In Part I, we got familiar with social media which is filling many of the emotional gaps that use to be filled by companies . Now, we are going on with the 6 steps that a leader can take to develop a more pragmatic leadership and leadership intelligence in today’s connected culture to a more Organizational Development focused process.
1. As Social Networks furnish a platform for personal growth through various groups, they consist of the combined knowledge of the mass. While these individuals may not be profession or just don’t have enough time to part. In this arena, we expect our leaders to make us better. Being a leader , do you give structured guidance and learning that will build your people to a higher level of competence? Are you using your people at their minimal capability, or helping them develop in their competence and capability?
Therefore, while we’re at it, let’s look at ‘good’ online marketers . These are the people who are perpetually providing us good and usable message at no cost (which is time consuming indeed ). They enrich us with the hopes that out of reciprocity, we will then buy something they sell. So, they help us to be better because it is the quickest way to be sure even now through our aiding with our achievements as well as competence (or at least the detection that we will have it soon).
2. Social Networks give a belief of security through the second approach to people you know or consider you can get help from. Yet, offline components of security and constancy cannot be forged. Being a leader, how secure do you make your people feel ? Are you predictable enough so that others aren’t left wondering on how you are going to react ? Are you indoctrinating others to feel themselves as an integral part of the greater organizational obective, or do you make them feel incompetent ?
3. Trust and it truly goes between both ways. It is important to trust our leaders and in turn, we need to be trusted. There is a confinement of how much trust can be delivered through the online veil of a computer. Therefore, at work, trust is a primary factor in leadership and now, more than ever, it must be moulded in our organizations. It will affect our self-worth, passion and most crucially, our loyalty. If we trust and feel trusted, we’ll tend to be more aroused and concerned to our work. We’ll widen ourselves to take more calculated risk, and we’ll be more devoted to our job and the outcomes. As a leader, how well are you trusted? What is the reason behind it ? Do you trust others to do their job or shot their cognitive process? Do you help others to feel valued and successful or criticise them for doing things otherwise than you would?
4. Supportive Environment. Do your people cooperate with each other? Do they share their ideas and excitements ? Do they help each other to be better and more successful? Do they consider their job as an significant part of a greater purpose? Are they cooperative and eager to help each other or not? If they blame each otheryou, as a leader, may be cultivating a “Blame Culture”. As a leader, how are you building a community which is supportive to your vision and the people in the organization? Do you take steps for their training & development ? Does your working environment foster personal aspirations? Do you allow play and set structures for employees to help each other in their efforts ? Are you an “Untouchable” leader or do your employees see you as a real human being whom they can refer to ? As a leader, support both the care of existing social ties and the constitution of new connections, and most importantly, Be Real.
5. Structure – while we all have a need to be successful, we all are not endowed with the ability to commit our efforts to a clear structured path. When we visit Facebook (most of us), we interact with what is available and while we read with a task in mind, we do not set out with a specific plan of inherent interaction. We see what is there and act accordingly. Yet, most of us are familiar with the need of structure to achieve our goals… entering the leader. We seek this structure and clarity from our leaders. Eventually, in today’s society, it’s not just the structure and clarity for work. Moreover, the leaders, who make the leading impact, are those, who give us clarity for our future and show us what is accomplishable for our greater lives. While career planning and succession planning are all parts of the picture, it is a strong leader who cultivates the group environment for people to see beyond what they are NOW! At the same time, help them making their future forecasting and yes, provide a clear path and structure to achieve it , in and out of work.
6. Guidance – all of us look to something higher to seek protection from the stranger. While this has eternally been a leader’s role, which is also a common practice in Social Networks. So, the benchmark has changed. Why? This is due to the fact that your people are less subjugated and if there is the slightest suspicion, you, the leader, will lose out to Facebook or MySpace. Guidance has always been a platform for leaders to build trust. Now, trust must be in hand before beginning anything. However, all are not lost. When a leader develops the group, guides them to become successful in their tasks and teaches them to be more effective , he sets a run script for guidance.
Ultimately, I would like to leave three important queries for you:
1. Who are the top influencers in your life?
2. Did they show their greatness to you , or help you to become greater? and
3. How did you treat, trust and respect them?
Wish you all the best and greater success.
By
Arthur F. Carmazzi, Founder of the Directive Communication Organizational Development Methodology and Ranked as one of the Global Top 10 most influential Leadership Gurus by Gurus International. Arthur specializes in psychological approaches to leadership and corporate culture transformation. He is a renowned International Speaker and bestselling author of “The 6 Dimensions of Top Achievers”, “Identity Intelligence” and “Lessons from the Monkey King”, “The Psychology of Selecting the RIGHT Employee“, and “The Colored Brain Communication Field Manual“.
More on Leadership Development from Arthur can be found at:
Leadership Development and Leadership Training – www.directivecommunication.com
Carmazzi Leadership Development – www.carmazzi.net