Last blogpost: I switched to Norwegian

My apologies for not notifying you guys, but I stopped blogging in English and started blogging in Norwegian: joachim.bloggr.no see you there Norwegians :-)

Open leadership, it's about relationships

So it's been a while since I wrote a blog post. I've conducted two telephone interviews since last time (findings TBA, it's a bit too soon). But what's interesting is that I found a GREAT book! It's by Charlene Li and it's called Open Leaderhip. I've only completed the first chapter and already I love it! Here is a list Li presents with respect to open leadership, which basically is about how to lead in this new world of openness demanded by the rise of social media. I have supplemented the list (in bold) with my own comments.

The new rules of open leadership

1. Respect that your customer an employees have power - individuals are empowered by social media, have a relationship with them. Leaders are used to having control, but this is not the way a relationship should work. As Li sais: "think about the most fulfilling relationship you have in your personal life. Do you control it? Do you dictate the terms and expect the other person to follow you blindly? Or do you continually invest time and hard work and endure many trials to grow and develop that relationship?"
2. Share constantly to build trust - by only sharing your success you become less trustworthy, this is about being honest. Would you like your friends to only tell you about the good stuff in their life, or do you want the truth?
3. Nurture curiosity and humility -care about your listeners. One my professors at Boston University SMG kept telling us "you've got two ears and one mouth, therefore you should listen twice as much as you talk".
4. Hold openness accountable - if someone misuse your openness, for example talk trash on your blog, tell them that you will deny them future access. 
5. Forgive failure - in relationships, people make mistakes. In good relationships, people forgive mistakes.

I think Li's message is clear:

Leaders: you're no longer in control, you're in evermore mutual relationships, deal with it!

Trends of social media

What are the major trends in social media? A report by McKinsey Quarterly presented 10 trends in their edition of August 2010 as a result of a McKinsey survey of global leaders. They are listed bellow with a short description that I've added myself:

1. Distributed cocreation moves into the mainstream
   Companies create value through web communities, examples: customer support, marketing and product development.
2. Making the network the organization
   Social media help map information and information flow. This can be used to identify talent (even external).
3. Collaboration at scale
   Social media can help employees collaborate better and reducing the issue of geographical distance.
4. The growing ‘Internet of Things’
   Things are embedded with sensors and create data on the use of the object.
5. Experimentation and big data
   Social media makes it easier to conduct experiments on a big scale (social networks can be mined for data).
6. Wiring for a sustainable world
   Companies are using social media and IT to reduce their environmental footprint while profiting economically from it (nice).
7. Imagining anything as a service
   Customers are getting accustomed to paying for what they use, products are becoming services. Examples: could-computing, ZipCar etc.
8. The age of the multisided business model
   Models where all involved parties benefit. One example is companies providing free services while gathering and selling data on how these are used, like patientslikeme.com and MasterCard
9. Innovating from the bottom of the pyramid
   Disruptive business models are arising from extreme market conditions (like in India or Africa) and new technology, example: Safaricom offering banking services through its mobile-phone services. These business models are immigrating to developed countries.
10. Producing public good on the grid
    Public policies that incorporate new technology can help on economic and social strains of population density.  

How are these impacting leadership? I will explore the trends of social media and choose the ones that have the greatest impact on leadership. Then I will test these by interviewing Norwegian leaders that has excelled with social media. Do you know anybody?