social media, the leaders are turning unorthodox and turning the organizational pyramid upside down. Vineet Nayar, the former CEO of HCL technologies and founder of Sampark Foundation responded to his greater calling to ‘unleashing a million smiles’.

Integral Education: Integral means entire; complete; whole. Integral education, therefore, is education that leads to whole truth and complete “beingness.” It extends far beyond technical knowledge and specialized expertise. It explores human nature and seeks to answer such questions as, “Who are we? Why are we here? What is the purpose of life? What should our ideals be and how can we achieve them?” Not only is such an education whole in scope and methodology, but also its core purpose is to develop whole individuals — in other words, social leaders. In social economy and the age of Facebook & Twitter, learning is the hygiene of survival, all the more for the senior leaders. Effective social leaders such as Sir Richard Branson of Virgin group has the leadership mantra captured in 3Ls– Listen, Learn and Laugh!

Action: Social leaders bridge the gap between what is and what should be. While others are confused, despondent, and waiting, social leaders are confident, optimistic, and acting. They know that profound thinking must lead to appropriate and energetic action. Like Aetna’s CEO Mark Bertolini, social leaders would often go out of their traditional paths to break rules and make history for their organizations and society. A deep believer in the ‘whole Hindu view of the world’, Bertolini is credited for bringing in an un-American way of corporate life at Aetna and he often discredits American business schools of ‘financial poisoning’.

Liberty: Social leaders are intimately aware of the art, science, and process of government. They understand its nature and proper role. They do all in their power to secure and preserve freedom for all races, genders, and cultures. In this age of networked and social economy, leaders cherish and encourage their enterprises to express themselves, break rules and dare to go against the beaten paths. That’s precisely what Sir Richard Branson does at Virgin and is reported  to have said that ‘he hasn’t learnt the rules in the first place…’. Other social leaders such as the Pope of the Roman Catholic church, Pope Francis is widely acclaimed to have stood for civil liberties and is seen as unorthodox leader of the community.

What is common in all of the above social leaders?

These social and often servant leaders genuinely believe in the supremacy of human spirit, liberty, equality and humility. They truly embody the Level-5 leadership principles coupled with the power of modern collaborative and social technologies where they play the role of Creator, Curator, Conduit and disseminator of information and thus empowerment throughout the organizations and society.

Are you a Social Leader? Are you the one who nurtures social leaders in the organization?