ASK THE EXPERT
Charlene Li
or years, most companies have run their business with a “closed culture”—guarding
so-called “proprietary information” and “corporate communications” like sleepless
watch dogs at night. But with the dawn of the social media age, the new world order
demands “openness and authenticity” which this Pulse issue’s expert Altimeter Group
founder Charlene Li claims “inevitable” in today’s business world.
In her New York Times best-selling book “Open Leadership,” this Harvard Business School
graduate introduces the concept of transforming traditional leadership using social media. She
assures reluctant leaders that an “open strategy”—which many major brands and companies
like Best Buy, Kohls, Comcast and Dell are slowly embracing—is not about total transparency,
but strategic planning on how to create a culture of trust while engaging a broader audience.
Named one of the 100 most creative people in business by Fast Company in 2010 and former
vice president at Forrester Research, Li is a sought-after expert on social media regularly featured
on leading media channels like The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, 60 Minutes,
CNN and CNBC. She is also the co-author of “Groundswell” which was named one of the best business books in 2008. Here, she explains what “open leadership” is all about, how to engage the
right audience and what guidelines to follow when creating a social media policy.
F
1. What is “open leadership” and
how is this concept going to play out
in social entrepreneurship?
Open leadership is defined as having the
confidence and humility to realize that
EDITOR’S NOTE: Open Leadership is a concept that some leaders
are reluctant to embrace for fear of sharing information and
“losing control.” See example of conversations that may go
behind closed doors in relation to Li’s response about creating
new skills and mindsets.
For a quick guide on how to
create a social media policy or
guideline, download Altimeter
Group’s Social Media Guidelines Checklist
on digital Pulse at experienceispa.com.
50 PULSE
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March/April 2011
CMO: We need a blog and a Twitter strategy.
VP Customer Service: We’ll just get complaints.
VP Product Development: But we need
feedback and new ideas to beat the competition.
VP Sales: Competitors will steal the ideas and
unhappy customers.
CMO: With reviews, we’ll know what’s wrong
and can then fix it.
CEO: Negative reviews will kill sales.
VP Biz Development: Dell does this.
CEO: We’re not Dell.
you have to give up the need to be in
control while at the same time being able
to inspire people to achieve specific goals
and objectives. The key is to realize that
as a leader, you aren’t actually in control,
and that in a world where relationships
are started and deepened in many different ways, new skills and mindsets are
required.
2. What are among the practical
ways businesses like spas and related
wellness and beauty brands effectively use the “open leadership”
concept from a management and
marketing standpoint?
One of the most important things to keep
in mind is that people won’t respond to
traditional one-way communications and
dictates. Leadership is a relationship
between leaders and the people who
follow them—and you simply can’t