Stranded or Leading?

A lot of people who are doing social media in organizations, particularly associations, may resonate with the article on the Harvard Business Publishing blog that refers to "stranded evangelists." These are the people doing social media and experience themselves on an island in a sea of people who "don't get it." The post offers five tips, which include telling people what they don't want to hear, following your passion, and connecting with others outside your organization who are doing the same thing you are.

I like the tips, but I think they fall short. As soon as you see yourself as a "stranded evangelist" pushing against the people who don't get it, you've lost, because you've lost sight of the system within which you are operating. It's not about you versus them. And it's not about social media in general. It's about social media in your organization, for your cause, for your stakeholders. Assuming you want to make a difference to your stakeholders, you'll need the help of all those people in your system that don't "get it." It's not about people who don't get it, it's about a system that gets results. 

This means you need to pay attention to your organization's capacity for handling social media. Sure, that might involve some education of people who don't see the value, but that's just a small piece. You'll have to look at organizational structures or processes that might need changing, or even very simple ways people communicate or behave in the office might be challenged. Being able to speak more truth (one of the tips) is not just an individual exercise--it has organizational implications. 

Leadership, as I've said many times, is not an individual characteristic. It is about a system's capacity to shape its own future. You're a leader because you see a way to boost the system's capacity (embracing social media), so forget your evangelist role and get to work on making sure that capacity is built. The tips from the article will help give you some of the strength and support you need, but not as a stranded evangelist--as a strong leader.

Comments

[Scott Briscoe]

Hey Jamie - I like the post you point to and I like your take on it -- except the part about quibbling with the "stranded evangelist" term. I think her point in the post was to say, "yeah, you see yourself as stranded, here's how to rescue your situation."

And I do think that leaders/evangelists/champions (all shades of the same term to me) need to realize the context of the organization they are in and the capacity the organization has for whatever is being pushed. I think that's maybe the big context to wrap around her tips.

(About her tips, though, I think the first one has to be modified. You can't rule out the printed page so broadly. For in-depth, idea-changing, make-you-think improvement, the printed page in books and articles has much to offer.)

[Alan Knight]

Mr. Notter, I completely do not understand what you are saying here. If my colleagues---or worse---upper management does not "get it," saying "you've lost sight of the system within which you are operating" is about as relevant as saying it's sunny outside. How can it not be "you versus them?" And it's not about social media in general.
To say "It's about social media in your organization, for your cause, for your stakeholders" sounds wonderfully noble, but if upper management doesn't hear and adopt that phrase, where are you? You are a voice in the organizational wilderness.

Yeah, I will "need the help of all those people in your system that don't 'get it'," but either I learn how to "lead from the ranks" or develop a guerrilla mentality within my organization, or leave.

Some stodgy organizational leaders never will get it. It's beyond them. Face it.