Social Media Skills for Leaders
fm Bob’s-Blog.com 4/13 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4/biz
The Social Media Revolution. Few areas in business and society have been untouched by the emerging Social Media Revolution — one that is not even a decade old. Many organizations have been responding to that new reality, realizing the power & potential of this technology for corporate life:
Wikis enable more efficient virtual collaboration in cross-functional projects; internal blogs, discussion boards, and
YouTube channels encourage global conversations & knowledge sharing; sophisticated viral media campaigns engage customers & create brand loyalty; next-generation products are co-developed in open-innovation processes; and corporate leaders work on shaping their Enterprise 2.0 strategy.
Dilimma. This radical change has created a dilemma for senior executives. While the potential of social media seems immense, the inherent risks create uncertainty & unease. By nature unbridled, these new communications media can let internal & privileged information suddenly go public “virally”. What’s more, there’s a mis-match between the logic of participatory media and the still-reigning 20th-century model of management & organizations – with its emphasis on linear processes & control. Social media encourages level horizontal collaboration and unscripted conversations that travel in random paths across management hierarchies. It thereby short-circuits established power dynamics & traditional lines of communication.
A new Type of Leader. is needed to capitalize on the transform-ational power of social media – while mitigating its risks. The dynamics of social media amplify the need for qualities that have long been a staple of effective leadership, such as strategic creativity, authentic communication, & the ability to deal with a corporation’s social & political dynamics + to design an agile & responsive organization.
Social media also adds new dimensions to these traits. For example, it requires the ability to create compelling, engaging multimedia content. Leaders need to excel at co-creation & collaboration—the currencies of the new social-media world. Executives must understand the nature of different social-media tools and the unruly forces they can unleash.
Organizational Considerations. Equally important, there’s an organizational dimension. Leaders must cultivate a new, technologically-linked social infrastructure that – by design – promotes constant inter-action across physical & geographical boundaries, as well as self-organized discourse & exchange.
Your Comments on Social Media use will be appreciated.