SOCIAL MEDIA - MEETINGS - SELF LEADERSHIP

The new framework of business is social media. What this means? It means that organizations benefit enormously if they start to use the logic of social media as modus operandi. This is something which we all must consider very seriously and very personally; we have to clarify to ourselves what is the logic of social media and what it means to me, and also to us as an organization.

Few definitions are in place so that we will start to talk about same issues. Firstly, certainly the logic of social media can mean a lot of different things. Here it means sharing and transparency. It means that we all always think that what is secret, what can be shared with few colleagues, what can be shared in a group and what is open (I deeply thank Esko Kilpi for making this point very succinctly in our Web for Executives program). So for instance, whenever you learn something new (which happens pretty continuously I assume) you always think about sharing. You are not working alone for yourself but you are working and thinking together with others in your organization and in your network.

Secondly I started this blog by talking about organizations but hereafter I will focus on individuals and how we as individuals choose to follow the logic of social media in our daily work in our organizations. Here the way how we choose to act in our meetings is the special topic of this blog.

Thirdly, how the issue of self leadership enters to this picture? Well, it is elementary. How we decide to act in different settings is vastly important and now the logic of social media demands that we really reflect how we play our part in organizational life and in particular in meetings.

Fourthly, I wish to add that now we are talking about meetings which could be 1-2 hour long sessions. So we will focus on those short periods where professionalism should shine (like a sun in Finnish July).

This is the background and now let us proceed to two conclusions:

1) The logic of social media (and the practical tools and gadgets) means that we can communicate all the time. So coming together in the first place is a very special event. Therefore from the perspective of self leadership you may decide to make to yourself clear how very important every meeting is.

2) In the meeting most important thing is to really think together, perhaps solve difficult problems, perhaps plan future actions or do something demanding thinking together. From the viewpoint of self leadership you must be able and willing to think together. You must be able to really share and participate. You must be willing to take risks and propose some ideas which are not ready but which could be developed further together. This kind of open participation can feel very demanding.

Perhaps the topic under discussion can be difficult to you (you may not like the topic, you may not know enough of the topic and you should know, or for some other reason the topic of the meeting may haunt you), some participants of the meeting can be particularly challenging to you for some reason, your genuine interest concerning to success of an organization can be at certain level (and therefore you utmost willingness to give your best even during this short meeting can be question mark).

If any of these elements are present in your thinking you are really facing a self leadership issue here. It is plainly evident at this point that the issue of self leadership is not a fancy theoretical concept but you are truly assessing what is your own capacity to participate and contribute. Certainly this kind of self leadership issues have been always with us but now the logic of social media, the new framework of business raises these issues to new level. They become more and more important and they become more and more transparent, no matter what our personal wishes and hopes might be.

The need for self leadership and genuine professionalism has never been more important than now in this era of  social media.

DECISION MAKING - BIG PICTURE

Have you ever paused to think what decision making really is? Is it a setting where a person or a group of people selects between pretty clearly defined alternatives? Is it a setting where information is gathered for the decision maker and then she browses the data relating to the existing alternatives and makes her informed decision. Well, it can be all this but it can be also something else. Quite often in lived life (people in action in different organizations) it is much, much more.

What then is the decision making in real life? This blog offers some insights. We will not go deep into decision making details here, the aim is propose that the whole setting around the decision making process is something which deserves our attention. What is the big picture when we are talking about decision making?

Setting 1 - How we decide what we decide

How this all starts, how do we know that there is something what requires our attention and creates a need for a decision making? Do you play an active role creating decision making setting or do most of the impulses come from the outside? We may even ask that are you really a decision maker at all if almost all the impulses come from the outside. In this case we could more appropriately call a person a reactor rather that a decision maker? This title might be justified, because her role would be to try to manage with issues which are thrown at her. Not an enviable position, however apparently a position where most executives find themselves time to time.

