Insights on social media and leadership - featuring in Taloussanomat 6. January 2010, 13:25

Before Christmas, I was asked by Taloussanomat (a leading Finnish economic magazine) to comment how participation in social media affects corporate communication and leadership/management practices. The article “Pomo ei kestä nettihaukkuja” can be found on TS:s website and my further assessment about the issue in Johtoajatus blog (both in Finnish).

My main points could be summarized in the following way:

An effective and fruitful participation in social media – from an organization’s or management’s point of view – happens through ingenuous and deliberate dialogical presence in the suitable social media environments.

The organization and its management has to be willing to explore the possibilities and characteristics of different social media environments. Accordingly, it becomes possible to choose the right domains of social media activity.

The organization/management has to be willing to establish consciously a more open culture of communication and allocate necessary resources for the measured operation in social media. This requires quite often a thorough change in the existing communication culture and practices.

Focus becomes everything in social media. Management has to be able to distinguish the substantial content and feedback from the irrelevant noise. This is possible through an interactive and adjusted presence. Listening is learning and turns eventually into sensible participation and contextualized, effective reactions.

The multiplicity of voices (various feedback, exposure to new networks etc.) – exposed on social media environments – can thus be used as an instrument in the development of the management practices as well as the activities of the whole organization.

In essence, the measured use of social media can help the organization and its management to focus on the right challenges and activities in a beneficial and profitable way. Effective presence in social media can thus become a significant business advantage – a unique asset in communication and management.

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Jarno M. Koponen - Personal Digital Nexus » journal