Lets Talk Leadership

Lets Talk Leadership

By Des WalshBusiness
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Lets Talk Leadership episodes

  • Clueless in Germany and Social Media Literacy for Leaders: Update - Lets Talk Leadership

    (This post is an update of my podcast post of last week. The text is the same. The change is that the audio file has now been fixed – fortunately a listener phoned in to alert me to the fact that what should have been a podcast of just over 26 minutes had been truncated and there were only 4 minutes 30 seconds. So if you listened and were confused, my apologies. I will be taking extra care to ensure there is no repeat of this problem. Des)
    Years ago I spend half a year living and working in a small town in Germany – Meppen, Ems, (pop. then about 27,000_ – where I spoke only limited German and it seemed just about everyone I met in the town spoke absolutely no English – überhaupt kein englisch. It was very limiting and more than once I regretted not having spent more time and paid more attention learning German before I arrived there. The limitation was accentuated by the fact that I was there to teach English and my employers required me to speak English all the time.
    The limitation was not just in terms of basic negotiations, such as in shops, but also in terms of my not being able to get more understanding of the people and their culture. And making mistakes in etiquette through plain lack of comprehension. I didn’t get the clues I would have otherwise picked up. It was very frustrating on social occasions.
    I was effectively illiterate and to a degree incompetent in that context. An ignorant foreigner with a University degree in History and English, but minimal literacy and competence to function effectively in that society.
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    Lack of Social Media Literacy and Competence
    Many business leaders today are highly literate and skillful in business but functionally illiterate and incompetent when it comes to understanding and using social media.
    That’s not going to cut it for long, if indeed it does now.
    As discussed in earlier episodes of Let’s Talk Leadership, leaders in today’s digital environment need to exercise a style of leadership characterized by collaboration and co-creation and need to be effective network leaders. Which in turn means they need to be both literate and competent when it comes to social media.
    Organizational Social Media Literacy – McKinsey Quarterly
    A paper in the McKinsey Quarterly of February 2013, Six social-media skills every leader needs spells this out and provides a framework for developing what the authors call “organizational social-media literacy”.
    They acknowledge the risks, describe the potential as “immense”, and argue that there is a mismatch between “the logic of participatory media and the still-reigning 20th century model of management and organizations, with its emphasis on linear processes and control”.
    “We believe”, they write, “that capitalizing on the transformational power of social media while mitigating its risks calls for a new type of leader”. This new type of leader needs to excel at co-creation and collaboration, “the currencies of the social-media world.”
    They provide a useful, six dimensional model of the “organizational social-media literacy” these leaders for our times need.
    The Six Dimensions of Social Media Literate Leadership
    Personal Level – Producer, Distributor, Recipient
    Producer

    27 min
  • Collaborative Environments, Indirect Influence: Barry George [Podcast] - Lets Talk Leadership
    I spoke with Barry M George.
    Barry is a Certified Professional Coach and Advisor to Executives, Entrepreneurs and their Companies.
    He’s a thought leader, author and motivational speaker on topics including organizational design, employee engagement, job fit, knowledge flow, cross generational communications, team building, human performance, work/life balance, neural linguistic programming, overcoming fear/doubt and the power of politics in business.
    (More about Barry in the section Barry M George Bio, below)
    Or you can subscribe via Stitcher Radio or via email
    We discussed:

    * how CEOs see and respond to digital disruption
    * a key to a great coaching relationship
    * Millennials and the new workplace environment
    * indirect influence and why it is important
    * how CEOs can deal with pressure to deliver short term shareholder value

    Digital Disruption as Opportunity for Growth
    How do CEOs see digital disruption – challenge, threat, or opportunity? And how can coaches help?
    “One of the key elements of a great coaching relationship is the ability of the coach and their client to really be open and honest with each other and to create an environment in which the client has the opportunity to look at the world from a different perspective, a fresh awareness from what they do in their daily lives.”
    “Digital disruption is oftentimes an excuse by a leader to cover their own inability to think outside of where they are, the way things have been and to look at new processes and look at what their clients are needing now – or what they required last week or last  year.”
    It’s a difficult shift for leaders, but a necessary one.
    Millennials (Gen Y) and the New Age-Diverse Workforce
    The technology industry is filled with Millennials and San Francisco is the “millennial capital of the world”.
    The first time in history we have had five generations in the one workplace.
    Previous generations, on reaching a mature 35-40, have had more similarities with the generation preceding them than differences. Millennials are the first generation that are so different from previous generations, in so many ways.
    Millennial generation “thinks from its heart not its wallet”. Considering their parents’ experience – the 9/11 attacks, the 2008 global financial collapse – “they’ve seen that hard work, with a focus on money, gets you nothing”.
    They admire philanthropists, want to work for companies that give back.
    “They are collaborators and transparent.”
    Indirect Influence
    The new collaborative workplace environment is based on the need for indirect influence.
    Indirect influence is where you as the leader let me share my knowledge with you, not just sharing your knowledge with me. It’s where leaders respect the values of their team and are interested in their unique thoughts and feelings.
    What Keeps Business Leaders Awake at Night?
    The waste of time and lack of productivity in their business from the 18% of time research shows employees spend trying to figure out what their managers want them to do.
    (And listen for the first humorous but telling answer to the question – priceless!)
    CEOs under Pressure for Shareholder Value, with Risk to Long Term Goals
    No simple answer.
    Have to demonstrate both operational excellence and commitment to long term goals.
    Hold people accountable and develop a coaching culture in the company, that demonstrates an understanding that the company’s people are valued assets.
    29 min

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Interviews, updates and commentary on executive leadership for the digital age