However, the reactor role should not be a permanent resting place for an executive. The role of an executive must be much more active. The role and the duty of an executive is always actively create the very setting where she operates. Hence before any decision is made, we have to have some idea what we are thinking about and why some issues are raised up. Why we are thinking what we are thinking, why we are deciding what we are deciding? Is it wise to think what we are thinking? In sum, an executive is not just thinking and deciding, she also sees herself from the outside and is able to evaluate what she is thinking and deciding. Let it be granted that no one can step "outside", we all use theories, frameworks, our experiences all the time. However, a wise executive is profoundly aware of all this.

Setting 2 - How create a possibility to make a decision

Change management is a hot topic. Probably partly because the basic task for an executive is to a see that her organization changes and develops constantly and thus maintain its ability to succeed in the marketplace.  At the same time there are elements in the organizational life which seem to be very permanent. They are issues, challenges, problems, behaviors, thought patterns which continue from one period to another.

Hence part of decision making process is to notice that there are issues which are rather permanent and recurring, however perhaps not eternal. These issues can not be solved in one decision making setting, hence the whole idea what is decision making must change. It seems that sometimes decision making may take time, sometimes years. Sometimes the key is to wait for  a right moment when something can be done, sometimes to point is gather momentum and create necessary preparedness for a change.

So this blog has taken up two issues about decision making. First it is vital to evaluate what are the issues what we are thinking in the first place. Therefore before deciding, think carefully how the whole setting has been crafted, estimate whether the issues on the table are the most crucial ones or should you raise other topics for closer examination. Second, sometimes decision making is more a marathon than a meeting. See the big picture and be prepared to wait when necessary and be prepared to build momentum for new when that is possible and necessary.

Then just select the right road. Safe journey.

ARE YOU THE WISEST MAN IN YOUR ORGANIZATION?

Wisdom and creativity are more and more important in any organization. Successful organizations must change, they must develop, they must create new, they must become more and more effective. This all requires thinking, new ideas. Old routines won't help too long.

This constant development requires that someone proposes new ideas. Have you noticed that when your position in organization has risen that also your ideas have become better and better? Hence you must have become wiser? How do you know that your wisdom has increased? Well to most of us people around us tell the message. Hence perhaps you have noticed that recently people are more prone to comment that the point which you raise is relevant, and quite often people around you make  the idea which you have suggested as a point of departure when they start new action.

This is just great. And point here is not to doubt your wisdom. However, I think that in the future you could be even wiser if you would take a moment of your time and consider what power-knowledge thinking could mean in your environment when you do your leadership work and we you build future success to your organization..

We can thank Michel Foucault of taking up the power-knowledge thinking. The message is that power and knowledge are tightly linked and when someone has power he also tend to have a lot to say what is considered as knowledge. Clearly the knowledge is created in a discourse to which people participate. However, people are very sensitive in finding out what is their role in any discourse. People are clever to find out who is supposed to say what in certain situation. By the way this cleverness of accepting certain tight role is not clever at all as such, instead it hugely reduces what people could achieve together, if all would participate fully to any discussion.

Hence as a leader you will have a special role in the complex process where people in your organization find out what is wise, who can propose new wisdom and how we can develop our organization. How should you proceed in this situation and how could you be even wiser in the future. I propose here some points which you could consider:

1) From now on power-knowledge concept is one of your thinking tool when you plan and encounter different situations. This thinking tool may be relevant in everything starting from practical arrangements in any meeting, and stretching to the way you create space and motivation for all to participate.

2) In fact, you could try regularly create settings where you breach the rules of typical discourse. Perhaps you create special innovation meeting where all the participants have as much time to express their views, or you create other arrangements which helps all the participants to say their views.

3) You could also start to champion a new thinking where the ability to produce new wisdom is seen as a shared effort, where the quality and also the frequency of communication between people is the most important element in creating new wisdom.

I would suggest that this discussion about the rules and about the changing of rules of any discourse is very important right now. I would also propose that it is crucial to see how much any organization could benefit from the active participation and sharing of views and ideas. Transparency and sharing start to be the sign of wisdom in organization.

This is because we live now a moment when best organizations equip their key personnel with latest technology (like ipad's and corresponding). These equipment are most important. At the same it is important that people really learn to use the vast possibilities of those new equipment. And it may be even more important that we create new rules of discourse and sharing and we start to create wisdom together.

Hence let us all be wiser together.