Leadership and Facebook

Why traditional leadership is no longer valid in the age of social networks

 

I stood in front of a group of senior managers of a major Malaysian company, ready to make a presentation on how they can transform their leadership skills. Everyone was expecting profound words of wisdom and power, but instead, they were shocked when I first asked: “Are you on Facebook?”

 

A sense of confusion, and yet intrigue came over this highbrow audience, but they just stared at me.

 

“That was a question,” I responded and repeated it. Of the 16 senior individuals, four reluctantly raised their hands.

 

“How many of your staff would you say are on Facebook or something like it?” More than 60% was the eventual consensus. The reality would be closer to more than 72% of computer users have a presence on some social networking site, Facebook being the most popular.

 

While many are convinced that Facebook is for the younger generation, a study conducted by www.insidefacebook.com on March 25, 2009 showed that the largest group was between the ages of 26 and 44, and, at that time, users that are over 35 years old had doubled in the previous 60 days. (See Figure 1)

 

FIGURE 1. U.S. Facebook Users by Age Group SOURCE | www.insidefacebook.com

 

According to iStrategyLabs, a July 2009 study puts the biggest age group from the United States at 35 to 54, accounting for 28.2% of all U.S. users.

 

THE CONNECTION

As the presentation continued, the psychology of Facebook became more apparent, and its relationship to the psychology of how a leader’s actions affect emotional gratifications and expectations in this modern, “connected” society.

 

From our beginnings, our survival has depended on our sense of community, on our interactions with others. Those interactions feed the emotional void of solitude, provide security of life, and nurture our egos and our very reason for “being.”

 

In times past, leaders did not really take the time to nurture our competence and sense of self-worth. Work was a large part of where we found our identities, worth, and the sense of community that filled much of our emotional needs. Work had a “greater purpose,” the enrichment of our psychology by defining who we are and how we fit in to something bigger, and even a place to find solutions to our problems.

 

The expectation employees had was based on their universe at the time – security, community, and purpose were largely filled through work and the guidance, strength, and greater knowledge or seniority of leaders that made up much of what they were lacking in their own lives. Work was a social network far more important than it is today.

 

But that was then.

 

Studies have shown that greater social interaction increases commitment to a community and the ability to mobilize collective actions, among other benefits, thus the idea of teambuilding. If social interaction is minimal, a group or organization experiences increased social disorder, reduced participation in cooperative activities, and potentially more distrust among community members and its leaders.

 

These days, much of our social emotional needs, knowledge, entertainment, community, security, and even a sense of self-worth are delivered to us in bite-sized packets through Facebook and similar sites. We get to solve our problems and to connect or to complain in the online world of borderless social network tools. And for people who may otherwise have difficulties forming and maintaining social ties, there is now a place they can easily belong with the security of virtual distance.

 

Social emotional gratification is now faster and easier than ever. In the late 60s, the revolution was fast food, then fast communication

( 2 of 3 )

with the coming of mobile phones and e-mail, and now fast social fixes. We no longer need our organizations to provide us with these emotional gratifications necessary for a balanced psychology. Leaders no longer provide that needed security and sense of belonging and significance. We don’t need to share our lives with our companies. We have it at the touch of a mouse. So, when we go to work, our expectations are much higher.

 

The levels of these emotional needs have increased substantially. What we would have settled for five years ago just won’t do today. The benchmark is set at a higher level and if leaders don’t meet it, employees can just turn to Facebook and blame their boss (as long as the boss is not in the friends’ list).

 

 

WHAT DO PEOPLE GET FROM FACEBOOK

Community – knowing you are connected provides security and belonging Problem solving – advice and the sense that people are there to help Expressiveness – self-worth More friends, more interest – feeling popular with more significance Potential for romantic relationships Acceptable place to complain Achievement – Social networking for business or personal gain Personal growth and learning Sharing common interests – more sense of belonging Compiling of social resources

 

 

THE AGE OF FAST SOCIAL FIXES

Leaders still need to provide us with security, guidance, vision, and the opportunity to be a part of a group that gives us purpose. But that effort is now more difficult and there just needs to be more design in the psychology behind it.

