Leadership and Web 2.0 E-Book

Grady McGonagill

• Herausgeber: Bertelsmann Stiftung
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 311

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

Some compare the evolving Web to the revolution of the Gutenberg press. How does the Web shape the role and understanding of leadership? What are key challenges and opportunities? What mindsets, skills and knowledge are necessary? "The Leadership Implications of the Evolving Web," provides and analyzes over 300 pioneer examples from the private, public and non-profit sector in Germany, Europe and the US. A new leadership paradigm seems to be emerging with an inexorable shift away from one-way, hierarchical, organization-centric communication toward two-way, network-centric, participatory, and collaborative leadership styles. Which requirements and trends, which opportunities and key challenges are emerging for leadership? Aim of the study is to enable managers from all sectors to anticipate changes and proactively take advantage of opportunities that are emerging. (Target group for this publication are people in leadership positions in organizations across all sectors - from managers in executive and supervisory boards, operations, human resources to academics and practitioners, advisers and policymakers. The Study "Leadership & Web 2.0 has been presented by authors Grady McGonagill, ED and Tina Doerffer, MPA amongst others at the International Leadership Academy in Boston (2010).

Leseprobe

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

© 2011 E-Book-Ausgabe (EPUB) © 2011 Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung, Gütersloh

Responsible: Tina Doerffer, Martin Spilker

Copy editor: Tina Doerffer; Josh Ward, Bonn

Production editor: Sabine Reimann

Cover design: Bertelsmann Stiftung

Cover photo: Digital Vision, John Knill

Typesetting and printing: Hans Kock, Buch- und Offsetdruck GmbH, Bielefeld

ISBN : 978-3-86793-388-9

'www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/verlag'

www.bertelsmann-stiftung.org/publications

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Preface

Executive Summary

Chapter 1 - The Nature of the Study

Purpose and Rationale

Methodological Assumptions and Limits

Chapter 2 - The Implications of the Web for Leadership

The Implications of the Web for the Context of Leadership

The Need for a New Leadership Paradigm

Chapter 3 - The Organizational Impact of the Web by Sector

How the Web is Impacting the Business Sector

How the Web is Impacting the Social Sector

How the Web is Impacting the Government Sector

How the Web is Fostering the Emergence of a 21 st Century Commons

Chapter 4 - Exploring the Leadership Implications for Organization

Determining How Your Organization Should Position Itself

Encouraging Your Organization to Respond Strategically

Chapter 5 - Cautions About the Leadership Impact of the Web

Chapter 6 - Concluding Reflection

Appendix: Trends in the Evolving Web

References

Endnotes

The Authors

Preface

“A door like this has cracked open five or six times since we got up on our hind legs. It’s the best possible time to be alive, when almost everything you thought you knew is wrong.” Spoken by the character Valentine Coverly in Tom Stoppard’s play Arcadia1

Some compare the evolving Web to the revolution of the Gutenberg press. How does the Web shape the role and understanding of leadership? Is a new leadership paradigm emerging? What mindsets, skills and knowledge are necessary for it? What are key challenges, opportunities, pioneering examples and patterns in the business, public and nonprofit sector?

This study aims to enable leaders to anticipate and leverage emerging possibilities in the context of the evolving Web. By providing and analyzing a broad overview of practical examples, it aims to encourage leadership to take new paths as much as to highlight pioneering work. Short examples and longer case studies from Germany, Europe, the United States and other countries are provided that cover all sectors—private, public, nonprofit and a fourth “Commons” sector.

A new leadership paradigm seems to be emerging that is marked by an inexorable shift away from one-way, hierarchical, organization-centric communication toward two-way, network-centric, participatory and collaborative leadership styles. Most of all, in addition to new skills and knowledge, a new mindset seems necessary. All the tools in the world will not change anything if the mindset does not allow and support change. By providing pioneering examples of applications of Web tools, we aim to alter assumptions about the requirements and potential of the Web and to encourage exploration of its possibilities. Such experimentation will ultimately stimulate changes in organizational and societal culture as we adapt to the world of the evolving Web.

Ultimately, organizations and individuals who want to exercise leadership do not have a choice about whether to accept the new world that is emerging. Welcome or not, it is the inevitable future, and is becoming the present in many organizations at a breathtaking pace. The choice is whether and how much to cultivate the culture, mindsets, skills and knowledge that make it possible to leverage the enormous potential of the evolving Web to better realize one’s goals. Acknowledging that these changes bring along a number of challenges, it is our belief that, overall, the glass is half-full rather than half-empty.

We would like to thank all who were generous enough to provide us with input and support.2 And we would like to encourage individuals and organizations to embark on the emerging journey of leadership that is both required and enabled by the evolving Web.

Gütersloh, July 2011

Martin Spilker

Tina Doerffer

Director

Project Manager

Bertelsmann Stiftung

Bertelsmann Stiftung

Executive Summary

The Gist of This Study

The culture and tools of the Web are making traditional modes of leadership obsolescent while offering powerful new possibilities for enhancing its impact:

• The Web increases the pressure on leaders in all sectors to become more open and inclusive because it has brought about greater ease of connecting people within and beyond organizations, encourages fuller transparency and has dramatically lowered the costs of collaboration.

• At the same time, the Web offers means of making organizations—and organizing itself—more efficient and effective.

While the Web poses both risks and threats, it also offers enormous opportunities; we see a glass that is more full than empty.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to help those who aspire to exercise leadership within—or beyond—organizations of all kinds to understand the implications that the new technologies emerging from the World Wide Web have on their leadership. It does this by:

• Describing in broad terms the impact the Web is having on society and organizations;

• Articulating a new paradigm for leadership that seems most appropriate in light of these patterns of impact;

• Detailing the culture and leadership mindsets, skills and knowledge required by this new paradigm;

• Illustrating via numerous examples the impact the Web is having in each of the three traditional sectors (business, government, society) as well as in a newly emerging “Commons” sector, which includes social entrepreneurship, multi-stakeholder initiatives and communities, and free-agent leadership;

• Describing how individuals can encourage their organizations to be proactive in exploring whether and how to adapt to the constraints imposed and opportunities posed by the Web;

• Pointing out the known and potential limitations and threats accompanying the Web;

• Describing evolving Web technologies and certain patterns in their evolution.

Overview of Study Findings

Need for a new leadership paradigm: In the past two decades of growing Web impact, the need for a new paradigm for leadership has become more and more apparent. The following seven changes signal that this shift is needed:

• Leadership is now viewed as an activity rather than a role.

• Leadership is now considered a collective phenomenon.

• Individual leaders now need higher levels of personal development.

• There has been a movement away from organization-centric and toward network-centric leadership.