Open: How Leaders Win By Letting Go

Open: How Leaders Win By Letting Go

Charlene LiAltimeter GroupSeptember 14, 2009

For a copy of slides, send an email to info@altimetergroup.com

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My visit on the USS Nimitz

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Captain Michael ManazirUSS Nimitz

“I encourage you to talk to people, ask them anything you want. Because after

all, this is your Navy.”

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Lieutenant Luis DelgardoUSS Nimitz

“Flying off a carrier at night into a pitch blackness scares me so much that I scream into my mask. I feel like a die a little death every day. I love my work, but suffer from insomnia – but then, we all do. The Navy cannot really train us pilots to deal with the fear -- they can only hope that we learn the skills to get the job done.”

What engagement often looks like today

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Meet Dave Carroll

Source: davecarrollmusic.com

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Leaders must prepare for organizational change

Social technologies will disrupt traditional organization structures

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It’s about the relationship

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What kind of relationship do you want?

Transactional

OccasionalImpersonalShort-term

PassionateConstantIntimate

Loyal

Focus on relationships, not technologies

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Give up the need to be in control

Photo: Kantor, http://www.flickr.com/photos/kantor

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How open or closed will you be?

closedopen

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The Open Process

Determine Your Open

Strategy

Catalyze With Open

Leaders

Establish

Practices Of The

Open Organiz

ation

Deciding how open to be

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Your goals

Your audiences’ needs

The competiti

on

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Honda’s Crosstour trashed on Facebook – What should Honda do?

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The Sandbox Covenant

Let Go, but Retain Command

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Examples of Sandbox Covenants•Plans and rules for engagement

▫Have plans on how to engage•Social media policies•Develop contingency plans

▫What to do about negative feedback/comments

▫Line up advocates who can counter detractors

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Social media policy template• Encouragement and support

• Why policy is needed• Cases when it will be

used, distributed• Oversight,

notifications, and legal implications

• Guidelines• Identity and

transparency• Responsibility• Confidentiality • Judgment and common

sense

• Best practices• Tone• Expertise• Respect• Quality

• Additional resources• Training• Press referrals• Escalation

• Policy examples available at wiki.altimetergroup.com

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The Red Cross handbook/policies help keep order

http://sites.google.com/site/wharman/social-media-strategy-handbook

Have a plan to deal with different social media mindsets

Cautious Tester

Realist Optimist

Fearful Skeptic

Transparent

Evangelist

Pessimist Optimist

Collaborative

Independent

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Traditional vs. Open Leadership

Traditional Leadership As A Role Open Leadership As A Catalyst

Paranoid, sees mostly threats in connections

Optimistic, sees mostly opportunities in connections

Engages primarily in the executive suiteEngages at all levels, outside as well as inside the organization

Develops expedient relationships Builds enduring relationships

Writes rules for conformity and consistency

Writes rules for risk taking

Develops trust with transactions Inspires trust with engagement

Hoards information to retain power Develops a culture of sharing

Alters organizations to leadership style Adapts style to the network

Uses communications to message the vision

Uses networks to spread the vision

Find your open leaders

Lionel MenchacaDell

Ed TerpeningWells Fargo

Paula DrumH&R Block

Revolutions create the “moments of faith” and support in “moments of

crisis”

The “Flaming Notebook” post set the tone for future engagement

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Dealing with risk and failure

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Identify the top 5-10 worst case scenarios.

Develop mitigation and contingency plans.

Prepare everyone for the inevitable failures.

Wal-mart failed many, many times

Buyer blog hit the right note

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Discussion•What are the biggest barriers you see to

letting go?•Who have been the open leaders in your

career? What characteristics made them successful?

•What practices, procedures, and policies do you find helpful in encouraging openness?

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Summary•Prepare to let go of the control you never

had.

•Determine how open you will be.

•Find and nurture your open leaders.

•Build practices into your organizations to sustain openness.

Thank You

Charlene LiAltimeter Group

charlene@altimetergroup.comblog.altimetergroup.com

Twitter: @charleneli

For slides, send an email toinfo@altimetergroup.com

Copyright © 2009 Altimeter Group30