Leaders need to change from commanders to communicators
Posted by:-
Katz Kiely
Founder and CEO
Kiely & Co
Skype: katzkiely
Twitter: @katzy
It’s true many (most) C suiters are alpha types. They have spilled blood sweat and tears to scramble to the top. The idea of leader in the old world was all about being the best, the expert i.e. knowing better than anyone else in the organisation. Shifting to models based on crowdsourced knowledge and co – creation is hard and for some (of the less flexible) impossible.
They, like everyone else find it hard to let go of deeply embedded behaviours and attitudes …but they can be persuaded to try new more collaborative ways of working if they understand the commercial benefits- and by showing the positive effect of ring fenced networked experiments they can over time start to adopt new behaviours more appropriate to the networked organisation.
Digital Transformation projects are never successful unless they have the full buy in (not just lip service) of senior leadership. Leaders have to display the behaviours and attitudes they expect their organisations to adopt. The shift is from leader as Commander (which perfectly suited to mechanistic view of the organisation) to Communicator (who works with her teams to set the vision and inspires people to travel with her towards that goal) Collaborator or/ and Co- creator (who harnesses the full power of a connected, empowered workforce.)
Networked organisations who understand the power of co-creation are the most valuable and profitable. Boards are already realising that new style (digital) leaders drive success – so C- suiters will have to adapt to survive
Posted on August 27, 2015
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