
While many baby-boom leaders are frustrated with the disconnect
between generations, organizations across the spectrum also deny access
to social networking sites. In fact, according to a recent study
conducted by Robert Half Technology that surveyed 1,400 CIOs in U.S.
businesses, 54% reported that their organizations block the use of
social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter within the
workplace.
Yet our success as leaders depends on our ability to have
profound conversations with constituents. And in today's web-connected
world, that means taking advantage of the technological and social media
tools available — to meet and connect, in particular, with members of
the younger generation who prefer to communicate and learn in open
environments.
So the important questions to leaders: Are you using online social
media in your role as a leader to create an environment of openness and
transparency? Have you practiced your leadership skills through a range
of different media?
An essential starting place for social media novices or anyone
wanting to build relationships with constituents in our new open
environment is to profile your constituents' social computing behaviors
using
The Social Technology Profile Tool.
This tool automatically creates a profile of your selected demographic
group. It tests both your organization's voice and your constituent's
receptivity to your voice (i.e., their willingness to listen to you and
respond to you as credible).*
An additional approach is to follow the advice of Charlene Li, author of
Open Leadership,
who suggests that our focus as leaders must shift from trying to retain
what little control we actually have to choosing where and when we will
be open to embrace our newly- empowered employees.
The Openness Audit
asks you to rate how open your organization is in each of six different
information- sharing elements. This diagnostic tool will help you
understand where your organization is open and where it is not. In
particular, the results assess the level of openness that exists in
structure, encouragement, and exhibited behavior that can help define a
plan to open your organization to becoming more flexible and responsive
utilizing the technology and social media tools available.