Reflections on Open Leadership

Social technology is having a big influence on leadership. “The flow of information around the company and into and out of the organization” has changed tremendously with new technologies, starting with email and even more so with social media. So many new things are happening in the business world today that companies need to make a lot of quick decisions in order to adapt. This calls for a more distributed leadership.

Leaders have a lot more to consider. A leader is no “longer the ultimate strategist and decider of what people do” but s/he is someone who communicates information and ideas. “His/her job is to make sure that the right protocols, the right environment, and the right infrastructure are all in place for people to create new features and make amazing things happen”.

Leaders need to be able to delegate more than ever to be sure that quality work is done across the company. “A tremendous amount of discipline and planning is needed to get everyone working in the same direction”. Leaders need to follow the example of Cisco who created a system of distributed decision making. The leaders of this company developed a “disciplined, replicable” method of decision making that was infused throughout the company; and through collaborative technology created a structure with leaders positioned all over the company.

If you are going to involve more people, they have to have the right information. Leaders need to really be in touch with people. And the more people who can effectively communicate a company’s message, the better it is for everyone involved. “The key difference today is that the give-and-take that typifies OBM happens more regularly, not just once a quarter when the executives of the company descend to share results. It’s the constant checking –in that leaders do”. Blogs, Twitter, and podcasts “enable them (leaders) to share their thoughts and decisions” and this sharing takes place outside the company too.

It is important for customers to make informed decisions. The author claims that the more information shared, the more trust will result with some exceptions of sensitive material. But, every situation needs to be studied and acted on in different ways. Some amount of privacy is useful. The challenge is to find the right amount of sharing for each idea and product.