 

Consider these:

 

1. Social networks provide a platform for personal growth through various groups. Such is made up of the combined knowledge of people who may not be experts or just don’t have so much time to share. In this capacity, we look to our leaders to make us better. As a leader, do you give structured guidance and learning to mold your people to higher levels of greatness? Do you use your people at their minimum capacity, or help them evolve in their competence and ability?

 

These are also people (the “good” online marketers) who are constantly providing good, usable content to us at no cost. They enrich us with the hopes that out of reciprocity, we will indeed buy something they sell. So they help us to be better because the fastest way to be trusted is still through aiding us with our achievements and competence (or at least the perception that we will have it soon).

 

2. Social networks also give a sense of security through instant access to people you know or believe you can get help from, yet offline factors f security and stability cannot be simulated. As a leader, how secure do you make your people feel? Are you predictable enough so others aren't left wondering how you are going to react? Are you making others feel like part of a greater purpose or do you make them feel incompetent?

 

3. We need to trust our leaders and in turn, need to be trusted. There is a limit to how much trust can be generated through the online veil of a computer. But at work, trust is a primary factor in leadership and now, more than ever, must be cultivated in our organizations. Trust influences our self-worth, our passion, and most importantly, our commitment. If we trust and feel trusted, we tend to be more excited and interested in our work, we extend ourselves to take more calculated risk, and we are more committed to our job and the outcomes. As a leader, how well are you trusted? Why? Do you

( 3 of 3 )

trust others to do their job? Or do you judge their process? Do you help others to feel valued and successful? Or do you criticize them for doing things differently than you would?

 

4. Do you trust each other? Do they share their ideas and excitement? Do they help each other be better and more successful? Do they see their job as an important part of a greater purpose? Are they cooperative and eager to help each other? Or are they out for themselves? If they are blaming each other, you as a leader may be cultivating a “blame culture.” As a leader, how are you at building a community that supports your vision and the people in the organization? Do you cross train and develop them? Does your work environment support personal aspirations? Do you allow play and set structures for employees to help each other in their efforts? Are you an “untouchable” leader, or do your employees see you as a real human being they can relate to? As a leader, support both the maintenance of existing social ties and the formation of new connections, and most importantly, be real.

 

5. While we all have a need to succeed, we are not all endowed with the ability to direct our efforts in a clear structured manner. When most of us visit Facebook, we interact with what is available, and while we may enter with a task in mind, we do not set out with a specific plan of interaction. We see what is there and act accordingly. Yet, most of us recognize the need for structure to achieve our goals.

 

We seek this structure and clarity from our leaders. But in today’s society, it’s not just the structure and clarity for work, the leaders that make the biggest impact are those who give us clarity for our future and show us what is possible for our greater lives. While career and succession planning are all part of the picture, it is a strong leader who will cultivate the group environment for people to see beyond what they are now. And see what they could become, and yes, provide a clear path and structure to achieve it, in and out of work.

 

6. All of us look to something higher to seek refuge from the unknown. While this has always been a leader’s role, we also do this in social networks and so the benchmark has changed. Why? Because your people are less dependent and if there is the slightest distrust, you, the leader, will lose out to Facebook or MySpace. Guidance has always been a platform for leaders to build trust. Now trust must be in hand before anything begins.

 

But all is not lost. When a leader develops the group, steers them to become successful in their tasks, teaches them to be more effective, the leader sets a record for guidance.

 

---

THE AUTHOR

ARTHUR F. CARMAZZI is the principal founder of the Directive Communication Methodology and ranked as one of the world's top 10 Leadership Professionals by Global Gurus International. He is a best-selling author and specializes in psychological approaches to Leadership and Corporate Culture Transformation. Visit www.directivecommunication.com and www.carmazzi.net.

( 4 of 3 )

( 5 of 3 )

( 6 of 3 )

( 7 of 3 )

( 8 of 3 )

( 9 of 3 )

( 10 of 3 )

( 11 of 3 )

( 12 of 3 )