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Hay Hill Highlights What technology means for leadership such rules of engagement significantly reduces the risk of being inappropriately drawn in. ‘It is important to be quite careful in what you post. Whatever is out there is out there forever.’ - CEO With more communication channels available, a leader can more readily get their message and conviction ‘out there’. Authenticity is often highly prized and social and other media makes it possible to demonstrate it quite ‘loudly’. The shadow of this is the potential to be increasingly ‘larger than life’ and, without noticing, squeeze others out by taking too much airtime. It is essential to actively create the space for others to say what they are thinking. Executives need to be listening and responding to others – it is easy to lose sight of this imperative in the focus to develop and maintain one’s own messages. Recognise the continued importance of personal engagement With so many new ways to get messages ‘out there’ it is important to be aware of the dangers of retreating or disappearing behind these channels. This is particularly relevant for introverts but any busy executive can be seduced by the convenience of equating digital communication with rich social contact. Technology cannot replace the personal touch such as being present and walking the floors. To maximise impact, executives need to give careful thought to how to use all channels, alongside investing in meeting people face-toface when possible. Meeting people throughout the organisation can do much to cultivate openness, build relationships and signal an interest in dialogue. One CEO did this by having two seats; one on each floor of the building. Another moved away from ‘town hall’ sessions where he presented slides to everyone, to more fluid sessions with questions and answers to encourage an exchange of thoughts and ideas. To facilitate dialogue, the number of people attending any one session was limited to fifty, with multiple sessions across the day. Use social media Social media has changed the way people interact and how they organise and create information. Although some executives are dismissive of social media, all contributors were clear that its different ways of communicating are here to stay. Even if specific applications disappear they will be replaced by quicker and easier versions or new innovations that build on current usage patterns. It’s hard to argue that more communication is a bad thing. An executive can engage with social media to get more frequent inputs from a broader range of stakeholders, including those they are leading. This can help them keep their finger on the pulse and to fine-tune their leadership, with associated gains in impact. For those leading organisations with younger people it is essential to connect with them in the way they are used to. This means social media. ‘If you want permission to take someone somewhere else you need to meet them where they are.’ - Chief Commercial Officer It is critical to fully understand the medium before engaging. This means an executive needs to spend time watching over a protracted period how the various forms of social media are used and then make an informed decision about their own engagement, bearing in mind their interests, strengths, and individual way of working. For those working internationally they also need to bear in mind cultural differences in use. Some who had experimented with social media realised people are not interested in only business. With rare exceptions, they also don’t want posts to include mundane information about everyday life unless it gives real insight into what the leader stands for. Having a broader purpose and clear motive behind their engagement made their communications more compelling. 10 11
Hay Hill Highlights What technology means for leadership Executives need to be realistic about their ability to generate compelling content. Some have a natural flair. They can create communication that feels honest, natural rather than crafted, can write easily and create a following. These executives use blogs and Twitter to show their thinking about different time horizons, putting out subtle messages as well as sharing insights to accelerate joint knowledge and understanding. The brevity of something like Twitter can have a distinct upside as the posts have to be pithy, providing soundbites that are easy for the team to digest. Others, for whom it feels less natural, are rightly concerned about the time it may take, and whether the result would be interesting or just add to the noise. These executives tend to use social media more straightforwardly; for drawing attention to important things or congratulating people. They very actively supplement it with personal engagement such as walking the floors. Leaders who recognise the more intuitive understanding that younger people have of social media can delegate its use to younger colleagues. This works well if they are given the freedom to push the executive’s messages. It is, of course, essential there is no pretence that the executive is doing the posting. In this situation, rather than thinking how the message gets out there, a senior leader’s role is in providing the thinking about the company and how it is positioned. ‘I found a lot of success identifying bright members from other generations, such as two or three graduates, and creating a focus group where we talk directly. Also getting them to interview me and write it up on a blog and social media in a way they thought appropriate. It seemed powerful. The organisation responded well to a leader using more tools.’ - Managing Director Executives who engage with social media must accept they are ‘fair game’ and cannot control what others say in response. They need to recognise it is about dialogue. It is not just about broadcasting their message; using social media to shout louder. There are numerous ways executives can make social media work for them. It is about being informed, clear, confident and realistic, recognising that, implicitly or explicitly, such communications say something about them as a leader. Be disciplined and thoughtful about email Many executives get a few hundred emails a day. With smart phones and tablets there can be an increased expectation of an instant response. The ease with which executives can be copied into email streams can have the effect of pushing responsibility upwards. Leaders can be drawn into inappropriate detail, become overstretched, and are turned into bottlenecks. This can also dilute the accountability of those below. Although tempting, executives need to resist being drawn in and remain thoughtful and disciplined in how they engage with email. They also need to be alert to the fact that emails are open to misinterpretation as they can be perceived through the reader’s own expectations and mood as well as studied for hidden signals and sentiment. The same words, viewed without a shared context, can mean different things to different people. Some of our contributors respond to all emails, but many do not. Practices range from having their support team filter and respond, using email filters to automatically file mails into folders, not reading emails they are copied on, and only replying quickly to VIPs and time critical issues. Some also actively push back on emails that are not relevant. A notable number of contributors use social media, along with chat and text, to capture more immediate communications and use email for more detailed exchanges. 12 13
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