Social technology is in the news almost every day lately. Just this week there was a story about tweeters who intervened on behalf of a fellow tweep who planned suicide. Public personalities are constantly in trouble for tweeting, with the latest being US Open winner Rory McIlroy who was involved in a childish spat with a golf commentator via his twitter account. Earlier this year, it was claimed that social networking forums were intrinsically involved in speeding up the political revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia. Many people are not sure what to make of all this. Recently, I heard Jeremy Clarkson on ‘Topgear’ laughingly refer to being on ‘Facespace’, which is an important reminder that while most people are aware of the massive social media revolution happening, many are fairly intimidated by it. Even those who are technologically switched on struggle to find the time keep up with all the new social media platforms that are seemingly launched on a weekly basis.
Charlene Li has made it her life’s mission to assist people in understanding how important social media is, and how they can effectively use it to benefit them and/or their organisation. Li was co-author of ‘Groundswell - Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies,’ which introduced people to this constantly evolving environment, and now she has released ‘Open Leadership - How Social Technology Can Transform The Way You Lead.’ This second book helps people get to grips with how leadership styles need to change to best make use of social technology.
Li warns that old ‘command and control’ structures are no longer viable in an environment where news, information and opinions about groups and organisations are freely available. She cites the case of a young musician who grew frustrated with United Airlines’ refusal to replace a guitar damaged in-transit. In response, the musician compiled a music video called ‘United breaks guitars’ that went viral on Youtube. United Airlines were totally unequipped to deal with the public fallout of 7 million people viewing the video and hundreds of news outlets covering the story as a result. Li argues that leaders, companies and other organisations have no choice but to accept the complete ‘openness’ of the current situation, and that instead of fighting it they should engage with it. Li encourages leaders to utilise a ‘controlled’ openness' where they are able to meaningfully interact with the public via these forums.
While Li’s book is aimed at organisation heads, it could also be hugely helpful for pastors and other Christian leaders who are wondering how to best use social technology to heighten their impact. In fact, the doors she opens into the world of social media would benefit anyone who wants to learn more, while the business principles of practice she espouses could easily be translated into church and non-profit contexts. The value is that while digital communities never replace real community, they can certainly enhance it. They can be used to connect people to a larger and more communal purpose on a daily basis, and thereby better plug them into an overarching vision. Li’s case studies are particularly interesting, while the easy-to-understand language helps readers to get to grips with the sometimes intimidating world of social technology, and to better orient themselves to its immense possibilities for growing and developing communities. Li’s reasoning is sound, that if "if companies like Johnson & Johnson and Wells Fargo, who are in highly regulated industries, can have an open engagement with their audiences, you can too."